West Virginia trails · American Discovery Trail
American Discovery Trail
A 85.8-mile point-to-point in West Virginia, with 3,547 ft of climbing. Reaches Willowvale Farm Spring and other pass/spring/viewpoint destinations.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the final third: 48% of the ascent falls between mile 57.2 and mile 85.8. It gives back about 5,496 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Willowvale Farm Spring (spring)
- Lee Huffman Spring (spring)
- Falls Gap (pass)
- Hoyt Pennington Spring (spring)
- Wyatt Farm Spring (spring)
- Addie Judy Spring (spring)
- Lee Ullery Spring (spring)
- Cold Spring (spring)
- Greenland Gap (pass)
- Balsam Swamp Overlook (viewpoint)
Getting there
BEAR ROCKS LOOP TRAILHEAD — parking nearby. About 1 h 43 min drive (48 mi, 11 of them unpaved) from Elkins. 39.06596, -79.30166 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:58 a.m., the sun rises at 7:25 a.m. and sets at 6:40 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:07 p.m. (EDT) — 11 h 15 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 85.8-mile route works out to roughly 33 h 34 min of walking — more than a single day of daylight here, so plan it as an overnight or hike it in sections.
Loop options
- American Discovery Trail + Davis + Stemwinder Trail — 3.0 mi loop, 393 ft gain
- River Road Trail + Yellow Birch Trail + American Discovery Trail — 8.2 mi loop, 995 ft gain
- American Discovery Trail + Yellow Birch Trail — 1.4 mi loop, 115 ft gain
Across the border
- Continues into MD as American Discovery Trail — view on the map
Nearby trails
- Blackbird Knob Trail — 2.4 mi
- North Fork Mtn (N.F Gap-Red) — 6.9 mi
- North Fork Mountain Trail — 15.3 mi
- Shavers Mountain Trail — 22.0 mi