West Virginia trails · North-South Trail
North-South Trail
A 16.0-mile out-and-back in West Virginia, with 1,988 ft of climbing. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the first third: 53% of the ascent falls between mile 0.0 and mile 5.3.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Getting there
NORTH-SOUTH TRAILHEAD EAST — parking nearby. 38.27656, -80.23777 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:22 a.m., the sun rises at 6:49 a.m. and sets at 7:52 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:19 p.m. (EDT) — 13 h 03 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 32.1-mile round trip works out to roughly 13 h 52 min of walking — more than a single day of daylight here, so plan it as an overnight or hike it in sections.
Loop options
- North-South Trail + Laurelly Branch + Middle Fork Trail — 16.6 mi loop, 1,953 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Big Beechy — 1.4 mi
- Tea Creek Mountain Trail (452) — 6.0 mi
- Kennison Mountain Trail — 6.7 mi
- Middle Fork Trail — 8.5 mi