West Virginia trails · Middle Fork Trail
Middle Fork Trail
A 10.2-mile out-and-back in West Virginia, with 1,803 ft of climbing. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the final third: 48% of the ascent falls between mile 6.8 and mile 10.2. It climbs almost continuously, with little descent to recover on.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Heads up
Getting there
THREE FORKS TRAILHEAD — parking nearby. About 2 h 11 min drive (78 mi, 4 of them unpaved) from Beckley. 38.33665, -80.37415 · 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 7:29 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 20.4-mile round trip takes roughly 9 h 22 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 4:50 p.m. — 1 h 55 min before sunset.
Loop options
- North-South Trail + Laurelly Branch + Middle Fork Trail — 16.6 mi loop, 1,953 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Pocahontas Trail — 5.7 mi
- Big Beechy — 7.4 mi
- North-South Trail — 8.5 mi
- Fork Mountain Trail — 9.3 mi