Cranberry Glades boardwalk from 1960s being replaced

MARLINTON, W.Va. (WBOY) — The boardwalk that provides access to and preservation of one of West Virginia’s most unique ecosystems is being completely replaced.

Gov. Jim Justice announced last week that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service secured $1.25 million for the project, and Monongahela National Forest Natural Resource Specialist Julie Fosbender told 12 News that the reconstruction will preserve access to the area “for many years to come.”

The boardwalk is a half-mile loop trail that is wheelchair accessible and goes through two of the four bogs in the Cranberry Glades Botanical Area, but is particularly important because it keeps visitors from damaging the glades’ rare and fragile plants.

The area shares more in common ecologically with Canada than the rest of West Virginia , and several carnivorous plants grow there .

Fosbender said that the project “is in the very early planning stages” and more details will be released as it moves forward. The current boardwalk was built in the 1950s-1960s and “requires extensive annual maintenance,” according to the USDA website .

In 2020, a 680-foot section of the boardwalk was repaired , but the recent funding from the WV Division of Highways and WV Department of Tourism will allow the USDA to reconstruct the entire thing and reduce the need for extensive annual maintenance.

The website says that the boardwalk replacement was originally approved in 2013, but it did not move forward.

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