Helvetia Historic Trail
Main Street, Helvetia, WV 26224
The Historic Helvetia Hiking Trail is open to the public and is a 2.5 mile beautifully aerobic hike. It’s rustic and not ‘marked,’ but you can buy a very nice print of the map at the Kultur Haus store illustrated by Rosalie Haizlett. You can also find the map on the Helvetia Restoration and Development facebook page. The map is $25 which will go towards different Helvetia projects.
The annual Helvetia Historic Walk is normally held on October 20th, the day of Helvetia’s founding in 1869. The town is over 150 years old. The Historic Walk begins at 4:00pm at the Star Band Hall (Red Hall). Hikers walk along Old Helvetia Road, which parallels the Left Fork Right Fork Buckhannon River to the Helvetia Cemetery. Continuing up a steep incline for approximately half a mile, hikers turn left on a hairpin turn at the old grapevine to climb again, briefly, past a farm and down through a more densely wooded dirt road to the original trail that led the original settlers into Helvetia. You’ll hear the church bells as you get closer to the village and will exit the woods near Main Street, just a short distance from your starting point at the Star Band Hall. Typically, at this event Helvetian’s will host a small gathering inside the Star Band Hall for hot cocoa, coffee, and cookies afterward. There’s no fee but donations are accepted to support the restoration and development of the sweet village.
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