Arrowhead is the gorge's playground for mountain bikers: 12.8 miles of purpose-built singletrack in four stacked loops (Clovis, Adena, Dalton and LeCroy), tucked into the woods at the end of Kaymoor No. 1 Road a few miles outside Fayetteville. The Park Service rates it easy to intermediate, it's free to ride, e-bikes aren't allowed, and if you didn't bring a bike, Arrowhead Bike Farm at the entrance will rent you one.
How to get to the Arrowhead trailhead
From downtown Fayetteville, take Court Street (WV 16) south and turn left on Gatewood Road. After about 2 miles, turn left on Kaymoor No. 1 Road at the park signs, follow it to the T and go right; the road dead-ends at the gravel trailhead lot, where maps are posted. Don't count on water or restrooms at the lot, so fill your bottles before you leave town.
Arrowhead Bike Farm, 8263 Gatewood Road (304-900-5501), sits right at the entrance to the trails, and it's a handy base: a shop open 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Sunday through Thursday and 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM Friday and Saturday, rentals daily from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, a campground open all year, and The Handle Bar + Kitchen, which opens at 11:00 AM for your post-ride meal. The rental fleet is Trek Marlin 7 and Trek Roscoe bikes in adult and kids' sizes, helmets included. Wear closed-toe shoes, and call for prices.
Status as of September 22, 2026: The Arrowhead Trails are open. The Kaymoor Miners Trail, off the other branch of the same T, is closed Monday to Thursday until November 19 at its upper end; that doesn't affect Arrowhead. Check the
NPS closures page before you go.
The four loops, from easiest to hardest
The clever part of Arrowhead is the layout. The loops nest inside each other, easy in the middle and more technical toward the outside, so you can step up to harder trail or bail out at every junction. A rider on Singletracks says there are signs at every turn.
Arrowhead Trails loops, easiest to hardest | Loop | Length | Level | What to expect |
|---|
| Clovis | 1.1 mi loop | Beginner | The inner loop, on a wide 30- to 36-inch tread |
| Adena | 3.1 mi loop | Intermediate | The middle loop |
| Dalton | 6.4 mi loop (about 7 mi on some GPS apps, with roughly 430 ft of climbing) | Intermediate | Narrower 20- to 24-inch tread, tighter turns and rocks; connections at 0.3, 0.4 and 1.0 mile from the lot; crosses the access road 0.15 mile above the lot |
| LeCroy | 1.8 mi one-way spur | Intermediate | Branches off Dalton through a rhododendron tunnel and over a rock bridge, ending at Kaymoor Road near the turnoff |
Those loops add up to a little over 12 miles, and connectors make up the rest; some apps and guides round the system up to 13 or 14 miles. The Beckley-area trail group and the Park Service both say 12.8.
Is Arrowhead good for beginners?
Mostly, yes. The Park Service rates the whole system easy to intermediate, and the local shops agree. "Arrowhead is perfect for beginners and advanced riders," Adam Stephens, owner of Marathon Bicycle Company, says on the town's tourism site, describing it as fast and flowy for strong riders, "a rolling trail with no large climbs." Andy Forron of New River Bikes named linking the Town Park trails to Arrowhead as one of his favorite rides.
In practice, a first-timer will have a great time on Clovis and probably Adena. Dalton's narrower, rockier tread is where newer riders start pushing their bikes, and there's no shame in that. For current trail conditions, ask at the shops in town before you head out.
Trail rules and etiquette
Bikes are allowed only on trails the park designates, and Arrowhead is one of them. E-bikes of any class are not: under the superintendent's compendium, effective July 1, 2026, only the Stone Cliff Trail is open to Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes, and Class 3 is banned from all park trails and administrative roads. Riders yield to people on foot, downhill riders yield to uphill ones, and failing to yield is against the rules.
Hikers and dogs are welcome too, with dogs on a leash of six feet or less. If you're walking, expect fast riders around blind corners and step aside for them.
Built by a thousand Scouts
Arrowhead has a great origin story. More than 1,000 members of the Order of the Arrow, the Boy Scouts of America's honor society, built it in the Craig's Branch area in 2011, putting in 78,544 volunteer hours valued at $1.6 million. The Park Service called it "one of the largest youth service projects in National Park Service history."
When to ride, and where to ride next
Arrowhead is open year-round like the rest of the park, and so is the Bike Farm campground. Want a longer day? From the Arrowhead lot, the Craig Branch Trail (2.4 miles one way, bikes allowed) drops toward the Kaymoor Trail, and the Fayetteville Trail from the Town Park lets you ride in straight from town. Hikers can walk to the ruins on the Kaymoor Miners Trail from the other branch of the T.
Beyond the park, the Summit Bechtel Reserve near Beckley opens about 35 miles of trail in the off-season, generally late October to late April, to riders who join the New River Gorge Trail Alliance ($15 individual, $25 family) and sign a waiver, per WV Explorer; check the alliance calendar before you go. Summersville Lake has about 16 miles of cross-country trail open to e-bikes on Trailforks, with hunters around in season, and Little Beaver State Park near Beckley has 17 named trails.
For tubes, tune-ups and trail beta, see the gear shops guide; New River Bikes and Marathon Bicycle Company are both near the Court Street light, and the camping guide covers places to pitch a tent near the trails. The trailhead is a few minutes from downtown, so a cabin or room in Fayetteville keeps you close to the dirt; the map here compares places to stay nearby.
