West Virginia trails · Kennison Mountain Trail
Kennison Mountain Trail
A 9.5-mile out-and-back in West Virginia, with 1,416 ft of climbing. Reaches Kennison Mountain. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
Most of the climbing sits in the first third — 67% of the ascent, between mile 0.0 and mile 3.2. It gives back about 912 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Kennison Mountain (summit)
Getting there
KENNISON MOUNTAIN TRAILHEAD — parking nearby. About 1 h 50 min drive (87 mi) from Beckley. 38.18522, -80.28065 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 7:02 a.m., the sun rises at 7:28 a.m. and sets at 6:45 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:11 p.m. (EDT) — 11 h 16 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 19.1-mile round trip takes roughly 8 h 29 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 3:57 p.m. — 2 h 47 min before sunset.
Loop options
- BLUE KNOB TRAIL + KENNISON MOUNTAIN TRAIL + Pocahontas Trail — 6.3 mi loop, 323 ft gain
Nearby trails
- North-South Trail — 6.7 mi
- Big Beechy — 7.8 mi
- Pocahontas Trail — 10.5 mi
- Middle Fork Trail — 11.6 mi