CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Outdoor enthusiasts in West Virginia now have the ability to plan trips on about 4,000 miles of recreational trail entirely online, whether from a desktop, tablet or smartphone.
The West Virginia Trail Inventory is a digital map of hiking, biking, horseback, water and all-terrain vehicle trails throughout West Virginia that is believed to be one of the first of its kind in the nation.
Friday, officials at the state Division of Tourism debuted the inventory to a group of about 35 tourism and government officials from across the state.
Available online, the map provides a statewide look at where trails begin and where they go, regardless of whether the user is in the Eastern Panhandle or the Metro Valley.
“It’s raw data in a form you can manipulate to your own needs,” said Bill Robinson, the former state trails coordinator who helped with the project.
Users can zoom to individual trails, which can be overlaid on a variety of maps, including topographical and aerial perspectives.
“We had to be very specific about what we wanted to collect,” Robinson said.
By clicking on a given trail, a user can see the uses for which the trail is approved, the elevation profile of a trail, the managing agency responsible for upkeep of the trail and what material comprises the trail’s surface…
