WV: connecting Dolly Sods to Seneca cree k?

“My wife and I are looking to do a long-distance hike in the Monongahela NF, and the two places that stand out to us as "must-see" spots are the Dolly Sods wilderness and Spruce Knob. So, hey, start at the North end of Dolly Sods and go south to Spruce Knob, conveniently next to a road for a shuttle, right?

Of course, there's an issue with that: they're not connected by any "formal" trail system, or at least not one that I can find a map or guidebook for.

Data from Garmin's 24k Southeast map set caught my eye -- there are dozens of unnamed trails on both sides of Hwy 33, appearing to offer an ~18 mile route to connect Roaring Plains to the north end of the Little Allegheny Trail.

I checked the actual USGS topos, which seem to confirm that these are jeep trails... or WERE jeep trails at one time.

We'll have a dog and prefer not to get involved in an extended off-trail bushwhack while packed for a week on the trail, but we're also used to following faint, unmarked trails in wilderness areas here in TN/NC and are more than capable of getting around in rugged terrain.

So: do these trails exist? Has anyone done this? ...has anyone TRIED this?

A fallback plan could be to follow South Prong (instead of heading up Boar's Nest into Roaring Plains) to the county road to Onego and head up Hwy 33 to access the Seneca Creek Backcountry? That would be 8+ miles , and essentially the better part of a day on pavement.

But where's the adventure in that? :)”

“

"But where's the adventure in that?"

Staying alive and/or hitching a ride.”