ROANE COUNTY, W.Va. (WCHS) — West Virginia is a great state to hike but if you live in the Kanawha Valley area, you may feel a little detached from the core of hiking country.

However, right up the road in Roane County there's a brand-new trail you may want to check out.

"We're at the Nature Conservancy's Hungry Beech Preserve. We're kind of in a remote area in between the towns of Clendenin and Spencer. What we're doing today is we're celebrating the induction of the property into the Old Growth Forest Network. We're also doing a ribbon-cutting for a new trail that we developed on the preserve that will take you down into that old growth forest", said Mike Powell, director of land management and stewardship with the West Virginia Nature Conservancy.

These mature native forests have an impressive biodiversity and are protected from logging. Hungry Beech Preserve can now be found on the Old-Growth Forest Network website.

Erica Byrd, communications director for the conservancy, explained the importance of the designation.

"There is about 37 acres of American beech and white oak, and we see them developing as old growth," Byrd said. "Hungry Beech is actually the very first old growth network forest to be initiated here in Roane County. It is the 16th old growth forest in the network here in West Virginia. We're very excited about that."

In case you're wondering about the name of the preserve, there is a reason behind it.

"The name Hungry Beech - there's one that we'll see on the trail, and there's some others scattered throughout the property - where you have a beech tree that the roots have grown over and around large sandstone boulders. In places, it looks like the tree is engulfing or eating the rock. That's where the name Hungry Beech comes from."

The new trail is two miles long and is considered family friendly.

"The initial hike will follow the old farm road and we'll be in an open pasture area to begin with. It's an area that we've worked with local farmers to keep it in an open state. They hay it late in the summer so that the grassland nesting birds have an opportunity to do their thing, but it also provides some habitat diversity. We get good pollinators and butterflies and all those different things in the open field," Powell said. "Then we'll go down into the forest where most of the mile and a half of the new trail is located and you'll get to see the old forest from up top. Then you will drop down below a rock cliff and you'll get to see it from the bottom as well."

Byrd said the importance of these old growth forests can't be overstated.

"Some of the values that old growth forests bring to the community is providing habitat for species that require these mature forests. They also help to manage stormwater management and storm water filtration," Byrd said. "Old growth stores an incredible amount of carbon in the wood due to roots and surrounding soil. They are definitely power houses for carbon capture in a rapidly changing climate."

With the birds chirping, and the flowers blooming, now is a great time to get out here.

"Partnering with American Water to help develop this trail asset that then can be utilized by people to get in and see what these old forests look like," Powell said. "You know, they're a little bit different. They sound and feel a little bit different. They look a little bit different. The impetus for us developing this was just acknowledging what a special place it was."