Trail snapshot
Trail(s): 5 miles of double track and single track. Surfaces vary from grass to roots, dirt and rocks.
Difficulty: The trails at Stonewall are ideal for the Advanced Beginner in good aerobic condition.
Outdoor Travels Rating: 3 out of 5 bikes.
Thumbs up
-Trails are very well maintained
-If you like rolling, undulating terrain with a few climbs and lots of downhill, these trails are for you
-Easy trail access from the resort roads
-Nice views of lake and surrounding woodlands
Thumbs down
-Fallen leaves made it difficult to locate the trail at some points during the ride
-No markings or signage on the Autumn Laurel Brook trail
-Not much in the way of obstacles or technical riding
-Plenty of acreage available but only 2 trails at resort; one very short trail at nearby Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park that I did not ride.
Nuts & bolts
Location: Stonewall Resort and Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park are both located in north central West Virginia. The area is 30 minutes south of Clarksburg, WV and 1 ½ hours northeast of Charleston, WV. Distance from other major cities include: Pittsburgh 2 hours; Cleveland 4 hours; Columbus 4 hours; and Washington DC 4 ½ hours.
Directions: Located just 3 miles off of I-79 (Exit 91) on Route 19 in Roanoke, WV. The resort and state park are accessible via air from Clarksburg. USAir offers five flights daily.
Facilities: Lodge, cottages, and campground. Rooms in the lodge run $99 to $159 per night through October, $79 to $119 from November through March. Cottages run from $225 a night (two bedrooms, sleeps six) to $325 (four bedrooms, sleeps 10 or more). Special offers include the Personalized Getaway, Fall Bed & Breakfast, and Golf Packages. Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park offers 34 campsites and a 350-slip marina; houseboats are available for rent. Call for rates.
Activities: golfing, swimming, spa, boating, mountain biking, hiking, hunting, and fishing.
Admission: Guests of the resort have unlimited access to trails, while visitors pay a one-day use fee of $5.
Contact Information:
Stonewall Resort
940 Resort Drive
Roanoke, WV 26447
Toll Free 1-888-278-8150
Nearby Attractions: Jackson’s Mill, Little Sorrel paddleboat cruises, Weston State Hospital, the West Virginia Museum of American Glass, and Lambert’s Vineyards. Visit the Lewis County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau website for more information on the surrounding area.
Maps and stuff
Trail Map
Lots of great photos to give you a good idea of what riding here is like!
Mountain Biking
Stonewall Resort
Roanoke, West Virginia
Genlte trails that you would swear were swept nightly.
10/25/04 - by Jeff Cobb
As a part of my job, I’m often required to staff an exhibit booth at various conferences across the state of West Virginia. As a result I’ve been lucky enough to stay at some of the nicer resorts the Mountain State has to offer – The Greenbrier, Pipestem, and Lakeview to name a few. For me, it’s an ideal time to combine work and pleasure. It’s a nice perk. When the exhibit hall closes for the afternoon, I run to my room, take off my suit and tie, pull on my biking shorts and make a mad dash into the surrounding woods to experience yet another titillating West Virginia mountain bike trail.
So it was with excitement that I greeted the news that my boss was sending me off for a three day rural health conference at Stonewall Resort. Named for the Civil War hero who was raised in a nearby hamlet, this resort has generated a good bit of buzz within the state and garnered quite a bit of praise from travel writers. The resort hosted a recent PGA qualifier event and the Arnold Palmer designed course has gotten rave reviews. But I was more excited about exploring the trails that ringed the ridge above the golf course and meandered along the shores of Stonewall Jackson Lake.
According to a brochure I picked up, Stonewall Resort is one of West Virginia’s finest vacation retreats. It is unique in that it is a collaborative effort between a private developer and the state. Construction began on Stonewall Resort in 2000 with $44 million from the private sector and $18.5 million from the state. The golf course opened in June 2002 and the lodge in October 2003. Situated on 2,000 pristine acres, the resort blends exceptional recreational opportunities, state-of-the-art conference facilities, luxurious resort accommodations and excellent cuisine. I ate at all three of Stonewall’s restaurants and they were all excellent. Lightburn (the golf clubhouse pub) and T.J. Muskie’s lounge offer casual vittles while Stillwaters is for a more elegant dining experience.
The Adirondack style main lodge is beautiful, with a great room featuring hardwood floors, vaulted exposed beam ceilings, a huge hearth, comfortable seating area, a library, and fine woodwork throughout. Great views of the lake and hills can be found from any window, and there is a very nice indoor/outdoor pool with several jaccuzis. And for those interested in a more pampered experience, there’s a spa on site that offers everything from facials, to pedicures, to full therapeutic body massages. Several cottages of varying sizes are also available.
While I didn’t visit it, located nearby is Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park. This park consists mainly of the lake and accompanying marina. Most of the visitors are there for boating or fishing. The lake itself was created in the mid 1980's by damming the West Fork River for the purpose of flood protection, water quality control, water supply and recreation. The resulting 2,600 acre is the state’s second largest (after Summersville Lake), covers 26 miles and has 82 miles of shoreline. It also has some of the best fishing in West Virginia. The park features a modern, fully equipped marina to accommodate all boating enthusiasts; both the docks and a fishing pier are accessible to the disabled. Boats are available for rent, camping (tent and RV) and picnicking is allowed, and a supply store is located near the marina.
All in all, it’s a great place to visit, even if you don’t want to mountain bike. Stonewall is an example of West Virginia at it’s finest – natural rugged beauty along with first class amenities. West Virginia has a portfolio of state parks ranked among the best in the nation. I wouldn’t be surprised if tourism has not supplanted coal and lumber as the state’s #1 industry. The mill and coal towns are being transformed by time and economics into inviting getaways, creating an extremely efficient catch basin for adventure travelers and vacationers from Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, Ohio and beyond.
Trail Reviews:
Hevner’s Orchard Trail – Autumn Laurel Brook Trail
Hevner’s Trail is 3.5 miles plus 1.5 on the road for a total of 5 miles. I rode it twice – once in each direction. Either way, you have a substantial climb to get to the trailhead and you had to climb early on, but then it leveled off and you had a roller coaster type trail with a few climbs in the middle. A mixture of single and double track. No obstacles other than a few roots and rocks. Good history. Riders go past an old stone wall out in the middle of the woods. Wait…stone + wall. Hmmmm. So that’s where they got the name! Farmers used the stone walls to help mark property lines and to round up cattle and pigs for harvest. Nothing outstanding or overly challenging. Several hills will test your lung capacity and endurance. Advanced beginner trail.
Autumn Laurel was 2 miles plus 1 mile of road riding for a total of 3 miles. No climbing at all, very fun undulating trail. Both trails were made more difficult due to the canopy of leaves on the ground. Several times I hit some big rocks that I couldn’t see, and I lost the trail a few times. Hevner’s was well marked with apple signs (the trail runs through the old Heaner’s Orchard) but the Autumn trail had no markings at all. Nothing outstanding or overly challenging. Not overly taxing aerobically speaking. Advanced beginner trail.
