Week 2: Turkey Spur to Long Branch Lake Trail Loop (52 Hikes in 52 Weeks)
Beautiful view of Pipestem State Park. (Courtesy Katherine Allen)
Hike #2 is officially in the books folks!
Hike Details:
Pipestem State Park
Turkey Spur to Long Branch Lake Trail Loop
37.53334, -80.9907
The second hike in my 52 Hikes 52 Weeks challenge took me on a three-hour drive southeast of Huntington to Pipestem State Park, not far from the city of Athens, West Virginia.
After heading to the McKeever Lodge to pick up a trail map and look at our hiking options, I decided to check out the Long Branch Lake Trail. Alone, the Long Branch Lake Trail is listed on All Trails as being a 3.1-mile loop. I decided to extend this hike by tacking on an additional trail for some added distance and elevation change.
My hiking partner and I ended up starting at the Turkey Spur Trailhead, which eventually ends at an intersection with the Long Branch Lake Trail. This extended our journey by about a mile and added a little more elevation change to the hike. Round trip, I clocked this loop as taking a little over two hours with a total of ~4.2 miles completed.
My loyal hiking partner, Helena Wilson.
If you want to check out just the Long Branch Lake portion of this trail, directions to the trailhead can be found on the All Trails app. I would classify this trail as easy but on the cusp of moderate. Similar to my first hike along the Wildcat Ridge Trail, there were a few sections that will get your heart rate up but should be very doable for most people.
This was easily one of my favorite WV hikes. Not because of a spectacular overlook like can be seen at a lot of popular West Virginia hiking hot spots, but because it was just otherworldly. The moment you step off of the road and onto the trail, you feel like you’ve been transported to another place, frozen and removed from everything else. Heavy snow coupled with the dense greenery of the forest made me feel like I should be leaving breadcrumbs to mark my path.
The signage for the Turkey Spur Trail is modest and made of wooden posts with easy to spot yellow lettering. Both the Turkey Spur Trail and the Long Branch Lake Trail are well labeled by red and blue diamonds, respectively.
Thankfully no breadcrumbs needed as the trails are well marked.
Walking along this trail, I saw a lot of snowshoe tracks. While there was a little bit of trudging involved through the snow, it was pretty well packed throughout most of the trail. I was perfectly fine in my waterproof hiking boots.
Due to the relatively short distance, all you really need for this hike are some snacks and plenty of water.
At about 0.6-0.7 miles into this loop, the lake becomes visible. Frozen and isolated, it provided some transporting views.
An example of the signage in the park.
Also, an important note, I know that All Trails is a resource that a lot of people use to plan out their hikes, but just a heads up that Pipestem State Park is not extensively represented on the platform. The best way to plan out your hiking experience at Pipestem is to research beforehand via wvstateparks.com or to find a paper trail map like I was able to find at McKeever Lodge.
If you want to find out more about this trail or about Pipestem State Park in general, check out wvstateparks.com.
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Here’s the hike!
Thanks for coming by, and I hope to see you on the trail!
