I’ve always given gifts of long walks to the dogs on holidays. On Christmas Eve, the dogs and I went for a pleasant hike just northwest of Morgantown at Mason-Dixon Historical Park.
We pass the park often as we head to western Monongalia County for Jeep trails, often using it as a restroom stop or park-and-ride. We actually bid on property adjacent to the park last year, and at one point hoped to live nearby. However, I hadn’t taken full advantage of the park’s convenient location and quiet trails before.
About Mason-Dixon Historical Park
The park, located in Core, WV, was created around the stopping point of Charles Mason’s and Jeremiah Dixon’s efforts to settle a boundary dispute by surveying a straight border between present-day Pennsylvania and West Virginia. If you know the area, you may wonder why the park is not in Wetzel County where the state border forms a corner and goes north. Records show that Mason and Dixon had a dispute with Native Americans at their stopping point along Dunkard Creek, despite friendly relations throughout the four years they had been working on the border. Thus, 23 miles short of their goal, the duo made their final astronomical observations and concluded their mission. The final stretch was completed by other surveyors 14 years later.*
Today, the 300-acre park is a sweet gym just a short drive from Morgantown. You enter the park to a huge manicured area with pavilions, basketball courts, a baseball field, and a few small playgrounds. Beyond that, there are nearly six miles of trails among mature woods. This is where LeDoux, Finn, and I headed.
Hiking Trails at Mason-Dixon Historical Park
The steep hills earn most of the trails a moderate rating on AllTrails, but the paths are wide and well-maintained. We choose the 2-mile M-D Marker Trail that climbed a steep point, passed the marker that was left at the last point surveyed, and circled into Pennsylvania before winding down to Dunkard Creek.
At the start of the trail, while crossing the grassy park entrance, we passed a well-maintained cabin. The park actually allows tent and RV camping and rents a cabin, warmed by a wood-burning stove and equipped with three beds, for $50 a night. Note that there are toilets but no showers on the property. Past the marker on the M-D trail, there’s an Adirondak shelter near relick equipment from the oil booms that the area experienced in the late 1800s.
In the hour we spent there, we passed three other people, all with dogs as well. The park is very quiet overall.
Enjoying West Virginia’s Woodlands
I also enjoyed checking out many mature deciduous trees through the park — I’ve studied trees a fair amount over the past year, and it always seems that the more I learn about something, the more I enjoy it. Just like birds, trees can be daunting to begin studying in earnest, but it didn’t take me long to find myself subconsciously identifying trees along every trail and road. There are a variety of resources about trees out there, and if you’d like any suggestions, send a message.
*Source: Maxon-Dixon Historical Park website. Get more information about the Mason Dixon Historical Park — even purchase a copy of Mason’s and Dixon’s journal from their expedition — on the park’s website. You can also download a map of the trails.
