Trail group changes name to Mountain State Trail Alliance

Four years after its founding, the New River Gorge Trail Alliance has decided to change its name to the Mountain State Trail Alliance to reflect the counties involved in the organization, according to organization president Bill Wells.

“As the trail alliance expanded over the last few years, we realized that we had outgrown our original footprint in the New River Gorge region,” Wells explained.

“While we will always have deep roots in the New River Gorge, the new name of Mountain State Trail Alliance better reflects our new county partners in Webster, Kanawha, and other southern West Virginia counties.”

Since its founding in 2016, the organization has received more than $2 million in grants toward its mission of building and supporting a regional trail network in southern West Virginia.

The alliance cleared and maintained more than 250 miles of trail in 2019 with a large network of volunteers and was recognized for its work with a Power of Performance Award in the “Revitalizing Communities” category at the “Small Communities, Big Solutions Conference” in Charleston, West Virginia, in November 2019.

The Mountain State Trail Alliance is a non-profit organization that promotes the health and well-being of the area by building and maintaining a regional trail system, and increasing economic development through tourism. Membership information is available at Mountain State Trails.