Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / West Virginia / Monongahela National Forest

Roaring Plains Circuit (Hidden Passage and Canyon Rim)

Roaring Plains West Wilderness, Monongahela National Forest (Cheat-Potomac Ranger District; South Prong trailhead on Forest Road 19)

Roaring Plains West is a 6,792-acre wilderness a few miles southwest of Dolly Sods, with red spruce, bogs, heath, and rhododendron rising to over 4,700 feet at Mount Porte Crayon, according to the Forest Service. Its canyon-rim overlooks, above Roaring Creek and Long Run, are reached partly by unofficial paths.

The loop Hiking Project calls the Roaring Plains Circuit links those rims with the South Prong and Boars Nest trails.

The hike

Hiking Project lists the circuit at 12.8 miles with about 2,200 feet of climbing, from about 2,800 to 4,600 feet, and rates it intermediate to difficult. Start on the South Prong Trail, drop to the South Prong of Red Creek, follow an old railroad grade, cross Forest Road 70, and climb to a meadow. MyHikes says the first half mile is “extremely wet,” and describes rock rivers, a viewpoint over southern Dolly Sods about 1.1 miles in, and a lookout over the Red Creek plain at about 1.7 miles.

The Hidden Passage, an unofficial route, leads toward the plains and then a grassy jeep road to the gas pipeline. Descend the pipeline and pick up the unofficial Canyon Rim Trail. MyHikes says that turnoff is unmarked and about a quarter mile down the pipeline. Its campsite and cliff overlook, about 0.3 mile in, face mountains and, on clear days, Seneca Rocks.

Hiking Project’s route follows the rims of Roaring Creek and Long Run canyons to “The Point,” about halfway, then continues northwest to the Teepee Trail junction. A faint hunter’s trail heads northeast to the headwaters of Roaring Creek. Follow the creek up to the Roaring Plains Trail, take it 0.91 mile to the pipeline, walk Forest Road 70 about 0.34 mile, and finish on the Boars Nest Trail for 2.7 miles. Hiking Project says the stretch past a dead tree with a blank sign is the most obscure part of the loop, and some side paths are deer trails or were cut by lost hikers.

A Backcountry Post group in 2020 described rhododendron and mountain laurel tunnels that slowed them to about 1.5 mph without packs, and “fierce” overnight winds. Hiking Project’s 2020 check-ins mention overgrowth, hard-to-find sections, and slick mud after rain.

For better-marked trails nearby, see the Dolly Sods North loop or the Red Creek and Lions Head loop.

Tips

Camping

There’s no permit. Groups larger than 10 are prohibited in the wilderness (order 09-21-12-03), and the Forest Service asks you to camp at least 200 feet from roads, streams, and trails. Forest-wide, you can stay 14 days in a 28-day period. There’s no potable water; treat what you collect. Hiking Project notes three campsites: one by a stream just past the top meadow on the South Prong Trail, a dry, exposed site at the base of a meadow on the Hidden Passage route, and a dry site with a fire ring at the Teepee Trail junction.

Inside Intel: MyHikes’ author camped at the small site about 100 feet past the Hidden Passage junction, with a creek running through it and blueberries on the hill behind, and in 2019 called the site dry and unflooded. MyHikes’ Canyon Rim page describes the overlook campsite as fitting at least one tent and a hammock, possibly two small tents.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

A perch above Roaring Creek canyon:

The canyon rim campsite fits about one tent and a hammock beside a cliff overlook more than 40 feet tall. See which sleeping pads testers recommend.

See the picks →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.