The Marion County Trail, also called McTrail, will provide a critical part of the link between the Gasper Caperton/Mon River Trail (see page SW-29) in the Morgantown area and the West Fork River Trail (see page SW-39) leading west from Fairmont. The trail is paved for its entire length.

This trail is a segment of a trail system that connects the Youghiogheny River Trail in Pennsylvania with Morgantown, Clarksburg, and Parkersburg WV. This system will incorporate the existing McTrail, Harrison County, and North Bend trails plus the Gasper Caperton Trail now under development and connections between these.

This trail is cut into the side of a hill, way above the creek. As a result there are several impressive through cuts where the trail has cut through a ridge, and several very high embankments.

In general, the trail has steep sides, most often with two to four feet drop to the drainage ditch. When the trail leaps across a side creek the steep sides may be several hundreds of feet.

The trail starts in Fairmont on Winfield St and skirts several industrial plants. It then enters a 1100 foot lighted tunnel. On the far side of the tunnel is a deep cut, for about another 1000 feet. The trail continues along the side of the hill side alternating between cut, embankment, and bench.

Around mile 1.6 to 1.8 a small development of recent house is pasted on the hillside between the trail and the creek. At mile 2.4, trailhead parking is along side the trail with a fix-it station and Fort Pickett can be seen though the trees. Two hundred feet past the end of trailhead parking, the trail heads steeply downhill to the river, with a sharp right hand turn at the bottom. Continuing past the turn comes to the bridge over Pickett Creek. Looking back one can see the railroad bridge that used to take the McTrail line over the Monongahela River.