Trail Review: Kanawha State Forest’s Black Bear Trail

If you are following the trail series in Kanawha State forest in the order that they were written, you can pick up this trail at the end of the Rocky Ridge Trail. This can help create a loop to get back to the Rocky Ridge Trail Head if you don’t want to do an out and back. That being said, if you are going to do this, be warned this is a challenging trail to hike. And the combo makes part of a difficult loop.

This trail is extremely steep and rocky, this picture here definitely illustrates a lot of the Black Bear Trail. This is a difficult uphill climb and really should only be used by people who are looking for a challenge. While it is not as crazy as the rock scrambles of Old Rag Mountain, it is definitely as steep as the trail that leads up to that. The trail is not very long and provides an excellent conector to the Middle Ridge Trail, which you will need to make a loop, but at the cost of a difficult climb up. At the base of the trail there is no warning for this, but when you get to the top, it is nice enough to let you know it is an Advanced Trail.