Mower Basin (rhymes with flower) is a section of the larger Mower Tract in the Monongahela National Forest. The area is the site of an old mining operation that has become part of the National Forest and a restoration project to try and recover the land from nonenvironmental practices. The restoration started to improve the area but it is still a work in progress.
The area sits high on Cheat Mountain between the towns of Huttonsville and Durbin, WV. It's located not too far north from the popular ski and mountain bike destination of Snowshoe. I knew about the area since I moved to WV a couple years ago. It popped up on most mountain bike sites. I didn't have much interest though. Some dated maps showed only around six miles of trails. Between the small amount of trails and longer dirt road access, the area didn't spark much interested.
Driving past the access road a couple times in the past year, I decided to look into the area again. I found more recent information on the trails in the area. The scenery around the area looked quite impressive and the few firsthand accounts on riding the area all praised the trails. It looked liked the trails expanded from the original map I saw. Now the trail system had closer to 14 miles of singletrack that was built to cater to mountain bikers. Now I had to ride the area for myself. A picture perfect day in early May was forecasted so I got my bike ready and headed to the trails myself.
The main access to the Mower Basin Trails sits high on Cheat Mountain off of US 250 at nearly 4,000'. Don't let the 6-7 miles of dirt road deter you. When I traveled FSR 227, it was in perfect shape and I wouldn't hesitate to take any vehicle on it. Only the final 1/2 mile or so on the final spur was a little slow going with puddles and pot holes, but still accessible with slow driving.
I wanted to explore as much of the singletrack as possible. The trails are laid out in a couple of stacked looped systems. I read the Hawk's Ridge Loop offers the best views so I wanted to save it for last. So I started on the other side of the road on the lower loops.
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| Trailhead |
Before getting into the main riding I decided to ride the Grackle Skills Loop. From the trailhead, this small loop travels roughly a mile long lollipop. The riding is nothing special. The trail is full of berms and bumps, but the tread looks like it sees few bikes. If you are looking for a warm up or winddown to a longer ride, check the loop out. It isn't the most exciting riding but isn't bad either if you want to see all the singletrack the area has to offers and you can have a little fun on the bumps and berms.
After my short foray on the Grackle Skills Loop I headed to the Sparrow Loop. I wanted to ride the most southerly loops and make my way north. A short feeder trail leads to the loops from the trailhead. The trailside views began quickly with a nice view over the basin.
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| View within first 1/4 mile |
Riding counterclockwise, The Sparrow Loop begins with some great flow as it generally heads slightly downhill. It's fun riding on pretty smooth singletrack. I passed the Thrasher Trail which splits off, but planned on that later. Just to check it out, I also rode Towhee. This very short trail serves as a connecter between several trails and isn't worth riding by itself unless you are using it connect to another trail.
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| All the trails are well-signed and marked |
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| Smooth flow on Sparrow |
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| Rocks through a muddy section |
Most of the individual trails are fairly short. The Sparrow Loop travels around 1.7 miles. The second half of the loop was somewhat anticlimactic as it followed an old grassy road. It wasn't fun and flowy like the first half. It was somewhat wet as well. The Sparrow Loop is one of the easier trails here. The first half is particularly fun with its fast flow.
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| Grassy finish on Sparrow |
I wrapped up the Sparrow Loop and headed onto the Warbler Loop. Starting in a spruce forest, the Warbler Loop begins with a fast, flowy downhill that's a blast to ride. There's enough turns and rock to keep it interesting. There are even a few views over the basin at places. I really enjoyed the first half. A lot of the trails in WV are rocky so it was nice to ride fast singletrack without the constant bump.
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| Onto Warbler |
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| Spruce-lined trail |
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| View off Warbler |
I also chose to ride this loop counterclockwise. Since I dropped some elevation, the second half of the loop require more pedaling. Rather than close the loop, I skipped the last .2 miles and joined the Junco Trail after about 1.5 miles to keep from backtracking.
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| Fast singletrack |
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| Onto Junco |
The start of the Junco Trail dropped into more flowy singletrack. I passed a few rock features, but the trail itself was pretty smooth. Not too far into Junco, the trail breaks briefly in some small clearings with views.
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| Large rock along Junco |
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| Riding into a clearing |
Passing the clearings, the trail reentered the trees and passed several ponds along the trail. The trail rides through predominantly spruce forest with soft needles on the trail and the great flow continued
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| The first pond along the trail |
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| Smooth and fast trail |
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| Bluets along the trail |
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| Open section of spruce |
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| Another pond off the trail |
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| Nice section of trail on Junco |
I reached a pair of ponds in a clearing where I stopped to take some pictures. I could see a newt scurrying in the leaves at the bottom of a small creek between the ponds. I also heard some nearby peepers.
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| Pond with newt and peepers |
Leaving the ponds, the trail breaks out of the trees and into a grassy basin. The open basin provides endless views. The terrain and look of the area remind me of scenery in the Western US. You are half expecting to see elk or bighorn sheep on the grassy hillsides. No these animals aren't here, but the terrain looked similar to areas in the West where you might see them. Plus the area sits over 4,000'. It may not seem that high, but nowhere in WV reaches over 5,000'.
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| Breaking into the open basin |
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| The trail is less defined in the basin |
Through the grassy meadows, the trail looses some of its flow. What the trail lacked in flow along this stretch, it more than made up for with the vast views and scenery. Junco gains some elevation in the meadow before turning sharply back in the trees.
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| It was a beautiful weather day |
Even back in the trees, the trail skirts the edge of open basin with plenty of views. The trail climbs gently through the trees for nearly a half mile before ending at a dirt road. This is the only section road that's part of the trail loops.
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| View from the edge of the trees |
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| Back into the woods |
Even though Junco finishes the last .4 miles or so on the dirt road, it doesn't take away from the experience. The views from the road, looking over the vast basin to the east, more than makes up for it. There are a couple of designated drive in campsites along the road as well if you want to spend the night and catch an amazing sunrise over the mountains. The peepers were quite talkative along the road as well.
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| Short stretch of road |
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| Looking back on the road |
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| View from the road |
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| This view is pretty close to the trailhead from the road |
Finishing up the 1.9 mile Junco Loop brought me back to the trailhead. From here I crossed the road and checked out the other set of stacked loops at Mower Basin. The riding begins with the Hawk's Ridge Loop. Because these loops are stacked end to end rather side by side, I would ride one half of Hawk's Ridge and catch the other half after returning from the further trails.
I decided to ride Hawk's Ridge east side first. From what I could tell, the west half of the loop featured the best views of perhaps any trail at Mower Basin. I wanted to save the best for last. Riding this way meant I would be facing the steepest climb in the Mower Basin Trails. The climb was certainly manageable, but in retrospect, I would have much rather gone the other direction for a fun downhill here. The trail climbs through a dense spruce forest with a few tight turns and the occasional rock or root obstacle.
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| Passing by a large rock on Hawk's Ridge |
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| Entering the tight spruce forest |
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| Continuing in the spruce |
The trail climbs to about 4,460' and the high point of the Mower Basin Trails along the west side of Hawk's Ridge. Once on top, I left the tight spruce trees and followed the remnants of an old dirt road before dropping to Peregrine Falcon.
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| Mossy section on old road |
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| Fast riding near height of Hawk's Ridge |
Peregrine Falcon serves as a short connector between Hawk's Ridge and the Golden Eagle Loop. Although short, it provides as fast drop to the Golden Eagle Loop. Near the junction of Peregrine Falcon and Golden Eagle, I stopped to take in a few views just off the trail.
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| Onto the outer loops |
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| View near start of Golden Eagle |
The Golden Eagle Loop runs 1.5 miles. I rode the northern half of the loop. The trail drops here but the flow isn't as good as most of the previous trails as it becomes more rocky. After riding the northern half, I reached another short connecter called Merlin that lead to the Bald Eagle Loop.
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| Golden Eagle rides over more rock in dense spruce |
The Bald Eagle Loop runs 1.5 miles and serves as the outer most point of the trails here, though you can drop down to a to a different trailhead off of Bald Eagle. Since this was the end of my line I rode the full loop. Bald Eagle is little more rocky than most of the trails to this point with some lightly technical areas but nothing a seasoned rider can't tackle.
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| Rock along Bald Eagle |
I finished Bald Eagle, retraced my way on Merlin, and was back at Golden Eagle. I rode the south half of Golden Eagle this time to complete the rest of the loop. This section seemed similar to the slightly technical and rocky stretches on Bald Eagle. Finally I reached the end of Bald Eagle. I returned back to Hawk's Ridge after riding Peregrine Falcon again. I must admit riding this direction on Peregrine Falcon is a little more challenging as it climbs most of the way.
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| Section of Golden Eagle |
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| Back on Hawk's Ridge |
Finally back on Hawk's Ridge, I was long awaiting the ride on the west half of the loop. By all accounts, this section sounded like it was the best trail stretch at Mower Basin. After a brief descent, I started climbing through spruce. This also felt similar to western trails with the coniferous trees, nice tread, big views, and bright blue sky. It's just something you don't really see riding in the East.
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| Climbing through spruce on excellent tread |
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| Looking back at the view on Hawk's Ridge |
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| A view through the spruce and pine |
I have encountered trails with a similar feel in Northern New England and the Adirondacks, but they are normally much rockier and they are not open to mountain bikes. The riding through the spruce along this stretch felt similar to many trails I have ridden in Colorado and Montana.
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| This reminded of many trails in Colorado |
The trail soon broke out of the spruce and onto the open, grassy basin. Then the views opened up. From here I rode through mostly wide open views of the surrounding mountains for the rest of the Hawk's Ridge Loop.
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| Breaking out of the trees |
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| View to the west |
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| Looking back on Hawk's Ridge |
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| Enjoying the view ahead and nice riding |
I was generally traveling downhill and the flow was decent. As I descended, the trail briefly headed back into the trees but quickly popped back out into the open. The trail traveled next to an old road in some stretches as well. I crossed a few sections that were a little rougher, but I really enjoyed the constant views and didn't notice the choppier sections.
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| This clearing was part of old strip mine |
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| Another look back |
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| A section of slightly rougher tread |
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| View to the south |
I would probably ride Hawk's Ridge in the opposite direction if I rode it again. While I enjoyed finishing the loop with the scenery, the steeper climb when I started it would have been more enjoyable heading downhill and provided a nice, tight descent in the spruce.
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| Briefly back into the forest |
By this point I had ridden nearly every trail. Earlier I skipped Thrasher back on the other set of loops off of Sparrow. I started with a 1/2 mile on Sparrow, enjoying the fast and flowy ride. I then turned onto Thrasher. Thrasher has a little more challenge than the other trails in these loops. Rocky features are fairly common on Thrasher. A couple short sections require some descent skills to negotiate tighter and rockier trail between large boulders along the trail.
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| Start of Thrasher |
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| Passing some rock features on Thrasher |
While I think most experienced riders could handle Thrasher with little difficulty, just be aware it's not as fast and flowy as Sparrow, Warbler, and Junco on this set of loops. Near the end is the most technical section of the entire Mower Basin system where Thrasher picks its way through a small rock maze with huge boulders along the trail, while picking its way through rocky tread. The stretch is short though and probably would have felt easier when I didn't have nearly three hours of riding behind me.
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| Rocky tread on Thrasher |
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| Rock work near end of Thrasher |
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Looking back at technical section that winds
between large boulders |
After riding the 1.3 miles on Thrasher, it ends on Junco. I was more than happy to take in the flow and views on Junco. I stopped to take pictures the first time on Junco, so it was nice to ride it full speed this time without stopping.
Reaching the trailhead, I had some energy left. This time I tackled Warbler again. I stopped to take pictures the first time and wanted to enjoy the flow at full speed without the photo breaks. After Warbler I was content, hungry, and ready to call it a day after about 18 miles of riding.
With the exception of a couple very short cross connector trails, I rode every loop that Mower Basin has to offer. The riding far exceeded my expectations. While the trails were purpose built with good flow and enough challenge to keep it interesting, the combination of the scenery and riding is very hard to beat compared to anything I have ridden in the East.
Thrasher was probably the most difficult trail in terms of technical challenge. Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle probably came close with several snaky sections of trail with rock and root in the mix. Most of the other sections had good flow and were just fun. Hawk's Ridge and Junco are the two trails I'd recommend if you have limited time. They both ride well and the scenery is hard to beat.
Perhaps the oddest thing about the area, it seems to be unknown and overlooked compared to other popular riding spots in WV like Snowshoe or Davis/Canaan Valley. Yes I here rode here on a Tuesday, but only one other rider was there when I rode here. More than 20 designated sit along the road from US 250 to the trailhead, and I saw only one other vehicle at an early campsite- an area of about 40,000 acres. I'm sure the weekend might see more traffic but it was crazy to see so few people given how beautiful the area is and that it's purpose built mountain bike trails.
For more trail details and maps, I provided the links below.
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