Great Mountain Bike Trails Near Charleston West Virginia

If you are looking for a place to get out of the traffic and relax riding your mountain bike here are a few suggestions from the many great choices. In a great mountain biking destination like West Virginia it is hard to pick just a few from the limitless choices. If you do have some suggestions for other places to ride, please feel free to offer your suggestions to your fellow mountain biker in the comment sections below.

The first place that I would suggest is at Kanawha State Forest. If you live in the Charleston area you should be able to find this, but if not here are some general directions. Take Exit 58A off of Interstate 64 and go south on 119. You will pick up signs to the state forest from here. More detailed directions (I'm not giving them as they look confusing, but it is really simple) can be found at kanawhastateforest.com.

The Kanawha State Forest offers a few different trails with varying degrees of difficulty to please the novice to hardcore mountain biker. (Novices may want to start with the Middle Ridge trail, those with more experience can try the others, be aware of what you are doing they can get tricky) The Park Office can provide maps of the mountain bike trails.

The next place I would suggest is Charles Fork Lake in Spencer. To get to Charles Fork Lake, take 119 North from the Charleston area (Interstate 79) then turn on Route 36 and follow the signs. As those who go there often will tell you, there is no good way to get to Spencer, but I believe it is worth the trip. Charles Fork Lake offers numerous trails that can be combined in many different ways for Mountain Bikers of varying expertise. Maps and directions are available at charlesfork.org.

The third place that I would recommend would be Little Creek Park. Little Creek Park is located near South Charleston and is another location that should be familiar to Charleston residents. Directions to the park can be found at southcharlestonwv.com. The trails are reasonably well marked and you should have no trouble staying on them.