I enjoyed my recent bike ride in the Davis/Canaan area that I wrote about in my last post. I was looking forward to another ride in the area. On my drive home after the last ride in the area, I noticed what appeared to be a fire tower on the mountain, high above the road. Naturally, I looked at the map of the area when I got home. Sure enough I was looking at the Olson Observation Tower on the south end of Backbone Mountain. Next I was looking at the maps to possibly incorporate it into a ride in the area.
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| Riding along mountain laurel |
After looking at the maps, I came up with a possible mountain bike loop. Starting in Hendricks, the Blackwater Canyon Trail runs along the north side of its namesake canyon. In Thomas I could link up with a forest service road called the Canyon Rim Road. Canyon Rim Road ends on US 219 with an easy downhill back toward Hendricks. The Allegheny Highlands Trail closes the loop. After a little research the loop seemed like a viable ride option with a mix of rail trail, singletrack, forest road, jeep road, and pavement.
I headed out on Monday morning, July 8th. I parked at the end of the Allegheny Highlands Trail in Hendricks and began riding. My ride began on the Blackwater Canyon Trail. The Blackwater Canyon Trail begins an extension to the Allegheny Highlands Trail. For its first two miles the surface is similar to a dirt rail trail. The trail was originally a logging railroad after all. It starts close to the Blackwater River but never gets too close to the water as the trail slowly gains elevation.
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| Early on the Blackwater Canyon Trail |
After two miles the rail trail ends and the trail turns to singletrack. Although the trail climbs gradually as it makes its way to Thomas, the riding is pretty easy. As an old rail line, the grade is never steep. Apart from a couple blowdowns to navigate around, the tread is quite smooth and its easy to keep a good pace.
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| Singletrack |
The trail runs in the forest, which was comfortable to start on a hot and humid day. Occasionally you can catch a peek of the river, which you continually climb above. The trail passes a few cuts in the rock that were blasted to allow the rail passage. Although the views are limited through the forest, you manage to get a few views across the canyon. It had been quite dry before my ride so the creeks were just trickles, but you pass a few creeks that look like they would have rushing waterfalls in higher water.
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| Rock along a cut in the rock |
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| A peek across the canyon |
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| Fast riding singletrack |
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Dry creek that would probably be a
nice waterfall in high water |
As I rode within a couple miles of Thomas, the trail veers away from the main branch of the Blackwater River and follows the North Fork of the Blackwater. The trail gets closer to the North Fork as it progresses. I started to see a couple unmarked trails head down to the river. Since the river roared in below the trail, I followed the unmarked path and came to beautiful waterfall. The hike to the river wasn't very long, but it was rather steep and eroded. It wasn't particularly easy in my clipless mountain bike shoes. Nonetheless the waterfall was well worth the side trip. I explored above the falls as well while I was there to look at the small cascades leading into the main drop. I couldn't find a name for this waterfall.
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| The first waterfall I encountered |
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| Small cascade upstream |
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| Looking over the top of the falls |
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| Stream above the falls |
Beyond the waterfall, the trail widened, and looked more like a rail trail again. I started to see people as I was within a mile or so from vehicle access near Thomas. I passed one more unmarked trail that was much worse than the first trail. This led to a smaller waterfall. While pretty, it wasn't quite as dramatic as the first one I encountered. I couldn't find a name for this waterfall either.
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| The trail widens as it nears Thomas |
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| Second unnamed waterfall |
I started to see several groups of people and a gate. I reached Douglas Falls. Douglas Falls drops about 35 feet before flowing into a deep pool. A parking lot sits just beyond the gate allowing easy access to the falls. It's also part of the West Virginia Waterfall Trail, a listing of scenic waterfalls by the state's department of tourism. It sees a fair amount of traffic. Douglas Falls is quite pretty though and I recommend checking it out no matter how you get there.
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| Douglas Falls |
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| Looking at Douglas Falls from the side |
Beyond Douglas Falls, I passed the gate and followed a dirt road. I saw quite a few people, mostly walking along the road. A few minutes after Douglas Falls, I encountered one more waterfall, Albert Falls. With a ten foot drop into a deep pool, Albert Falls also appears on the West Virginia Waterfall Trail. All of the waterfalls looked quite inviting on a hot and humid day. I would have liked to take a dip. Unfortunately, I was only a third of the way into my ride. The last time I swam in my mountain bike shorts I ended up terribly chafed. Looking to avoid that again, I refrained from taking a dip. With quite a few people around, including families, skinny dipping wasn't an option.
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| Albert Falls |
Leaving Albert Falls, I pedaled a couple easy miles on a mix of dirt and paved road. I passed the remains of old coke ovens along the road and rode through the little settlement of Douglas. I reached the Monongahela National Forest boundary where the county road turns to forest service land and the start of the Canyon Rim Road.
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| Starting the Canyon Rim Road |
Based on my research, Canyon Rim Road seemed to be mostly used by Jeeps. I encountered quite a few bike tracks however. The road is a typical forest service road, a little rocky but not too bad. There were a couple washouts that made the road tricky for even four wheel drive vehicles, but on a bike they were no big deal. Otherwise the riding was fairly fast, if not a little bumpy. One easy, ridable creek crossing flowed across the road. I also encountered a few stretches of unavoidable, thick mud.
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| Typical road surface |
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| There were frequent sections of mud |
As the name implies, Canyon Rim Road travels along the rim of Blackwater Canyon. There were often partial views through the trees. In winter and spring, the road would probably have continuous view with the leaves down.
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| A small window of a view |
I came upon a huge group of bikes on the ground and a jeep. I realized there was a vista just a few yards off the trail. I encountered the big group of mountain bikes that were part of a Christian adventure camp in the area. The viewpoint offered a good look at the canyon. I took a short break at the viewpoint to hydrate. It was quite warm and I needed to catch up on my water intake.
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| The canyon from the viewpoint |
Leaving the viewpoint I continued on Canyon Rim Road. I encountered a sign for another waterfall, Big Run Falls. I followed the trail maybe a minute and arrived at the waterfall. With the recent dry weather, you could tell the falls were flowing at a low volume. In higher water, I'm sure they would be more much more dramatic. If I wasn't afraid of chafing, the falls would be a nice place to take a shower too cool off. They are situated in a nice location surrounded by laurel.
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| Big Run Falls |
Soon after leaving Big Run Falls, I came to a junction. I could continue along the road, or take the Canyon Rim Trail. While most trails in Monongahela National Forest are open to mountain bikes outside of Wilderness Areas, they are not necessarily good for riding. Many of the trails in the area are quite rocky and technical, making for tedious riding. I didn't really find much about the Canyon Rim Trail before the ride mentioning mountain biking. But I decided to take my chances since the Canyon Rim Trail ended only a half-mile or so from Olson Lookout Tower.
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Canyon Rim Road and Canyon Rim Trail are part of the 330
mile Allegheny Trail (Perhaps a future backpacking trip) |
Although the first couple hundred feet were technical as the trail dropped to a creek crossing, the Canyon Rim Trail was a real treat. The trail was in pretty good shape and not too rocky. Best of all, nearly the entire trail passed through a tunnel of mountain laurel, with a lot of it still blooming. At times the trail was a little overgrown, but generally the trail was quite pretty. There were even a couple of viewpoints over the canyon along the way.
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| Creek crossing |
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| Blooming laurel |
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| Nice trail in a tunnel of mountain laurel |
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| Overgrown stretch of trail |
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| Pink mountain laurel |
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| View along the Canyon Rim Trail |
While plugging along, I heard a very short pop of sound at one point. It only lasted a second but sounded very much like a rattlesnake. I backtracked a few feet and sure enough a full rattle began. A nice-sized timber rattler sprawled a few feet off the trail. If it didn't rattle in the first place, I would have never known it was there since it was a good 4-5 feet off the trail hidden by ferns. I took a few pictures before continuing my ride.
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| Timber rattlesnake |
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| It coiled when I stopped to take pictures |
The Canyon Rim Trail runs only about three miles. As it gets closer to the Olson Tower, it becomes a little rockier and gains a little elevation. Generally the trail rolls around 3,250' in elevation before gaining a couple hundred feet the last mile near its end at the dirt road just below Olson Tower.
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| Rockier section of the Canyon Rim Trail |
Once on the forest road, it climbs a few hundred feet over a half-mile to the tower at 3,600’ on the southern end of Backbone Mountain's nearly 40 mile ridge. By this point I had ridden about 20 miles. Usually that distance doesn't bother me, but I was feeling the 90 degree day. With little wind and high humidity, the ride was draining.
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| Olson Observation Tower |
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| My bike felt left out so I took its picture |
The tower is open to the public so I was eager to climb it. I have climbed my share of fire towers and this one seemed a taller than any I climbed before. Typically fire towers have grated metal stairs. Climbing the metal stairs was not easy or fun in my mountain bike shoes. I slowly and carefully made the climb. There is an enclosed cabin at the top with an open viewing platform above the closed cabin that's accessed by a shaky ladder. Since a decent dirt road accesses the tower, I saw a couple groups of people.
Like most fire towers, Olson Lookout Tower rises well above the trees and provides 360 degree views. From the tower you can look into the town of Parsons, less than 10 miles away. The construction of the Corridor H Highway leaves quite a scar on the landscape. The mass of the Alleghenies lies to the south. The wind turbines on Backbone Mountain to the north were barely visible on the hazy day. Looking back to the east is Blackwater Canyon.
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| Looking toward Parson with the Corridor H cut visible |
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| Looking south |
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| Looking back toward the canyon |
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| Wind turbines to the north |
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| The ladder to the upper observation deck |
Leaving the tower I still had about nine miles back to my starting point. The good news was that I lost 2,000 feet of elevation in those nine miles. After 20 hot miles of riding, I looked forward to the downhill. The first two miles followed the well maintained forest road from the tower. I actually passed two cars on this road. Then I hit US 219, which can be a moderately busy road. US 219 descends steadily for 6 miles. Luckily I didn't encounter much traffic. Even on my knobby mountain bike tires I could basically coast those 6 miles at 30-35MPH. The breeze from the descent felt wonderful. The last stretch followed WV 72 a short distance before I joined the Allegheny Highlands Trail back to starting point in Hendricks.
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| The Allegheny Highlands Trail |
My ride finished up at 29 miles in about three hours of moving time. I really enjoyed this ride and it turned out better than I expected. There was a good mix of surfaces with a decent amount of singletrack and dirt road. Although I don't typically like longer stretches of paved road on a mountain bike ride, the long descent on the paved road was very much appreciated on a hot day. My only real complaint was the heat. When I returned to the valley, the temperature was in the 90s. Even at elevation in the shade, it didn't feel much cooler, especially since it was quite humid.
The scenery added quite a bit to this rides appeal. I passed a handful of waterfalls, which I always enjoy. Long stretches of trail lined with mountain laurel always look pretty, especially when flowering. I also enjoyed several decent vistas. Fire towers with access are always a fun destination as well since you are rewarded with 360 degree views. And of course, I always enjoy rattlesnake encounters. I know a lot of people are turned off by snake encounters, let alone venomous snakes, but I consider myself lucky to find them in their territory in the wild.
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