We spent our last evening walking along the old rail trail of Hawks Nest State Park. West Virginia use to be one of the country’s leading coal mining areas and trains would criss cross throughout the state transporting that coal. But with the end of coal mining the trains fell to the wayside. But the route of the train has been preserved in rail trails. We started out on the trail near what use to be the train station of Anstead and made our way down the tunnel like path of green.
The trail then gives way to a boardwalk that was built on top of the old rails. It was amazing to be able to see the original rails winding their way through the trees with some incredible views of the river below.
The last stretch of the trail continues to follow along the river on one side and dramatic rocks on the other side. This trail is a little over a mile and leads visitors down to the main area of the park. It was such a beautiful walk giving a small glimpse into the history of the state and imagining getting to see this from the window of a train.
The trail ended at the visitor center of the park where there is a restaurant and areas to play. In the summer they offer gondola rides from the top of the mountain down to the river below giving a perfect view of the surrounding mountains.
Rail trails are great ways to take a lovely walk and to see a part of the state that use to be only accessible to those in charge of moving coal from one point to another.
Enjoyed your stroll along the Rail Trail Meg. I think we may have once visited West Virginia but it was a long time ago.
Thanks Marion 🙂 West Virginia is somewhere I would love to see more of. I hope you have a great weekend!
Because we had major closures of railway lines during the 1960s, we now have an extensive network of walking trails and cycle tracks along the old track beds in the UK. It’s always enjoyable though by definition always pretty flat. Enjoyed reading along with your walk – I too always picture what it would have been like to watch the countryside unfold through the train window.
It always makes me a little sad that the trains aren’t in use like they were, but at the same time I love walking along those old paths of the trains. So glad the paths are maintained enough to still enjoy. 🙂
Absolutely love the idea of rail trails Meg and this is a fine one indeed. Rail travel is my favourite way of getting around, it is sad that in some parts of the world the train has become something of a dying breed.
There is no better way to see places then on a train but it seems so rare to be able to do that these days. I loved that the boardwalk was right over the old rail rail ties.