I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but I stumbled into a one-day adventure at one of the prettiest trails in the country, the Virginia Creeper Trail. Travel forum contributors insist that this trail is one of the best you’ll ever see, and it’s just beautiful in autumn with different colored foliage in each part. Rich with local history it has received numerous regional and national accolades. Whether being used for bicycling, walking, horseback riding, fishing or cross country skiing, I can definitely understand the draw.
The Creeper Trail is 34 miles long, with the town of Whitetop at the highest point (3,500′), Damascus in the middle (1,900′), and Abingdon at the bottom. Apparently most trail visitors (myself included) do just the top half of the trail starting in Damascus where you can rent a bicycle, get shuttled up to the top in a van and then bike down to Damascus at your own pace. That’s 17 miles of downhill pleasure cruising, which took me about 3.5 hours with several stops to soak up the scenery. Did I mention the dozens of wooden trestles I got to ride on, passing over streams and cruising through breezy autumn forests? I’m not surprised that bicycle rentals were sold out. For me it was such a fun way to experience autumn colors in a close-up, intimate setting.
For more information please visit the Virginia Creeper Trail website. Thank you for visiting!
oOo
