The National Radio Quiet Zone: How to Enjoy the Peace and Quiet—Safely While most trails offer a chance to disconnect from technology for a while, on the Greenbrier River Trail, disconnect you must. That’s because much of its 77.1 miles fall in the National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ), established by the federal government in 1958 to limit interference with the nearby National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Observatory and the National Security Agency’s Sugar Grove facility. Inside the approximately 1,300 acres of the NRQZ, your phone won’t be able to make calls or connect to the internet. Your Bluetooth headphones won’t work either. To be safe, be sure to research your trip ahead of time, bring a fully stocked first-aid kit, and let someone know where and when you’ll be on the trail. It’s worth taking the extra precaution for the peace and quiet you’ll enjoy in one of the few places left in the world where work emails and news alerts can’t find you. Additionally, the Green Bank Observatory (greenbankobservatory.org), about 15 miles from the trail in Marlinton, makes for a great side trip. Here, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope—the world’s largest fully steerable radio telescope—searches the sky to investigate everything from near-Earth asteroids to the environments surrounding super massive black holes. Visitors can check out an exhibit hall, choose from a variety of guided, behind-the-scenes tours or wander the tranquil grounds on their own.
Perhaps more remark- able than this selfless act of volunteerism is Harris’ account of it almost 10 years later: “It was cool! It was very cool!” she said. So cool, in fact, that Harris performed the job for three seasons, gratified to do her part for the trail that she said has provided her with so much—a safe place to exercise, stirring encounters with wildlife and friendships with other trailgoers like Lyn Guy, who joined us for our pre-ride coffee on a mild morning in March. Guy drives 30 miles from her home in Rock Camp, West Virginia, nearly every day to ride the trail. “I feel so good when I go over there,” the 72-year-old former school administrator said. “It’s almost spiritual.” This is the kind of enthusi- asm you hear from people who spend their time on the Greenbrier River Trail. Opened as a recreational multiuse trail in 1980, it is one of the oldest rail-trails in the country and a Rails to Trails Conservancy Hall of Famer (railstotrails.org/ hall-of-fame), as well as one of 52 Millennium Legacy Trails in the United States. Noted for its length and gentle grade, the trail has been attracting locals and visitors alike for 45 years with the promise of space and solitude next to the longest undammed river in the East. In addition to recreational opportunities and stunning scenery for users, the Greenbrier River Trail has also provided a meaningful boost in economic development for the region, drawing new businesses, new residents and countless tourists
The Greenbrier River Trail uses the former corridor of the Greenbrier Division of the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad, which opened in 1900 and stretched across Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties. Unlike most C&O rail lines in West Virginia, this one was not built to carry coal, but rather to transport fur and timber from what is today Monongahela National Forest. Soon, sawmills and tanneries popped up along the railroad, and communities next to the tracks filled up with residents. While the timber quickly ran out, the line continued to see use, moving freight and people, especially during World War II’s rationing of gasoline and tires. But over the following three decades, the sound of train whistles faded across the Greenbrier Valley. The last diesel engines ran down the Greenbrier Division Line during the waning days of 1978. That was right around the time Rob Gronan moved to town. “I had just moved to this area for a new job from Columbia, Missouri, and I had been working on what became the Katy Trail there,” said Gronan, referring to the longest continuous rail-trail in the country (rtc.li/katy-trail). “I was kind of despondent over having to leave that effort.” When someone told him that a nearby railbed had just been turned over to the state, Gronan, a retired emergency medicine specialist, dusted off his community organizing skills and fired up his slide projector. “I went around to different groups and talked about the con- cept of rail-trails,” he said. “There weren’t that many at the time.” From Rails to Trail Races to the mountains of southern West Virginia.
PHOTOS: This page: Courtesy Experience Greenbrier Valley. Opposite page: Marlyn McClendon, courtesy Experience Greenbrier Valley.
Rails to Trails MAGAZINE | SPRING/SUMMER 2025
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