West Virginia Trail Riding

[Carla St Myers]

I live in the state of West Virignia and am inquiring if anyone has information regarding trails in the southern part of the state, specifically the New River Gorge area (Summersville, Fayetteville). There is no trail riding locally and we often trailer to Ohio and Pennsylvania to ride. We would like to explore our own state but have no trail information.

We have briefly spoken with people we have met at events such as the Equine Affaire who state that there is beautiful riding down state. When researching on the internet, I can find no public access trail info. There are only a couple of stables advertised that have guided rides. We are not looking for guiding riding. I would really appreciate any help from people who have ridden in southern WV. Thanks.

[Maddie Nagel]

Hi Carla,

Camp Creek State Park is @ exit 20 off Interstate 77. We have never ridden there but I picked up their paper. They have camping and 35 miles of horse trails. www.campcreekstatepark.com.
We have great trails here in the Wytheville Va. area. Several nice campgrounds too. Some private and some state.

[Carla St Myers]

Thanks for the info. Camp Creek is the only place in WV that we had info on and actually went to. It was a complete disappointment. Some of the trails are just gravel roads. The horseman's camp is back a horribly narrow road that is falling over the hill into the creek and the horse tie ups were dangerous. It was a miserable experience. I appreciate your response though.
I do appreciate the info regarding the VA trails. I will look it up.
Thanks for your time.

[Lindsey Payette]

Hi, Carla! Where do you live in WV? We live in Martinsburg and have to trailer EVERYWHERE to trail ride. We often ride at Lost River in Mathias, WV. Our friends own Shalimar Farm in Cass, WV and their trails are fabulous! We also ride in VA at Phelps Game Restoration in Sumerduck. Depending on where you are located, Fort Valley Stables in Fort Valley, VA may work for you.

Where do you ride in PA?

[Carla St Myers]

We live in Wheeling in the northern panhandle. So we are just minutes from PA and OH. We ride at Eighty-Four, PA at a park. It is a nice ride, but not scenic. We don't go there often, just when we need a change of pace. It takes us about an hour to get there.

I have never heard of Lost River or Mathias so I will look that area up and see how far it is for us. I have heard of Shalimar Farm but we have never gone because we didnt know if the trails were nice or not and it takes us 4 hours to get there in the car, let alone pulling a horse trailer. Its good to know that the trails are nice. We will have to plan a trip there and try it out. Thanks for the info.

It takes us five hours just to get thru WV, so I am not sure how long to get to Sumerduck. Usually if we drive more than 5 hours we like to stay at least 5 days. To do that, we really like to know if the trails are nice before we drive that far and plan to stay that long. That is why I am trying to get info about WV. I would just like to ride the Summersville area because it is such pretty country, but I just cannot find anyone with any info about trails.

I appreciate you providing this info. If you ever here of any other trails in WV, please pass it along.
Thanks!!

[Kim Douglas @ Trail Rider Mag.]

Shalimar Farm is in Cass, WV. website is www.shalimarfarm.com it is a private facility but you can ride their 1000 acres for $40 per day. website has all the details or call Mickey, she's very nice!

[Carla St Myers]

Have you ridden there? It will take us over four hours to get there, so I like to get other's opinions about the riding. Hate to go that far and be disappointed.