Sunday, August 06, 2006

Creeping in Virginia

I am not what you would call an athlete, but I have found an enjoyable activity in southwest Virginia called the Virginia Creeper. The Creeper is 32 miles of abandoned railway that has been converted into a bike trail. The wonderful thing about the Creeper is that 17.2 miles of this trail is a coast downhill from White Top Station to Damascus with hardly any peddling. It is a great day trip for the whole family. Even small kids can coast through the beautiful countryside and scenery of Mt. Rodgers National Forest. We used a shuttle service "The Bike Station" with good equipment and a friendly driver. The 17.2 mile portion takes about 2 1/2 to 4 hours, depending on how much time you spend soaking up the sights. A good break can be taken about half way at the Creeper Trail Cafe. I hear that their chocolate cake has been in the Southern Living magazine. If it looks rainy at all, remember to bring an extra change of clothes. You will get splattered with the mud as you zoom through the puddles.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like fun to me. I like the idea of riding 17 miles and not having to peddle. We once took a trip to that area and enjoyed the wonderful scenery; if we had known about the bike trail we would have tried it. The pictures are great and they make me want to return to the mountians especially in these hot days of August.

Take Care!

David Whitener said...

I use to travel that area as a salesman over 30 years ago, I wonder how much the area has changed. I traveled a lot of dirt roads and called on country stores. I sure met a lot of interesting people.