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Where the trail is in West Virginia. |
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Where the trail is in relation to surrounding states. |
| Aerial photo. |
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Topo map
24K scale (2.7 Mb) |
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There are no "official" parking lots for the Blackwater Canyon Trail but there are good places to park at each end. The trail drops over 1200 feet as it runs from Thomas, at the top, to Hendricks at the bottom. |
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The trail starts just across the North Fork Blackwater River from Thomas. There are two good places to park to access the head of the trail. One is where Douglas Road crosses the trail. The other is right on the main street (East Ave.) in Thomas. |
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| Douglas Road Crossing Parking | |
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When I park near the head of the trail I prefer using the Douglas Road Crossing. In Thomas turn off of Route 32 onto Douglas Road. Just look for the big sign for MountainMade Gallery where Douglas Road meets Route 32. You can't miss it. Stay on Douglas Road for about one mile. As soon as you cross a small bridge the parking area is on your right. The bridge isn't marked but you will have just crossed the North Fork Blackwater River. |
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In the first photo you can see how the parking area appears as you cross the small bridge. There are no signs for the Blackwater Canyon Trail but it crosses Douglas Road at this point. In the second photo you are looking north with the trail on the left side of the picture. It resembles a small gravel track. Go 0.8 mile north (upriver) on the trail to get to it's starting point. |
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The first photo is the view looking south down the trail. Here the trail is a gravel road. You can still see railroad ties embedded in the gravel of the parking area. |
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| Parking In Downtown Thomas | |
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Another way to access the start of the Blackwater Canyon Trail is to park on East Ave in downtown Thomas, WV. One advantage of parking in Thomas is you can visit the Purple Fiddle for a ice cream cone or any of the other shops along East Ave when you're done. This is a one way street so if coming from the south on Route 32 you'll have to drive all the way through town and make a U-turn onto East Ave. It won't take much extra time. The downtown area isn't very big. This street overlooks the old railroad right of way. You can park on both sides of the street. |
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Halfway down the street is a ramp that leads down to the old right of way. You are going to use the right of way to reach the trail. The first photo is the view from the top of the ramp. Second photo is looking back up from the bottom of the ramp with the right of way on the left. |
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| Then & Now: How it looked here in 1920. |
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Head south down the right of way. You'll pass by these large tanks. |
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| Then & Now: How it looked here in 1912. |
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Just past the large tanks you come to the where the Thomas depot used to stand. This is where the railroad crossed the North Fork Blackwater River. The old bridge is still there but it is unsafe and closed to the public. Directly across the bridge is what I consider the start of the Blackwater Canyon Trail but we'll have to take another route to it. |
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Look to your left and you'll see the old right of way continues downriver. This was originally part of the rail line that ran to Davis, WV. Continue out the right of way. It goes uphill for a short way. |
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The right of way intersects with Douglas Road directly below MountainMade Gallery. At this point get on Douglas Road and coast downhill. Look for this road leading off to the right. There is no sign but it is Snyder Run Road. In the second photo you can see the road leads to a small bridge across the North Fork Blackwater River with the trail visible across the river. |
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First photo is looking north (upriver) up the trail. The start of the trail and the closed railroad bridge is 0.4 mile that way. The second photo is the view looking back the way you just came across the bridge. You can see the MountainMade Gallery up the hill. |
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There is a perfect place to park at the bottom end of the trail. The Blackwater Canyon Trail ends where the Allegheny Highlands Trail begins so there is a very nice trailhead parking lot. |
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Allegheny Highlands Trail trailhead. When I bike the Blackwater Canyon Trail I usually park here. That way after you bike to the top of the trail in Thomas the trip back to the car is mostly one long downhill coast. |
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A short distance from the parking lot these gates mark the end of the Allegheny Highlands Trail. Directly across Route 72 from the gates this gravel road marks the bottom end of the Blackwater Canyon Trail. Just like with the head end, there are no signs marking the trail. That's Canaan Mountain in the distance. |
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