I was poking around on Google Maps, looking to see what might be out there for local hikes, when I saw James Hite Park. I researched it and found it was a Jefferson County Park, tucked out in an area away from the busy life. It’s actually decently close to our place in Shenandoah Junction, WV. As I am finding, it’s often the drive that makes these an adventure, on those classic “fun” WV roads that wander along ancient farm property lines.
I followed the directions coming in via Wiltshire Road (which is off of Route 9 at the Bardane/Wiltshire Road exit near the Shenandoah Junction area). Turn right on Johnsontown Road, which quickly turns into a one lane road as it turns into Hite. This “road” hugs property lines and then straitens out and becomes a normal 2 car width paved road (they don’t paint lines on these roads). The park is reached quickly. The main parking area is at the bottom of the map above. Plenty of parking. We parked in the first spot, and it was a quick walk to the “start” of the perimeter trail. The park has the road going about 3/4 of the way through the center, as the sports fields are in the center.
There is an actual sign that reads “start”, and every quarter mile is marked on the trail. It was a young man’s Eagle Scout project when the park was opened in 2016 to the public.
The trail gently heads uphill, the trail is gravel and easy to walk.
The first part crosses a low hill, where there is a cargo container on one side, and old foundations across the way – this is the only sign of what this large piece of land was once. There are picnic tables here and also at the end of the park, to sit at and enjoy the shade.
Most of the park is a gently rolling field, with areas of trees, plus new trees that have been planted over the years. A birds nest was easy to spot.
With benches sprinkled along the walk, in case one wants to just sit and enjoy the silence.
Ford said to me “It’s almost like a golf course”. He wasn’t wrong. It was very relaxing here.
The trail walks near the park’s perimeter the whole way, passing a dry pond (which looked to have had a lot of work done very recently on it),
Native Redbud Trees were opening up.
As we neared the end, the largest pond was full of water and 3 men were fishing (which while the map says no fishing, it is apparently allowed according to the county’s website).
My GPS had it just shy of 2 miles, with about 199 feet of elevation gain.
On the way out we took a different way. We went out Hite Road the other way, which is normal width. It connects to Lee Road and I drove that to Route 9 and got on the highway to go back one exit. This way is far less sketchy to drive.
And we got our Mountaineer Miles in for the day. A win for me.
~Sarah