The trail is 34 miles long (one way), and what a fun surprise it was to find. While we travel around to different countries and states here in the U.S., we don’t plan much of an itinerary. I know that can be difficult for some to understand, but it has always worked out for us.
Way back in the beginning of our travels, we started out this way. We bought a one way ticket with no more than a few nights booked in an AirBnB. We then became free! No deadlines, no places we had to be.
Six years later, this is still how we travel. This is how we happened upon the Virginia Creeper Trail.
“Let’s go to Virginia.” I said “We can go to Jamestown.” We’ve been studding early American history, and this would tie in perfectly!
We came into Virginia from the southwest and stopped at the first Welcome Center we came to. After gathering information, we knew we had to sty in the area for a while.
Abingdon is where the Virginia Creeper Trail begins or ends depending on which way you are going (ending point for most). I thought this to be a very strange and odd name for a trail, and so it turned into a beautiful reason to question it.
“Creeper” refers to the speed of the old steam engines that struggled along the steep grade from Abingdon Virginia to the boarder of North Carolina. There were sharp curves and crews had to navigate washouts, rockslides, and other hazards along the way.
After learning this, it was quite apparent why then there were so many bike shops offering shuttle services! “Well then, maybe we should be wise and take that shuttle.” After all, one of the owners from a café (2 Girls and a Raven), said the top portion of the trail was the most beautiful in his opinion.
Too bad for us, that one way shuttle was going to cost our family $100! No Bueno. We are not on vacation, and that 15min ride was just too expensive. Instead, we decided to ride out a ways on the trail and come back when we wanted.
We road a total of 12 or 14 miles going over wooden trestles and smooth asphalt. The air was crisp and a little cold at times as we swiftly road through the countryside. At times we had tall green trees on both sides of us and at other times large rolling fields that stretched out with grazing cows on them. It was a nice ride and actually reminded me of when we where on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes in Idaho. Coincidently, they are both designated as “Rails to Trails”; something we found out by simply just being there (as in no pre planning or seeking it out).
Sad Fact:
The video that went along with this post has sadly become unwatchable due to a faulty phone.