PRESTON, W.Va. -- A former Patriot Coal prep plant site will one day be a riverside recreation area connected to miles of hiking trails, if the Friends of the Cheat can make its plans work.

The nonprofit group recently bought the 17.5-acre site near the community of Preston from International Coal Group for $13,672. The company has offered to bulldoze the site and provide picnic tables for the area.

Keith Pitzer, Friends of the Cheat's executive director, hopes to make the site part of the long-planned Cheat River Trail, which would have about 18 miles linking Tunnelton, Kingwood and Rowlesburg.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded a $200,000 grant to Preston County for environmental assessments on the planned trail.

PRESTON, W.Va. -- A former Patriot Coal prep plant site will one day be a riverside recreation area connected to miles of hiking trails, if the Friends of the Cheat can make its plans work.

The nonprofit group recently bought the 17.5-acre site near the community of Preston from International Coal Group for $13,672. The company has offered to bulldoze the site and provide picnic tables for the area.

Keith Pitzer, Friends of the Cheat's executive director, hopes to make the site part of the long-planned Cheat River Trail, which would have about 18 miles linking Tunnelton, Kingwood and Rowlesburg.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded a $200,000 grant to Preston County for environmental assessments on the planned trail.