Submitted photo Elkins Area Shared Trails board member Jessica Sutton is joined by fellow board member and Elkins Rotarian Scott Goddard, left, and Elkins Rotary Club President Phillips Kolsun, right.

ELKINS — Elkins Area Shared Trails (E.A.S.T.) co-founder and board President Jessica Sutton provided an update on the organization’s activities to the Rotary Club of Elkins.

Elkins Area Shared Trails was conceived in 2021 and incorporated in 2023 with the express purpose to bring people together through the development, activation and stewardship of local trails. Additional E.A.S.T. board members include Darlene Clark, Mark Douglas, Vicki Fenwick-Judy, Scott Goddard, Todd Miller and Katie Wolpert.

“This has been our board since we came together and created the non-profit organization and created the board of directors, which has been in place for about two years now,” said Sutton. “This work has been going on for a really long time.”

The movement grew out of the introduction of NICA (National Interscholastic Cycling Association) to West Virginia. Sutton’s daughter, along with a number of other students, participated in that program and it was apparent that the local riders needed introductory, beginner trails that taught them mountain biking in an easy and safe way.

The main focus of E.A.S.T. is on shared use trails.

“Our work is not focused on high risk but is on shared use trails. We want to make trails that are progressive in nature which means you can go out for a walk on a rail trail, or you can ride a bike on a rail trail. If you want to move up to trying a single-track trail in the woods, we’ll give you access to a beginner trail up to intermediate all the way up to expert level. But we want to be able to provide that progression because progression locally was missing,” added Sutton. “The organization was born out the acknowledgement that we had a gap [between beginning and expert riders] and how to work to fill that gap.

E.A.S.T. has and continues to work with a long list of incredible partners.

“We’ve had a lot of people that we pulled in – for advice or to share resources, knowledge, information, or access. We could not do and accomplish the things that we are able to accomplish without all the partners we have,” Sutton said.

In December 2021, there was a meeting of like-minded individuals on the campus of Davis & Elkins College. There had been multiple individual conversations relating to trail access, getting more people outdoors, creating new opportunities. Sutton, along with other EAST founding members, contacted people they had personally spoken with about trails and invited them to come together. About 40 people, representing 50-60 organizations, attended the meeting. The group discussed current opportunities, where attendees were recreating, and landowners or land managers that might be open to granting access to their properties. While reviewing a map of the Elkins area, four opportunities were identified on which to focus their efforts – Glendale Park, a Davis Medical Center (now Vandalia Health) property, the campus of Davis & Elkins College, and the Darby Farm (located near the humane society).

Funding was secured through a collective effort which was used to hire a professional trail design firm who created a master plan focused on these properties. There have been changes from the original plan but E.A.S.T. has been directing its time, energy and resources where opportunities were presented.

“We focused in on places as opportunities started to align,” Sutton said.

Davis & Elkins College became the initial location developed thanks to D&E’s enthusiasm for the project, along with guidance provided by E.A.S.T. and technical assistance support from the Brad and Elys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative (“OEDC”). The Richard K. Mellon Foundation provided construction funding for the D&E project.

“[Mellon] has become a really amazing partner for this project and, potentially, for other projects in West Virgina. At that time, they were just starting to dip their toes into doing recreation work in West Virginia, so we were really fortunate to become the first funded construction project through the Richard K. Mellon Foundation in West Virginia,” Sutton said. “It’s amazing. The transformation of these purpose-built trails that are going to be sustainable because they’re built in a way that mitigates water runoff and soil stability,” said Sutton. “I’ve seen an exponential increase in the use of those trails. The NICA team has been using them, D&E runners have been out there on them, community users who walk their dogs or just want to be out in the woods use them. We had so much fun skiing on the trails this winter.”

The D&E project is nearly complete with the connector to the front-side of campus being the final piece of the puzzle. E.A.S.T. also secured funding from the Snowshoe Foundation to create signage, kiosks and trail placards. The signage will give users the information they need to feel confident entering the trail system, including difficulty, distance and who else they might expect to see on the trails.

The City of Elkins Glendale Park Skills Area has also been receiving significant attention over the past couple of years. E.A.S.T., with permission from the Elkins Parks and Recreation Commission, technical assistance from the OEDC, and funding from the West Virginia Department of Transportation Recreational Trails Program, is championing this community project. Currently, contractors are being vetted for the initial design phase. After design is finalized, construction will begin. The designers will consider inclusion of a tot track, pump track and skills area. The tracks will be a hard surface and can be used by any wheeled device such as bicycles, scooters, skateboards and inline skates.

“They can get used to what it feels like to go over little hills and around banked turns, to gain confidence and balance on their bikes,” Sutton said.

E.A.S.T. has also partnered with the U.S. Forest Service for a project that will impact both Randolph and Tucker Counties. The conceptional design for this project includes 100+ miles of trails for every skill and experience level.

More information about Elkins Area Shared Trails can be found on the organization’s Facebook or Instagram page or via email (elkinsareasharedtrails@gmail.com).

Sutton also serves as the appointed Elkins representative to the Mon Forest Towns Partnership and as their current Board President, and is the Interim Director of Outdoor Economic Development for the Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative at WVU.

Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in their communities, and in themselves. Visit www.Rotary.org to learn more about Rotary International, visit the club’s Facebook page – Rotary Club of Elkins – or contact 2025-2026 club president Phillips Kolsun at phillipskolsun@gmail.com for more information about the Rotary Club of Elkins.