West Virginia trails · North Fork Mountain Trail

North Fork Mountain Trail

A 10.4-mile out-and-back in West Virginia, with 571 ft of climbing. Reaches High Knob.

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Length

10.4 mi

Elevation gain

571 ft

Difficulty

Expert

Max grade

39%

Steepest mile

+393 ft

Tread at ≥10% grade

2.0 mi

Shape

out-and-back

Surface

Unpaved

Bikes

yes

Horses

yes

Elevation profile

The climbing leans toward the final third: 45% of the ascent falls between mile 6.9 and mile 10.4. It gives back about 1,110 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.

3-D terrain

USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5

Reaches

High Knob (summit)

Heads up

Terrain graded T2 (SAC scale).

Getting there

NORTH FORK MTN. (FR 79 TOWER) TRAILHEAD — parking nearby. About 2 h 17 min drive (67 mi) from Elkins. 38.84401, -79.32746 · 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 20.8-mile round trip takes roughly 8 h 17 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 3:42 p.m. — 2 h 58 min before sunset.