Sophia Swiney, 18, of Clendenin, walks her dog, Penny, along the Elk River Trail in Clendenin as Pastor Ken Miller, of the Clendenin Advent Church, gets ready to ride his bike along the rail trail following an opening ceremony for a trailhead complex at the southern terminus of the rail trail in Clendenin on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.
This shelter was constructed across from the Clendenin Post Office at the southern terminus of the Elk River Trail. An opening ceremony for the rail trail’s trailhead complex in Clendenin was held on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.
The Herbert Hoover High School Band walks along the Elk River Trail in Clendenin after performing at an opening ceremony for a trailhead complex at the southern terminus of the rail trail in Clendenin on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.
Clendenin Mayor Kay Summers (left) and Gov. Patrick Morrisey walk along the Elk River Trail after an opening ceremony for a trailhead complex at the southern terminus of the rail trail in Clendenin on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.
Sophia Swiney, 18, of Clendenin, walks her dog, Penny, along the Elk River Trail in Clendenin as Pastor Ken Miller, of the Clendenin Advent Church, gets ready to ride his bike along the rail trail following an opening ceremony for a trailhead complex at the southern terminus of the rail trail in Clendenin on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail
A new, $357,000 trailhead complex serving what is now the southern terminus of the Elk River Trail officially opened at a ceremony Wednesday, bringing new parking space for 52 vehicles, a picnic shelter, a bicycle maintenance station and other amenities to downtown Clendenin.
The new trailhead — located across from the Clendenin Post Office — serves users of “what will become one of the most popular rail trails in the state,†while promoting health, fitness and economic development in a town “that has fought back from adversity following devastating flooding in 2016,†said Gov. Patrick Morrisey, among the speakers at the event.
The Elk River Trail, a unit of the West Virginia State Parks system, stretches 47 miles southward from Gassaway, in Braxton County, to Hartland, in Clay County, and northward from Clendenin for 4 miles to Queen Shoals.
“We’re looking forward to completing the trail through that last 20-mile gap between Hartland and Queen Shoals,†and as a long-term goal, “eventually extending it southward from Clendenin to ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä,†said Ken Tawney, president of the Elk River Trail Foundation.
This shelter was constructed across from the Clendenin Post Office at the southern terminus of the Elk River Trail. An opening ceremony for the rail trail’s trailhead complex in Clendenin was held on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail
Opening the Queen Shoals-Hartland section of the trail will involve — among other things — replacing two bridges, Tawney said. Extending the trail from Clendenin to ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä is expected to take considerably longer, he said, and will begin with resuming rail-banking talks with that section of railbed’s current owner, railway giant Norfolk Southern Corp.
Meanwhile, the Elk River Trail Foundation has applied for a grant to design an extension to the rail trail that would stretch northward from Gassaway to Burnsville, in Braxton County, then westward to Glenville, in Gilmer County.
Much of the Elk River Trail is built, or planned for construction, along the path of the former Coal & Coke Railroad, which extended from ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä to Elkins and operated in the opening decades of the 20th century before being sold to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
The Herbert Hoover High School Band walks along the Elk River Trail in Clendenin after performing at an opening ceremony for a trailhead complex at the southern terminus of the rail trail in Clendenin on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail
Adding to outdoor recreation options
West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Director Brett McMillion said he expects the Elk River Trail to eventually draw more than 500,000 users annually, as the state parks system’s Greenbrier River and North Bend rail trails currently do.
The Elk River Trail, along with the planned Air Raid downhill mountain bike trail system east of Clendenin, the Appalachian Outlaw ATV trails in eastern Kanawha County, and the Hatfield-McCoy Trails dirt bike trail system near Tornado, are not just about bringing tourism to the area, Kanawha County Commissioner Lance Wheeler said.
“They are also about helping the people in our communities have the opportunity to enjoy our outdoor recreation†and perhaps start their own recreation-related businesses, he said.
Clendenin Mayor Kay Summers (left) and Gov. Patrick Morrisey walk along the Elk River Trail after an opening ceremony for a trailhead complex at the southern terminus of the rail trail in Clendenin on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.
