Tea Creek Mountain Trail. (different from Tea Creek Trail) Another difficult ride and another ride where you’ll need to have someone drop off the bikers and then pick up at the end of the ride.

Drive 15 miles south on 219 to a right on the Highland Scenic Highway 150. Drive about 7 miles to the Little Laurel Overlook on your right where the bikers are dropped off. The pick up car will need to continue on Highway 150 another 4 miles to the Williams River and wait there..

This ride is 6 miles and starts with a very steep run followed by a boulder field.   After about half way, the trail begins to descend to the valley and the Williams River. Just after 1/2 way you’ll come to another trail to the right which is the lower end of the North Face Trail. Don’t turn and continue on Tea Creek until the bottom and you reach the Williams River and the Williams River Trail. Ride along the trail back to the highway and the bridge over the Williams River.

Slatyfork, WV from Outdoor Trails

Often referred to as "The Mountain Biking Mecca of the East", there's a big secret in a little town in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains in eastern West Virginia. Some of the best mountain biking in the United States can be found spread somewhat centrally around the tiny town of Slatyfork (pop. 448) in Pocahontas County. Miles and miles (often estimated at over 200) of single track, a little over 100 miles of picturesque rails-to-trails double track on the Greenbrier River Trail (see our review of this great trail) and West Fork Rail Trail, and seemingly endless miles of forest roads can be found in the sprawling Monongahela National Forest, which encompasses 900,000 square miles of public land. Add to that West Virginia State Park property and private areas, and you come up with over 800 miles of trails to ride!

Mountain Biking Prop’s Run in Slatyfork, WV.

http://outdoortravels.com/biking_wv_log_propsrun.html

Props Run is 8.7 downhill miles in length. Mud, rocks, streams and ridge trails give this ride a distinctive personality. Props Run is the one trail that pops up again and again when biking in Slatyfork is the subject. It is supposed to be the signature trail of the area as well as one of the best downhill rides in the United States. For these reasons, this was the only trail I insisted we ride during our visit to Slatyfork. On a foggy and damp morning, Jeff, Christopher and I headed out to ride Props. Leaving from the Elk River Touring Center, we took SR 219 south about 2 miles to FR 24 (Mine Road), which is where the lower mountain trails of the Gauley Mountain system are. We continued up and up on the Forest Road into the fog, eventually parking at the Tea Creek Trail trailhead. Our plan was to ride FR 24 for a couple of miles to Props Run's trailhead and ride the trail down the mountain, back to the Touring Center and then get in another car and go after the car we left at the Tea Creek trailhead. Without two cars, you have two choices. Use the shuttle service available at Elk River Touring Center to take you up the mountain or make a very long and grueling ride up a mountain and back down.

 

Back at Elk River Touring Center, Christopher had reviewed the map and directions to Props Run trailhead. This would later lead to a very interesting situation. After parking and readying our bikes and gear, we began riding foggy Forest Road 24 north. Christopher mentioned that it would be a mile or two to the trailhead. We soon came to a closed gate on FR 24 that Christopher remembered from the directions. As we rode around the gate, Christopher mentioned that he believed the trailhead to be a short distance from the gate. Needless to say, it wasn't. We rode up and down FR 24 several times and explored a side road looking for the trailhead. One would think that a popular ride like Props Run would have a clearly marked trailhead - one would think. After doubling back several times, we decided to ride back to the car and ride one of the many marked trails near there. The Forest Road was beautiful, but we were itching for some quality singletrack!
 

We still didn't know what trail we were on, if it was actually open, where it went, or if it ended anywhere that wouldn't entail a major journey back to our car or the Touring Center. What we did know was that it was a fun trail and that we were finally on some sweet if not very muddy singletrack! The trail ran along a ridge and was predominately downhill. As the rain picked up we found ourselves riding several technical stream crossings and several more very fun ridge trails that were precariously positioned above the area where the trail had been. Christopher was demonstrating his ability to keep us entertained with interesting and comical crashes. We even began to name them. First was the "Mystery Wreck"  one where Jeff nor I saw it happen, we rode up to Christopher standing over and staring with a certain level of anger at his then, horizontal bike. There was also the "Slo-mo Endo"  an endo that looked violent but slow; the "FAA Disaster" wreck where his bike shook with the fierceness of a 747 with its wings falling off, as he crossed a very rocky creek and ended up in it. The most interesting incident, I dubbed the "Peter Pan". I had stopped at the end of another ridge trail to see if  my partners were going to ride the steep but short drop at the end. What I immediately saw, as I turned, was a site I won't soon forget. With no bike in sight, I saw Christopher flying through the air off the ridge trail, legs splayed, arms out, with his feet at least 7-8 feet from the ground! Seems he had slipped on a wet root on the top of the ridge trail and had to abandon ship! It looked like he was trying to fly! He landed safely - I laughed for a long time at the visual of him flying through the air.
 

It REALLY began to rain soon after we did a little trail maintenance by fixing the log "steps" that helped with riding up and over a large tree that was laying over the trail. Did I mention that it REALLY started raining? It did. If it wasn't muddy enough already, it was getting worse. The mud actually made the ride that much more fun! As we continued down, I mentioned that if Props Run was this good, it would be a great trail! I tried to ride through a small tree that covered the trail. I thought it looked small enough to crumble when I hit it. I was wrong, the tree won. It grabbed my bike and yanked it out from under me. Somehow I landed on my feet and continued running!
 

Rain, rain, rain.  it just kept coming! After riding through a picuresque canyon area. we saw the first signs of civilization when we passed a guy walking up the trail with a fishing pole and then a very nice bridge over a beautiful creek falling down the mountain. We stopped on the bridge in the rain to take a few "look how muddy we are" photos. A short distance later we found ourselves at a noticeably lower elevation as we skirted a pretty field to our left. Finally an end of some sort was in site, a sign in the distance marked the end of our mystery ride. We took bets as we rode up to it as to what trail we had been on. It was Props Run after all! It still is a mystery to me as to why the trailhead of the signature run in Slatyfork is in shambles and disarray.
 

We still had one interesting obstacle to overcome before riding the short distance back down 219 to Elk River Touring Center - crossing the Elk River. We hoisted our bikes and crossed the thigh-deep waters to the other side. This was a first for all of us and I have to say, it was quite a cool ending to our interesting ride! We rode past a lumber-yard and turned right onto 219. Back at ERTC a warm shower, a "sort-of hot" tub that I sat in for all of 5 chilling seconds, and several cold beers awaited!

http://www.singletracks.com/php/trail.php?id=2430

Description: Try to locate the "Slatyfork Mountain Bike Guide" anywhere but ERTC or Snowshoe. They support taking our trails away through wilderness designation. The map is invaluable and should be available at other locations. I'll check who the printer is and try to post info for locating one. There are a bunch of great trails on this map and some suggested rides that are great. To ride Props Run it's recommended to shuttle unless you like a 6 mile climb on Gravel Rd. and then a few more miles out the ridge.

My favorite ride is to park one vehicle at Mine Rd. (FR24) just south of Slatyfork and use another vehicle and begin our ride at Gauley Mtn. Trail on Scenic Rt. 150. Ride Gauley Mtn Trial to Mine Rd., go left on mine road off Gauley Mtn. Trail, then stay right at all the remaining intersections. You will see the sign for props after a large stand of pines on top a hill and then going down a grade with a wide parking area on the right as the road levels. Look back to your right. Note a beautiful overlook of the valley when you pass Sharps Knob. For an extra view, go up the little double track on the left and get a couple more views from ontop the old strip mine area before continuing.

Once you reach the Props Run trailhead, ride down Props, which comes out right at ERTC. Take a right on Rt.219 and ride about 1.2 miles to Mine Rd. and your vehicle. It's about 19 miles total. If you don't have a shuttle but want to ride this, we usually park at Mine Rd. parking area, ride up Mine Rd. past Gauley Mountain Trial and follow the directions above from that point. It's still about 20 miles that way.