Mountain Side Trail

The Mountain Side Trail (TR 114) is an easy hike that. On the southeast end of the trail, most of the trees are deciduous making for the wonderful autumn pictures below. The west end of the trail has more laurel, rhododendron and pine, along with more rocks and boulders on the trail. We passed some mountain bikers and wondered how enjoyable the large rocks would be (they didn't have suspension bikes--ouch!).

Starting to Head up

On the east side of the trail, the hiking is easy on gentle fire roads that are being allowed to return to nature. As we hiked, there was a light mist that made the autumn foliage shine bright orange and yellow colors. While the autumn colors in this region of Canaan Mountain were still around peak, the colors back in Canaan Valley were well past.

By the Bridge

On one part of the forest road there is a large wood bridge, sufficient to take trucks over. The leaves were especially pretty here where the small creak kept the trees well supplied with water. They say that the more rain you get in the last few weeks before leaves change, the brighter the foliage is. That is why foliage adjacent to stream beds are so brightly colored every year.