Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Did giants once roam the hills and valleys of present day West Virginia?
That question intrigued Vince Harper, a life long resident of Roane County, when he discovered a 1927 history book that mentioned the possibility.
Harper's father had the book which refers to The Track Rock of Walton and large, human-like footprints embedded in sandstone.
The book described the original discovery of the rock in 1892 and the giant footprints that were discovered.
"These moccasin tracks were five inches broad and 14 inches long, as if the giant had strode across the rock."
Harper had been to the rock many times as a kid, but didn't recall seeing any giant footprints.
Harper knew the way to the rock and wanted proof for himself.
"They labeled them as giant," Harper said." If they're really there I wanted to go look for it. I wasn't going to believe it until I saw toes."
Once Harper reached the rock, he quickly discovered a problem. Time had not been kind to Track Rock.
"Locally it was well known in the 70s and 60s, even the 50s and 40s," Harper said. "People forgot about it and the rock was completely covered in moss. When I was a kid it was clear."
If the tracks were there, Harper had some serious work ahead to uncover them.
After several days of digging, shoveling and raking, Harper discovered his first embedded print. Interesting? Yes, but not a giant human.
"I made my first find of a bovine track," Harper recalled.
Although quite large, Harper wasn't surprised with the bovine track, or the obvious deer track close by.
"My dad and I talked about it, and he talked to his brother who remembered there being deer tracks," Harper said. "As I kept digging the dirt and roots this track appeared, it had a distinctive arch and some little divots for toes. I took my shoe off and the arch of my foot matched up. This was definitely human like, a human like track with toes."
Harper was so inspired by his initial discovery, that he came back after two days of rain and uncovered five more tracks.
But just how did these amazing human and animal tracks become embedded in solid rock?
"The book describes that the tracks would have been made when the rock was in a plastic state, whether it was sand or an old beach," Harper explained. "I would say this was an old beach. Sometime in the past it got covered. The tracks got preserved under pressure and the rock fossilized."
That might explain the "how", but the "when" remains a mystery.
"Geologically sandstone rock strata in West Virginia is 300-to-315 million years old which predates the dinosaurs." Harper said. "The human tracks, the deer tracks and the bovine tracks are all mammals. Mammals originated 50 million years ago. These mammal tracks being in this rock is an out of place artifact. It predates the age of this rock by hundreds of millions of years."
Harper began his own YouTube channel recently called BlueBlazes Wild, focusing on foraging, cooking, and local Appalachian history.
What better place to share his exhaustive work at Track Rock?
"I thought this would be cool to feature and maybe bring a little bit of tourism back to the area," Harper said. "People found this 150 years ago, had forgotten about it and we're rediscovering it today. Ut really makes a cool story."
Indeed it does.
FULL STORY: wchstv.com/community/traveling-west-virginia/traveling-wv-track-rock-of-walton
_________________________________________
Follow WCHS on social media:
Facebook: facebook.com/eyewitnessnewscharleston
Twitter: twitter.com/wchs8fox11
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For the latest local and national news, visit our website: wchstv.com
Sign up for our newsletter: wchstv.com/sign-up
Did giants once roam the hills and valleys of present day West Virginia?
That question intrigued Vince Harper, a life long resident of Roane County, when he discovered a 1927 history book that mentioned the possibility.
Harper's father had the book which refers to The Track Rock of Walton and large, human-like footprints embedded in sandstone.
The book described the original discovery of the rock in 1892 and the giant footprints that were discovered.
"These moccasin tracks were five inches broad and 14 inches long, as if the giant had strode across the rock."
Harper had been to the rock many times as a kid, but didn't recall seeing any giant footprints.
Harper knew the way to the rock and wanted proof for himself.
"They labeled them as giant," Harper said." If they're really there I wanted to go look for it. I wasn't going to believe it until I saw toes."
Once Harper reached the rock, he quickly discovered a problem. Time had not been kind to Track Rock.
"Locally it was well known in the 70s and 60s, even the 50s and 40s," Harper said. "People forgot about it and the rock was completely covered in moss. When I was a kid it was clear."
If the tracks were there, Harper had some serious work ahead to uncover them.
After several days of digging, shoveling and raking, Harper discovered his first embedded print. Interesting? Yes, but not a giant human.
"I made my first find of a bovine track," Harper recalled.
Although quite large, Harper wasn't surprised with the bovine track, or the obvious deer track close by.
"My dad and I talked about it, and he talked to his brother who remembered there being deer tracks," Harper said. "As I kept digging the dirt and roots this track appeared, it had a distinctive arch and some little divots for toes. I took my shoe off and the arch of my foot matched up. This was definitely human like, a human like track with toes."
Harper was so inspired by his initial discovery, that he came back after two days of rain and uncovered five more tracks.
But just how did these amazing human and animal tracks become embedded in solid rock?
"The book describes that the tracks would have been made when the rock was in a plastic state, whether it was sand or an old beach," Harper explained. "I would say this was an old beach. Sometime in the past it got covered. The tracks got preserved under pressure and the rock fossilized."
That might explain the "how", but the "when" remains a mystery.
"Geologically sandstone rock strata in West Virginia is 300-to-315 million years old which predates the dinosaurs." Harper said. "The human tracks, the deer tracks and the bovine tracks are all mammals. Mammals originated 50 million years ago. These mammal tracks being in this rock is an out of place artifact. It predates the age of this rock by hundreds of millions of years."
Harper began his own YouTube channel recently called BlueBlazes Wild, focusing on foraging, cooking, and local Appalachian history.
What better place to share his exhaustive work at Track Rock?
"I thought this would be cool to feature and maybe bring a little bit of tourism back to the area," Harper said. "People found this 150 years ago, had forgotten about it and we're rediscovering it today. Ut really makes a cool story."
Indeed it does.
FULL STORY: wchstv.com/community/traveling-west-virginia/traveling-wv-track-rock-of-walton
_________________________________________
Follow WCHS on social media:
Facebook: facebook.com/eyewitnessnewscharleston
Twitter: twitter.com/wchs8fox11
Instagram: instagram.com/wchs8fox11
For the latest local and national news, visit our website: wchstv.com
Sign up for our newsletter: wchstv.com/sign-up
