JULIAN, W.Va.-
Anglers and paddlers now have a second official venue for leisurely day trips in West Virginia.
After four years of planning, the 100-mile Walhonde Water Trail now has 19 designated access points between Madison on the Little Coal River and Whitesville on the Big Coal all the way to St. Albans where the two merge into the Lower Coal River, according to The Charleston Gazette.
Three more access sites will be available by the end of the year, said Bill Currey, president of the Coal River Group, which is developing the trail.
Brochures that outline nine day-trip routes along the river in Boone, Lincoln and Kanawha counties also should be available by the end of the year, he said.
The Coal River is best known for its gentle rapids, serene wilderness–including the section on the Big Coal between Racine and Dartmont–and some of the best fishing in the state, Currey said.
Above Alum Creek, anglers will find smallmouth bass, spotted bass and rainbow trout, said Bill Queen, chairman of the group’s recreation committee. Below Alum Creek, it’s mainly hybrid striped bass, sauger, walleye and catfish.
None of the rapids on the trail rate more difficult than Class II during normal flow conditions.
The Walhonde Water Trail passes through Whitesville, Sylvester, Racine, Ashford, Emmons and Alum Creek on the Big Coal; Madison, Danville, Julian and McCorkle on the Little Coal; and Tornado and St. Albans on the Lower Coal.
It is the second officially designated water trail in the state. The other is the Upper Monongahela Water Trail that travels from Fairmont into Pennsylvania.
For more details, visit .
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