IMPORTANT NOTICE!!! All Geocoins are now gone for this trail. The Roane Chamber of Commerce thanks all the Geocachers who have made the trip and enjoyed Roane County Geocaching. The caches will remain in place for the time being. Repeat, all geocoins are gone. However, this is an easy excursion for larger cache containers that you don't normally get on a weekend drive. So please come and enjoy.
About the Black Walnut Geotrail
The Black Walnut Geotrail is designed to introduce geocachers to the rural serenity of Roane County, West Virginia. There is much to discover here only a short drive from Charleston or Parkersburg.
The City of Spencer and the Roane County Chamber of Commerce are excited that Geocachers 
from across America have visited already and recognizing the potential for additional geotourism have embraced Geocaching as a legitimate opportunity to bring people to our area to discover Roane County.
Each October, thousands gather in Spencer to celebrate the Black Walnut Festival. The central West Virginia hills are covered with diverse species of deciduous trees, but the Black Walnut has a special place in the timber industry and culinary markets. This festival lasts for 4 days with numerous family friendly activities spread around the county. It was only fitting that this Geocaching experience take its name from the Black Walnut which has become synonymous with this community.
Completing the Geotrail
The Black Walnut Geotrail consists of only ten geocaches. Nine traditional caches and one multi-cache are placed at sites from Walton, WV to Reedy, WV. This 25 mile drive through the beautiful West Virginia hills is just the right length to allow you to not only find a few peripheral geocaches along your way, but also to explore and shop. Plan to spend at least a day in the area completing the trail. If you are from out of the area, there is a campground at Charles Fork Lake, a campground at Camp Shepherd 4H Camp near Gandeeville, two Bed and Breakfasts and a small hotel. There are additional lodging options in nearby Ripley, Parkersburg, Charleston, Gassaway and Flatwoods.
Caches at each end of the Geotrail contain brochures necessary for official participation. Inside each of the ten geocaches is a stamp and inkpad. You must stamp the brochure in the appropriately labeled section with the stamp from every cache in order to be recognized for completion. The caches are all family friendly, not difficult to find or approach. They are designed to be accessible by the greatest number of people, but in the interest of not being readily vandalized they are not all wheelchair accessible. If difficult terrain or difficult to find geocaches are your thing, there are plenty of opportunities for these that are not part of the geotrail within the county as well.
Additionally, official brochures are available by mail. If you would like a brochure in advance of traveling to the area you may obtain one by contacting the Roane County Visitor's Office/Chamber of Commerce. You may also download the brochures from the official Black Walnut Geotrail website. Also, if you are unfamiliar with the area you may obtain more detailed routing directions via the official geotrail website.
For the first 100 teams to complete the Black Walnut Geotrail, a special edition trackable geocoin will be awarded. Since quantities are limited, we ask that no more than one geocoin per team or household be awarded. Please be courteous regarding this. In order to receive your prize, take your completed brochure to either the Roane County Visitor's Center/Chamber of Commerce building on Court Street behind the courthouse or to the Spencer Antiques Mall on Main Street across from the courthouse. If both places are closed upon completing the trail, you may send your completed brochure to the Chamber of Commerce at the address below. Be sure to include a shipping address for your geocoin. In addition to the stamps, you must complete the information portion of the brochure so that we can quantify the success of this geotrail. There are additional opportunities to provide feedback on the geotrail's website.
Acknowledgements and Websites
The funding for the special edition geocoin and stamps came from the Roane County Chamber of Commerce. The businesses and landowners who own the property where each cache is located have given their permission for the cache placements. Containers were donated by Country Roads and construction of some of the container housings by TheWatt's.
Roane County Chamber of Commerce
Post Office Box 1
207 Court Street
Spencer, West Virginia 25276
rchamber@commission.state.wv.us
Black Walnut Geotrail
Roane County Chamber of Commerce
City of Spencer
Black Walnut Festival
IMPORTANT NOTICE!!! All Geocoins are now gone for this trail. The Roane Chamber of Commerce thanks all the Geocachers who have made the trip and enjoyed Roane County Geocaching. The caches will remain in place for the time being. Repeat, all geocoins are gone. However, this is an easy excursion for larger cache containers that you don't normally get on a weekend drive. So please come and enjoy.