MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A nationally renowned trail developer is ready to present portions of a new trail network development that is ready to be put to use in the North Central West Virginia region.
Village-to-Village Trails owner and co-developer of the Mountaineer Gravel project David Landis will make an appearance at the 3rd Annual Visit Mountaineer Country Tourism Summit scheduled for May 5, where he is scheduled to talk about the new, multi-county Mountaineer Gravel project. Landis will discuss the work that has taken place over the past year to establish the network that will account for over 1,000 miles of local roads and trails located across the north-central part of the Mountain State.
“You know, for this thing to be sustainable in the long run, we want everyone connected and everyone involved,” said Landis. “It’s a growing process.”
The Mountaineer Gravel project consists of 28 existing world-class mixed-surface cycling routes spanning across the Greater Morgantown area. The trails range from 5 to 75 miles and feature rugged terrain with varying elevations that offer scenic day route options and challenging bikepacking adventures, many of which were designed by Landis. The hope is that when a formal visualization of the project is shown combined with the application of landmarks and views from around the region, it will create more opportunities for collaborations.
“What’s unique about Morgantown is that you have the Mon River Trail and the Deckers Creek Trail, which you can take car-free to get out into the countryside,” said Landis on WAJR’s Talk of the Town. “And get out of that built-up area, and then you can go up Deckers Creek into Masontown and link into this whole network with connected dirt trails.”
According to Landis, the idea of a potential Mountaineer Gravel network was started by Visit Mountaineer Country CVB Susan Riddle after conversations with other CVBs in the North Central West Virginia region. This included conversations involving leaders in Monongalia, Preston, and Taylor counties as well as local organizations to host events such as the 2025 Mountaineer Monster, an over 250-mile-long bikepacking event partially organized by Landis that will take place in the fall. The rollout of programming and activities is considered a start of a grander vision set up by Riddle and Visit Mountaineer Country CVB.
“The CVB initiated it and brought me in and helped support that whole process,” said Landis on WAJR’s Talk of the Town. “Also, it’s a great tool for just promotion and marketing these types of rides and routes to visitors coming into the area to spend time and spend money.”
The hope for the Mountaineer Gravel project is that it will open the door to support events that could be hosted throughout the Gravel Route Network. This will be helped by the wide variety of dirt and gravel roads that will be in seven regional hubs located within a reasonable travel distance of food and lodging in the Greater Morgantown area. With events already planned for 2025 with the summer still several months away, Landis is excited to present Mountaineer Gravel and show the potential of the project.
“I think it has the potential to bring people from the region for sure, from other parts of the state,” said Landis. “And if there’s more and more of these projects, I think that West Virginia as a whole will be a destination for this, and this network being one of the first ones to start.”
The 3rd Annual Visit Mountaineer Country Tourism Summit will take place on Monday, May 5, at the West Virginia University Erickson Alumni Center starting at 8 a.m.