DAMASCUS, VA – A trout fisherman casts under Bridge 18 on the Virginia Creeper Trail on an autumn day still so warm that he doesn’t even need to wear waders.
Virginia Creeper Trail bridge. Image by Tom Adkinson.
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The Virginia Creeper Trail in Southwest Virginia is a 34.3-mile-long path that is one of the most acclaimed rails-to-trails projects in America. It begins in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area at Whitetop Station near the North Carolina line and then winds through the forest to Damascus and then through the countryside to Abingdon. It crosses 47 bridges and trestles. Rental bicycles are abundant in the area, as are stream accesses for fishermen. The trail is popular with bikers, hikers and equestrians. The Virginia Carolina Railroad that once ran this route operated from the early 1900s until 1977.
Trip-planning resources: VaCreeperTrail.org, VisitAbingdonVirginia.com, VisitDamascus.org
and Virginia.org