Beckley advancing plans for trails through former coal mining lands

Apr. 21—Near the center of Raleigh County, among a high school, a hospital and a highway, sits more than 600 acres of former coal mining land that has mostly gone untouched in recent years.

But through a partnership with the West Virginia Land Trust (WVLT), which owns the property, and the city of Beckley, the goal is to open the area to the public with trails that eventually connect to Beckley Rail Trail as well as New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.

The partnership between the WVLT and Beckley was solidified during a Common Council meeting on April 11 when council members approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the Piney Creek Preserve Partnership.

Corey Lilly, the director of outdoor economic development for Beckley, said the MOU allows the city and the WVLT to work together to develop the area, known as the Piney Creek Preserve, for recreational purposes.

"This property and this project and Beckley Outdoor is the key to unlocking so much, like funds, young people moving to the area and transforming Beckley into becoming the most attractive city to live in, in West Virginia," Lilly said.

West Virginia Land Trust is a statewide nonprofit dedicated to protecting West Virginia's natural lands, scenic areas, water quality and recreational opportunities.

Following the approval of the MOU, Lilly and Jesse Cecil, operations manager for the WVLT, took The Register-Herald on a tour of the Piney Creek Preserve.

Lilly said the goal is to have a soft opening of the Piney Creek Preserve at the end of September.

Before that happens, Lilly said they need to work on improvements to the parking area which would serve as the trailhead for the southern entrance to the Piney Creek Preserve.

He added that they also need to clean and clear up a few trails that connect to the southern trailhead as well as install trail kiosks about the history of the former coal mining lands.

"So we have a lot of work to do, as you can tell, and it's not going to be all immediately finished — everything's going to be phased, but we're super excited about it and the opportunity that it has," Lilly said.

Cecil said the Piney Creek Preserve is a total of 613 acres. Plans for it include 20 miles of trails for hiking and mountain biking. The preserve would also include several areas for rock climbing.

Cecil said the WVLT acquired the Piney Creek Preserve in 2021 as part of a legal settlement negotiated by Appalachian Headwaters, a non-profit organization that grew out of Appalachian Mountain Advocates, with an energy company.

Touring the Piney Creek Preserve

The southern entrance to the Piney Creek Preserve is located at the end of Stanaford Mine Road. The road goes on for roughly a mile and transitions from a paved to a gravel road at about the halfway mark.

At the end of the road is a gravel parking area. Even though the parking lot is underneath the East Beckley Bypass bridge, which runs over Cranberry Creek, the only sounds that can be heard are the rustling of trees and water flowing through the creek.

There are already three fairly distinctive trails that branch out from the parking lot — two located northwest of the parking area that follow Little White Stick Creek and Cranberry Creek and a third that runs east under the bypass bridge.

Cecil said the trails that run along Little White Stick Creek and Cranberry Creek will be some of the first they work on in the lead-up to the soft opening in September.

At the moment, the paths are narrow, somewhat uneven and sparsely covered with fallen branches.

Less than a 10-minute walk on the trail bordering Cranberry Creek is a slow-moving waterfall located in a gorge surrounded by trees.

Cecil said Cranberry Creek, which feeds into Piney Creek, also runs behind several of the shopping centers in Beckley.

He added that the "beauty of this place" is that while it's adjacent to many commercial attractions in Beckley, not a single car, building or structure besides nature can be seen from the trails.

Branching off from the trail is one that follows Little White Stick Creek, another feeder of Piney Creek.

This trail also leads to a waterfall that is higher in elevation with water falling off a cliff and into a small pool roughly 20 feet below.

While the plan leading into the September soft opening is to keep the natural look of these two trails, Cecil said they are working on securing grant funding to build an ADA boardwalk from the parking lot to the two waterfalls.

Preserving nature and history

Lilly said the history of coal mining can be seen throughout the Piney Creek Preserve.

"What we're standing on right now is the old coal bench," said Lilly while standing in the southern trailhead parking lot.

"There's actually tracks that used to run up through here to some coal mines."

Just past the parking area is a stone-built wall which Cecil said is a "relic of the mining activity that was here."

"You can find this kind of thing throughout the gorge all the way out," he said. "Hand-built stone walls, there's an old stone house, lots of concrete pads — pieces of the old mining infrastructure that still exist. And you know we're not looking to gloss over that or eliminate that."

Along the edges of Little White Stick Creek and Cranberry Creek, Cecil pointed out half a dozen mine portals as well as the coal seams that can be seen throughout the preserve.

"It may seem like somewhat of a natural topography, but every inch of this gorge has been impacted by mining activity," Cecil said. "But that's kind of what makes it unique and cool. I mean, it might be unique and cool anyway, but there's an added element. A lot of the benches that we're going to be using for hiking trails are old mine benches.

"In fact, a lot of this gorge probably wouldn't be accessible for recreation had it not been heavily impacted by mining."

Planning for the future

From its southern entrance, the Piney Creek Preserve weaves its way north somewhat following the path of Stanaford Road, also known as W.Va. 41, and ending just before Piney View.

From there it's only a few miles to the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.

However, in between the Piney Creek Preserve and the national park is a property owned by Stretcher Neck, Lilly said.

According to the secretary of state's website, Gov. Jim Justice's two children, James and Jillean, are listed as members of Stretcher Neck.

In order to construct a trail that would connect the preserve and the national park, Lilly said they will need Stretcher Neck to approve an easement through the property.

"That's holding up funds from Raleigh County where they have a $250,000 grant that is likely to be pulled back if we don't get that easement through that property," Lilly said.

He added that Stretcher Neck has been aware of the need for an easement but has not given a formal response to the WVLT or the city.

If all goes well with Stretcher Neck, Cecil said he envisions a trail to the national park that would take people on a two-day through hike.

"We need to talk about how to manage camping ... but I think that in light of a two-day through hike to the New River Gorge, that's a really appealing opportunity and so we would want to figure out how to make that work."

The possibility of this trail was recognized in 2012 by the National Park Service as part of a concept plan called Connecting the Parks with the Gateway Communities.

"(The plan) identifies this trail corridor that we're talking about through the West Virginia Land Trust property. This is even before they acquired it," Lilly said. "They're just saying this is a possible route to connect Beckley to the National Park ... So the land trust acquiring this piece of property is like the first step toward that."

With a history rooted in coal, Cecil said the conservation and conversion of the Piney Creek Preserve into a space with numerous recreational opportunities is at the core of what the WVLT does.

"The West Virginia Land Trust's mission is twofold; one is to protect land ... but the second part is building a conservation movement throughout the state," he said. "And that means more than just protecting the land and putting a fence around it.

"That means engaging with the hearts and minds of people. Having folks be able to have an experience that leaves an indelible mark. You know, they get out on the land, they have an experience that they remember forever."

Since 1994, the WVLT has permanently protected more than 20,000 acres of land statewide and has 22 preserves around the state.

Plans for the Piney Creek Preserve are part of Beckley's new initiative, Beckley Outdoors. For more information about Beckley Outdoors go to https://beckleyoutdoors.com.

Email: jmoore@register-herald.com