Greenbrier River Trail
The Greenbrier River Trail (GRT), is a lineal state park comprising a 77.1-mile (124.1 km) rail trail between North Caldwell and Cass in eastern West Virginia, United States.
| Greenbrier River Rail Trail State Park | |
|---|---|
Greenbrier River Trail south of Marlinton | |
Location of Greenbrier River Trail's Marlinton Depot in West Virginia | |
| Location | Greenbrier County, West Virginia and Pocahontas County, West Virginia |
| Nearest town | Marlinton, West Virginia |
| Coordinates | 38°13′18″N 80°05′39″W |
| Elevation | 2,116 ft (645 m) |
| Established | 1980 |
| Named for | Greenbrier River |
| Governing body | West Virginia Division of Natural Resources |
| Website | wvstateparks |
The GRT route and its contours were originally engineered by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, serving as a passenger and freight line before becoming unviable after the Great Depression. The right of way was gifted to the State of West Virginia in the late 1970s and the former railbed reopened in 1980 as a recreational multi-use trail.
The wheelchair-accessible trail features a hard-packed crushed-limestone surface accommodating hiking, bicycling, ski-touring and horseback-riding. Access is provided at 14 trailheads. The route features 16 primitive campsites (several with three-sided camping shelters), 50 to 60 picnic tables, and passes three state parks and two state forests. As it follows the Greenbrier River, the trail drops 732 feet (223 m) (north to south) along its route, crossing 35 trestles and traversing two tunnels – Droop Mountain Tunnel with a length of 409 feet (125 m) and Sharps Tunnel with a length of 500 feet (150 m).
In 1999, the GRT was one of 50 trails in the United States designated a Millennium Legacy Trail. In 2012, the trail was elected to the National Rail Trail Hall of Fame and was named by Backpacker magazine as "one of the Top 10 hiking trails in the United States."