West Virginia Scenic Trails Association (WVSTA) held its Allegheny Trail interest meeting at Big Sandy Brews in early January. The Allegheny Trail is West Virginia’s longest hiking trail.
At more than 300 miles it spans West Virginia from north to south. Along the way, the trail passes through four state parks and three national forests.
It’s northern terminus is on the Mason-Dixon Line at the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border near Bruceton Mills.
The Allegheny Trail winds its way south until it meets the Appalachian Trail on Peters Mountain at the Virginia-West Virginia border.
“Maintaining 311 miles is quite a feat,” WVSTA Secretary Marissa Bennett said.
The WVSTA is looking for volunteers to help maintain the trail. Volunteers would level the ground on the trail, cut brush, cut out fallen trees and blaze along trees to help mark the path.
“This is going to be our 50th year and still so many people aren’t aware that West Virginia has a long distance hiking trail,” Bennett said.
Outdoorsman Nick Lozano was instrumental to the founding of the trail. He thought that the natural beauty of the Allegheny Mountains rivaled that of the Great Smoky Mountains, and that there should be a trail similar to the Appalachian Trail that ran through West Virginia.
The WVSTA is a volunteer led non-profit organization that oversees multiple trails in West Virginia including the Allegheny, Mary Ingles and Great Eastern trails.
If you are interested in volunteering can go to hikethealleghenytrail.org.