This guided mountain biking tour begins with an easy three-mile coast down into the New River Gorge and across the New River to the historic town of Thurmond, West Virginia.

Trip Description

West Virginia's Scenic New River Guided Mountain Biking Tour

Our most popular and easiest trip, it is 95% downhill. We will leave the ACE Bike Shop and warm up on the road.  After two small hills, it’s on to the Thurmond - Minden trailhead.  As part of the Rails-to-Trails program, this National Park Trail is well maintained, wide, and easy - it's all downhill for 3.2 miles.  The trail follows the contours of the gorge, winding back and forth as it descends to the New River.  Built in 1902, the Rend Branch Line was a difficult spur line to build due to the extreme topograhy and was active until it closed in 1972.  You will cross over five-decked railroad trestles experiencing spectacular scenery, waterfalls and fantastic overlooks.  You will catch glimpses of some of the bygone coal era relics and diverse wildlife.  You will have to work around a really cool, massive rock slide (short single track and easy wooden steps).  Your guide will point out McKinley Rock, talk about Mary Ingles epic journey through this area in 1755, and many other colorful historic facts.  At the end of the trail we will jump onto remote Rt. 25 (paved) for a short ride to Historic Thurmond.  Thurmond was established in 1873 and was one of the most important railroad towns on the entire C&O Railroad Line. We will cross the New River on the the Thurmond Bridge, orginally built in 1889, for a chance to explore parts of Thurmond and visit the Railroad Depot Museum.  You can hear tails of the shoot-em-up "Dodge City of the East", Harrison Ash, Captain Thurmond, the famous Dun Glen Hotel, and many other great tails.  We will then re-cross back over the New River and jump onto the Southside Junction Trail, one of only a few National Park Trails in the country that crosses over private property, in this case, ACE Adventure Resort property, which we lease to them for one dollar a year.  This is a fun single track that parallels the river about 50' below, offering riders and hikers great views of the river and gorge.  This rail line, another successful Rails-to-Trails story, was built in 1902 and accesses many of the old coal towns in this part of the gorge.  We will cross over the decked Arbucle Trestle and drop down to ACE Beach, our put-in for the Lower New River, one of our many private river access points, where we will pick you up and drive you back up the mountain to the resort.

This is a great beginner trip or the perfect refresher for those of us who may not have been on a bike in a while.  The trip begins and ends at ACE.  The entire trip length varies from 7-10 miles depending on your wishes.  It is not an overly physical trip, but if you have concerns give us a call.  Please meet 1/2 hour before the departure time at the Big Top Tent.

Guests have the choice of two seperate trip times: either the 8:30 am morning trip (great for bird watchers) or the 1:30 pm afternoon trip.  Many guests choose to maximize their adventure by adding this trip with a morning or afternoon activity like a Rapid River Run Trip, ATV Tour, Canopy Tour, Horseback Riding, Mud Obstacle Course, Paintball, or just relax and play around the ACE Lake Waterpark.