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RouteType: SHORT, TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: AVERAGE
Distance: 94 miles.
Lunch Stop: Melanie's Family restaurant (but it's only 50 miles into the short 94 mile route)
Direction from Canaan Valley: N, NW CLOCKWISE
Comments: Five rivers- Blackwater, Dry Fork, Black Fork, Shavers Fork, and Cheat. Back Hollow Road to WV-72 (not suitable for large trucks!!!) A few miles north on WV-72 I have included a sharp left onto River Road to follow the banks of the Dry Fork of the Cheat. This is a tricky sharp turn and some may prefer to stay straight on WV-72 which is twisty itself but you don't have this sharp left hand turn which may be difficult on a large touring bike. River Road merges back onto WV-72 in about 5 miles so either way will keep you on the route. We'll go through the community of Hendricks where the Blackwater River joins the Dry Fork and creates the Black Fork ( about 3.5 miles in length I believe it's the shortest river in WV), the Black Fork merges with the Shavers Fork just north of Parsons to create the Cheat which ultimately meets its end at Point Marion Pennsylvania north of Morgantown, WV where it joins the Monongahela River.
At Parsons we'll stay on WV-72 and just a bit north of town we'll drop off onto Holly Meadows Road to the right. We'll follow this to Limestone Road which will head up the mountain and eventually join Stemple Ridge Road. This will meet US-50 at which we'll turn right/east. I added Melanie's Restaurant as a waypoint in case folks want a bite to eat or coffee and Cathedral State Park is just across the road where one could stop and walk the trails among the old growth hemlock trees.
· From there we double back west on US-50 and back to Stemple Ridge Road but at the intersection with Location Road we will turn left onto Location Road and take it down into the valley to St. George. You will not regret riding Limestone, Location, and Stemple Ridge Roads, they are just incredibly beautiful.
· Once we arrive at St. George we will return to Holly Meadows Road until it intersects with Horseshoe Run Road, we will stay on it until we come to Lead Mine Mountain Road, we will take it, to the right. This road is a blast going up the mountain to it's terminus at US-219, there we will take US-219 and WV-32 back to CVR.