Mon Forest temporary detours on three trails

Trail users may experience temporary detours on two trails on the Cheat-Potomac Ranger District and one trail on the Greenbrier Ranger District starting as early as Jan. 8 until further notice, due to work on the WB Xpress pipeline project. The detours will not significantly impact travel time, and no work is expected to occur on weekends.

The 24.7 mile long North Fork Mountain Trail #501, located between trailheads at Smoke Hole Road to the north and Mountaineer Drive to the south, is a north to south trail along the ridgetop of North Fork Mountain. The trail detour will be located along Forest Service Road 79 where the trail shares the road within Columbia’s pipeline right of way.

The 12.0 mile long Allegheny Mountain Trail #532, located between trailheads at Whites Run Road to the north and Public Road 112 to the south, is a north to south trail along the ridgetop of the Allegheny Mountain. The trail detour will be located approximately 3 miles south of Whites Run Road trailhead parking area adjacent to Seneca Creek.

The 17.0 mile long Laurel Fork North Trail #306, located between trailheads at Middle Mountain Road to the north and to the south, is a north to south trail adjacent to Laurel Fork River. The trail detour will be located where the trail leaves the northern boundary of Laurel Fork North Wilderness, approximately 6 miles north of Laurel Fork Campground.

Signs will be posted at trailheads and along the detours to alert trail users of construction activities throughout the duration of the project.

“Columbia Gas Transmission has worked closely with the Forest Service and other parties over the last two years to develop a construction process that minimizes impact to resources and visitors,” said Cheat-Potomac District Ranger Troy Waskey. “These short trail detours will ensure visitor safety during construction without significantly affecting the outstanding recreation experience that visitors to the Monongahela National Forest have come to expect.”

Construction activities include tree felling, right-of-way clearing, trenching, backfilling and restoration. Pipeline construction is anticipated to be completed in two days at each location, but it may be necessary to detour trail users for several weeks or months depending on construction sequencing and weather conditions.

For more information contact W.J. Cober, Forest Recreation Program Manager, at 304-636-1800 extension 293 or wcober@fs.fed.us, or visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/mnf/home.

 

Story By

Heather Niday

Heather is our Program Director and Traffic Manager. She started with Allegheny Mountain Radio as a volunteer deejay. She then joined the AMR staff in February of 2007. Heather grew up in the Richmond, Virginia, area and now lives in Arbovale, West Virginia with her husband Chuck. Heather is a wonderful flute player, and choir director for Arbovale UMC. You can hear Heather along with Chuck on Tuesday nights from 6 to 8pm as they host two hours of jazz on Something Different.

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