Touring - Greenbrier River Trail?

Has anyone toured the Greenbrier River Trail?

http://www.greenbrierrivertrail.com/top-header.htm#

I'm thinking about doing it in September.

Any idea if you can park at the trail head in Cladwell overnight?

Haven't done the whole length but I have done about 40 miles of it. It's a pretty great trail. I know you could park at Cass and I don't think you'd have a problem at any trailhead. I am not positive but I can't imagine that they don't allow overnight parking in North Caldwell. There is good camping at Watoga State Park at about the halfway point.

I am also planning on doing the whole trail in September. I'll probably move the trip around depending on weather.

I rode the section beween Marlinton and Cass a few years ago, then caught some paved roads (thru Green Bank) to Durbin and picked up the West Fork to Glady,then up to Stuart and took 6 along Shavers Fork to Parsons... eventually ending up in Ohiopyle.
The Greenbriar is nice, but I actually liked the West Fork better, and the unimproved dirt road along Shavers Fork, the best of all. Great, free camping on all three sections !

Question for those that have ridden it... the web site says "wide tires recommended" Are we talking MTB here, or will 32's (Cross bike) or 38's (touringized 29'er) work just fine?

You will be fine with narrower tires, but you are going to lose a little in the comfort department.

Thanks guys for the answers so far.


What kind of surface is it? Website says gravel but is it really more like the GAP or something courser?
Is there camping near Marlinton as Lewisburg?
How far are restaurants from the campsites?


I will most likely credit card tour but want to keep my options open. I think I am going to start in Cas now that I look things over, it looks like a better option.

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What kind of surface is it? Website says gravel but is it really more like the GAP or something courser?

About five years ago, I spent a few days at Marlinton and walked a few miles in each direction from Marlinton. At least around Marlinton the gravel was fairly coarse, I'd classify as very small rocks rather than pebbles, perhaps like roughly an inch to 1.5 inches across. I saw a relaxed guy going on a 3 speed with average sized tires but he was going slow.

Thanks guys for the answers so far.


What kind of surface is it? Website says gravel but is it really more like the GAP or something courser?
Is there camping near Marlinton as Lewisburg?
How far are restaurants from the campsites?


I will most likely credit card tour but want to keep my options open. I think I am going to start in Cas now that I look things over, it looks like a better option.

There are 3 miles around marlinton mostly on the south end that is all paved. the rest is a nice crusher run limestone. Well maintained trail overall.

There are free campsites IIRC one is just within ~2-4 miles north of marlinton. Marlinton is a small town, but has a nice sit down restaurant overlooking the river and you can sit on the covered deck and eat. Used to be The River Place but was sold last year, and I cant recall the new name. Dairy Queen, Sub shop in an exxon station, French's diner (Hole in the Wall but has the most Giantest pancakes for breakfast). There is a bike shop/coffee shop in marlinton too, but don't plan on finding what you want there. Mostly a coffee shop.

BTW, when are you planning on doing this trip?? I've done some parts of the GRT but I've been dying to tour the whole trail.

Plan A is for Labor day weekend (5 days). Plan B the weekend after (4 days).

Right now my buddy can only get 2 vacation days. Which weekend will depend on if we can get rooms Labor Day weekend. If Labor Day weekend then we would probably arrive the Friday before Labor Day, go for a train ride and really start the ride on Saturday.

If the weekend after, then I would prefer to arrive on the 10th. We would start the tour right away. We would have to wait to Sunday on the return to do a train ride. If my buddy can get a 3rd day then that would change things completely. We would probably have to arrive on the 12th because I think the train stops running during the week after Labor Day.



You are welcome to ride with us.


Here are our plans.




Five Day Plan (most likely Labor Day weekend if we can get rooms)
Day 1 Drive to Cass, take train ride (possibly 4 hour train ride), stay over night in Cass.
Day 2 Cas to Malinton 25 miles
Day 3 Marlinton to Lewisburg 50 miles
Day 4 Lewisburg to Marlinton 50 miles
Day 5 Marlinton to Cas 25 miles, drive home


Four Day Plan
Day 1 Drive to Cass, leave car at trail head, ride 25 miles to Marlinton.
Day 2 Marlinton to Lewisburg 50 miles
Day 3 Lewisburg to Marlinton 50 miles
Day 4 Marlinton to Cass 25 miles, drive home

Spinnaker, what you can do is go to the Pocahontas County website and look for a link about receiving more information about the area. Click Biking and they will send you a map of the GRT showing where the campgrounds are along the trail. I have one or two around here somewhere, but they're pretty big maps.