[The Coopers Rock Reservoir is across from McCollum Campground, and is not to be confused with Trout Pond, which is visible from Interstate 68].

A few years ago, CRF put in a trail along the entire forested half of the Coopers Rock Reservoir, paralleling the shoreline.   Thanks to the completion of this project, there is now a .4 mile loop trail around the Coopers Rock Reservoir. The unforested half of the Reservoir shoreline consists of the dam and a gated service road that have already been heavily used by all kinds of trail users for decades.  Until this project, though, the forested half of the shoreline had only a few short, vague, unconnected segments of informal trail — but no easy, obvious way all the way around.  Now, when you add the dam and the service road together with the new trail, they equal a .4 mile loop around the Reservoir at an “Easy” difficulty levelfor hiking, running, mountain biking, and cross-country skiing. Since completion, we have been both maintaining it and improving it.

This project exemplifies many principles and standards that CRF trailwork follows.

• The trail has a clear purpose – to provide an easy loop trail for hikers, runners, bicyclists and skiers
• The project was done with permission from the state agency or agencies with management jurisdiction at Coopers Rock
• The trail was built with assistance from volunteers, from conception to completion
• All potential user groups were considered in the design and choice of route
• The trail wasn’t left to fend for itself after completion, but rather CRF has monitored it, maintained it, and improved it, with a substantial amount of work done since project completion.
• The trail serves a wide variety of user groups and activities.

The story of this trail is that, only a handful of years ago, the closest loop trail to the Coopers Rock Reservoir was up in the woods on the north side of the water, whereas the body of water itself did not have a loop around it.  A now-retired WV DNR Coopers Rock Superintendent felt that the Reservoir itself should have a loop, as a trail around a lake or pond has such broad appeal.  He approached the CRF Board with the idea, and we gladly accepted his suggestion and eagerly began to make an addition to the Coopers Rock trail system.

We began by scouting out exactly what was there already.  We saw segments of informal social trail, some of them several years old. They were not all connected with one another, and not in necessarily the ideal sites, although some were indeed worthy ‘as-is’.  We saw the need for a bridge over a wetland.  Another bridge would be needed over a large drainage ditch.  We saw potential in three huge, flat rocks along the shoreline, as natural hangout spots.  We saw beaver activity and Pink Lady’s Slippers – Coopers Rock’s wild orchid.  We saw where we wanted the trail to go, and we saw a few spots we wanted to avoid, because they were rocky, wet, had vulnerable tree saplings or Pink Lady’s Slippers, or would be misaligned from the flowing route we wanted to achieve.

We chose what we wanted to use from the unofficial paths already there, and we also chose what we didn’t want to be further used as trail.  One of the most enjoyable parts of the creative trail-making process was to figure out the routes of the new connecting segments that we would build between the worth-keeping existing segments.  If you like the flow of this trail, particularly on the side opposite the dam, then we did a good job.  We also avoided the wild orchids and the beaver lodge, but included all three big flat ‘hangout rocks’, each of which is bigger than a picnic table, almost perfectly flat, and at 2’ in height, a great sitting height.

“One of the most enjoyable parts of the creative trail-making process was to figure out the routes of the new connecting segments that we would build between the worth-keeping existing segments. “

Much of the work was brush cutting and removal.  The tools we used to clear the chosen route through undergrowth, and trim the entire trail to a uniform width and appearance, were: a gas-powered trimmer with a selection of head attachments, loppers, Bear Saw, handheld trimmers, leaf rakes, and a leaf blower.

We blocked segments of unwanted informal trail by stacking sticks and limbs at the end points of the segments to be abandoned, so as to keep people off of them and allow them to regrow and ‘disappear.’  We re-purposed the brush scraps left from when we cleared the main trail, by sprinkling them along the segments to be abandoned, in order to start the re-naturalization process.  Other limbs were placed around a few curves to limit the width of our new trail.  We pruned and trimmed to a 4’ wide by 7’ high standard – wide enough for swinging cross-country ski poles or steering mountain bike handlebars, and tall enough for a basketball player to safely carry a kid in a backpack kid-carrier.

We ran the trimmer all around the three hangout rocks and cleared little spaces at each one.  These have become favorite stopping spots for all trail users, no matter if they’re on skis or bikes, or wearing sandals or boots.

With the route chosen, and then trimmed and cleared to a uniform standard end-to-end, blending existing segments and brand new segments into a unified whole, a useable trail was opened, except for two key features — the Big Bridge and the Little Bridge.  In addition to the two bridges, work was still needed on the trail bed to refine its coarseness.

Once a functional through-trail was completed, these other facets, described below, have been tended to, over the course of a couple years, to make the trail what it is today (Autumn, 2019):

The Little Bridge – this is the first bridge you see, on your way down to the loop from the Main Road.  There is an obvious signpost right next to it.  Over the course of a year, a lot of water flows down the gravel road from the parking lot to the reservoir, right toward this bridge. If the drainage features that were dug to keep the trail dry, such as a long, deep, wide drainage ditch and a recreation-friendly bridge over it, are inadequate or not maintained, then this intersection becomes a huge, muddy mess.  But when all is maintained and functioning, it is perfectly dry. Trimming the grass and brush around the bridge and signpost, and keeping the drainage ditch open and running freely, are our primary maintenance objectives here.

The Big Bridge – our goal was to keep the flow of the trail consistent and to traverse this wetland in an efficient, economical, and relatively low-tech way.  Our answer was four 8’ X 4’ deck-style bridges, exactly like what we’ve built on trails elsewhere at the Forest, linked together into a 32’ bridge, all of which rest on large rocks native to the site.  The large rocks, which were relatively close to the Big Bridge site, proved to be key to the solution.  We rolled, pushed and wrestled these stones from source to site. They enabled us to keep the bridge raised above any moisture, with materials that were free, more than adequate for the job, and aesthetic.

Lots of dogs come to the Reservoir – it is probably the top dog spot at the State Forest.  The trail bridges CRF builds – Forest-wide — have a spacing of ¾” between slats, large enough to provide drainage and aeration, but small enough to be feet-friendly down to fairly small dog size.

Importing soil – some sections of the new loop trail had ‘potholes’ to be filled,  repairs that would contribute to a consistent trail bed from start to finish. Fixing them would also eliminate low spots where water could pool.  Many of these potholes were near the three hangout rocks or a bit past them.  With the help of trailwork volunteers, soil was cleaned out of some drainage ditches on Roadside Trail, where it had accumulated, right behind the Reservoir Parking Lot. It was transported downhill, in 5-gallon buckets and wheelbarrows, for re-use on Reservoir Loop Trail.  Not only did this help to clean out the Roadside Trail ditches, but the sediment we cleaned out from there was mixed with rocks and pebbles and used to fill potholes on Reservoir Loop Trail.

Bringing in gravel – Crusher-run gravel – the recreationist’s first choice in gravel! — was brought down from the Reservoir Parking Lot, for a few specific problem spots.

*One problem spot was a 75’ segment of trail, a segment that carried over from the unofficial trails of the past, which was slightly concave, like a shallow halfpipe.  We filled it with crusher run to make it flat and keep it dry.

*Another problem spot was a short, 10’ long, rocky depression that [1] added an Intermediate-level technical bit in the middle of an ‘Easy’ level trail, from a mountain biker’s perspective, and [2] from a cross-country skier’s perspective, was a likely ski base scratcher – and scratching the bases of one’s skis is highly undesirable.  Since one of our goals was to add to the slim pickings of the Easy Trails Menu at Coopers Rock, we removed a problem rock or two, added a modest amount of gravel, and tamed this one small spot from Intermediate down to Easy.

*A 25’ segment of trail eroded quickly after we established a functional through-trail, with the result of numerous rocks becoming exposed and sticking up with many sharp angles and corners.  While fun for Intermediate mountain bikers, and a non-issue for most hikers and trail runners, this rocky segment was above the Easy level for mountain bikers, and could mean bad news for cross-country skiers, when skiing conditions are marginal.  We used crusher-run gravel in a creative way – we covered 25’ of trail with a thin coating of gravel, which will slow way down any further erosion, BUT, we did not completely cover the rocks.  They are now “partially submerged”, leaving them as part of the character of the trail but reducing their potential impact to cross-country skiers in that now they only stick up 3” or so, whereas before, they stuck up 6”.

The Three Hangout Rocks – I’m convinced that the operator of the excavator who originally dug out this reservoir decades ago found these three rocks while digging, and placed them up onto the bank because he thought they’d make great picnic spots.  It took decades for there to be a trail around the body of water, but his presumed original vision has now been brought to fruition, with the help of a gas-powered trimmer and an annual trimming session. They really are great spots at which to take a break.

Future upgrades to Reservoir Loop Trail  — will likely involve the careful use of crusher run gravel, or the gravel/shale mix from Coopers Rocks’ own quarry (between water tank and reservoir).  These sand/gravel mixes will be liberally sprinkled onto the trail along some segments, especially on the side farthest from the parking lot.  Sprinkling gravel will slow erosion way down and keep roots that are currently covered with soil, covered for a while longer.  A little side-hilling might be done on the side farthest from the parking lot, in order to make the trail bed flat, not tilted.

Fun tip !! – bring a loaf of stale bread or some old cracker crumbs with you on this loop, and when you get to the water treatment shed on the dam, walk out on the metal pier and toss bread crumbs into the water.  About three hundred sunfish, that could easily be mistaken for piranhas based on their ravenous feeding displays, will rise to the surface and attack your bread crumbs with surprising fervor.  If you’re really lucky, Ol’ Grumpy, a large, resident snapping turtle, might even make an appearance.

………………………………………………………………..