Hike Location: Chief Logan State Park
Geographic Location: north of Logan, WV (37.88324, -82.02230)
Length: 3 miles
Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: April 2026
Overview: A loose loop around the state park campground passing numerous old coal mining sites.
Park Information: https://wvstateparks.com/parks/chief-logan-state-park/
Hike Route Map:
On The Go Map
Photo Highlight:
From the campground activities building, find the start of the Coal Mine Trail as it heads west into the woods with the campground road on your right. A small wooden sign advertising the Rattlesnake and Coal Mine Trails marks this trailhead. Going this direction begins a clockwise journey around the Coal Mine Trail. The Coal Mine Trail is marked with yellow plastic diamonds, and while trail markers are not plentiful, there are enough of them to keep you on track. The narrow trail climbs initially before levelling out about 50 feet above the campground road, which can be seen through the trees downhill to the right.
At 0.15 miles, the Rattlesnake Trail exits at a sharp angle to the left. Angle softly right to continue the Coal Mine Trail. The trail descends almost to road level before curving sharply left to begin the steepest climb of the hike. This climb shows you the advantage of hiking this loop clockwise: you only gain about 100 feet of elevation, and this climb is far easier than the descent you will do at the end of the loop.
At 0.4 miles, you reach the top of the hill, where you intersect the old coal mining tram path. Angle right to begin following the old tram path. For the next 1.7 miles the trail follows the old tram path as it goes in and out of as many as 8 hollows, depending on how you count hollows. Like any old railroad grade, the tram path provides a wide treadway with a gentle grade.
Just past 0.5 miles, you pass the old coal tipple site, which today is marked by a sign and a wood/concrete construction on the edge of the hill to the right. Tipples used gravity to sort coal by size and load it onto railroad cars heading for market. Thus, all of the coal that came out of any of the old mine openings served by this tram would have ended up here. The mines shut down just before the park opened in 1969. Imagine what it would have been like to live in this hollow back then!
Continuing on the old tram path, the trail winds in and out of many hollows, imperceptibly climbing all the time. Some wet areas and downed trees need to be negotiated, but overall the going is fairly easy. At 1.4 miles, you pass an old concrete building, which is probably mine-related although I could not determine how. I did not see any mine openings, but I did notice some disturbed areas that probably date to the park's mining days. Outside of the disturbed areas, the trail passes through nice beech/maple forest, and this would be an excellent fall leaf peeping hike. I saw many asters in bloom and butterflies in flight when I hiked here on a warm and humid day in late April.
2.1 miles into the hike, the Wilderness Trail exits at a sharp angle to the left. Angle softly right to stay on the Coal Mine Trail. Very quickly you reach this hike's highest elevation and the end of the old coal mine tram path. The trail narrows and curves right as you begin the final part of the hike.
The final descent to the campground may be the hardest part of this hike: you lose 220 feet of elevation over 0.3 miles, and the footing is quite bad. The last couple hundred feet are narrow and rocky, almost like hiking in a small stream. At 2.4 miles, you come out beside campsite #15. Walk the paved campground road gradually downhill past the campground entrance for a total of 0.6 miles to return to the campground activity building and complete the hike.
Hike Video: (coming June 25, 2027)
Directions to the trailhead: From the intersection of US 119 and SR 73 in Logan, take US 119 north 3.4 miles to the entrance for Chief Logan State Park on the right. Turn right to enter the park, then turn right at the first major intersection to head for the campground. Drive a total of 2.8 miles from the park entrance to the campground entrance on the right. Turn right to enter the campground, and park beside the campground activities building on the left in another 0.4 miles.
The hike: Chief Logan's name appears on many counties, cities, parks, and trails across southeast Ohio and western West Virginia, but few people today know who Chief Logan actually was. Chief Logan was the son of Iroquois Chief Shikellamy, who ruled a village in central Pennsylvania near present-day Shikellamy State Park. Logan moved to the Ohio River region in the 1760s and became a leader of the Iroquois Confederacy there. He gained the title Logan the Orator for a legendary lament he gave after the Shawnee lost the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. Logan made the mistake of allying with the British during the American Revolution, and he was killed in a mysterious altercation near Lake Erie in 1780.
Today Logan is commemorated in many places, not the least of which is Chief Logan State Park near the City of Logan in Logan County, West Virginia. Established in 1969, the 3988-acre park has a fantastic set of amenities. The Chief Logan Lodge is one of 10 West Virginia State Park lodges, and it is a full-service lodge with a fantastic restaurant and a conference center. The park also has a cozy 25-site developed campground, a recreation center with some athletic fields, a museum with a locomotive display, and 7 picnic shelters.
For hikers, the park offers 13 trails totaling over 18 miles, and they range in difficulty from flat 0.5 mile walks to difficult 6-mile one-way journeys over the park's steep hills and ravines. Near the midpoint of those difficulties is the Coal Mine Trail described here. The Coal Mine Trail takes you through the woods past some old coal mine openings. This hike offers enough distance to make you feel like you've hiked, but it follows an old coal mining tram path for most of the way, which keeps the difficulty manageable.
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| Trailhead at campground activities building |
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| Trail markers for the Coal Mine Trail |
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| Hiking the old tram path |
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| Old coal tipple site |
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| Disturbed area |
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| End of the old tram path |
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| Campsite #15 |
