The Virginia Creeper Trail Revisited

Several years ago our family visited The Virginia Creeper Trail, in Abingdon Virginia.  I blogged about it here.  I absolutely loved that trip and for years wanted to go back.  Not only did I want to go back because it was beautiful and exciting but also because my oldest child wasn't able to go with us.  We came home telling him about how much fun it was but simply telling someone doesn't do it justice.  For years he promised to go back with me on a special son/mom trip.  I figured with him graduating and getting ready for collage that was just a pipe dream....so I was more that surprised when he said he wanted to take "our trip" following graduation instead of the traditional week at the beach with his friends. 

 

The Virginia Creeper Trail is a 34 mile rail to trail in Abingdon Virginia.  Both private and federal land make up the trail that passes straight through the town of Damascus.  And that is where Tommy and I started our adventure. 

 

About half way along the trail, Damascus hosts several bike/shuttle/adventure shops that can help you get out on the trail.  They aren't necessary though.  You can just hop on the trail and take off.  But depending on which direction you are going you might have a pretty big hill to climb!  What the shuttles do is allow you to be dropped off at the peak of the trail so that all you have to do is coast down.  And by coast I mean zoom!  Don't have a bike?  Don't worry.  Most of the shops rent bikes along with offering the shuttles.  We used Adventure Damascus for our shuttle-for the two of us it was $28 to be carried up to the top at Whitetop Station.  From there we coasted (zoomed) down back to Damascus.  I think, don't hold me to it, that it's 17 miles back down to the town. 

 

 

 

 

Most of the trail runs along the Whitetop Laurel River.  You cross 17 (again don't hold me to that number) trestles before getting back to Damascus from Whitetop Station.  The Appalachian Trail intersects with the trail at least once that we know of.  Tommy and I stopped biking for a while to hike a small portion of the AT.  I think both Tommy and I grinned the entire way down we were biking. 

 

 

After about 3 hours of biking/hiking we were back in town.  It occurred to both of us that it was so much fun we should get a shuttle right back up to the top and do it again!  But we had other adventures to get to!  I'll post more on that soon!

 

It was easily one of my favorite trips.  Thank you Tommy for keeping that promise. 

 

Back to the grind!

After such a great Holiday and so much fun with family and friends, it is back to work time for us.  However I am happy to report that with the coming and now going of this festive season The Busy Bryants will now be back up to getting out and seeing more of Virginia (and who knows where else).  We do have a small matter of New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, my birthday, and one open house to host....before the comings and goings....get going.  Last night while formulating some ideas about what we would like to do in January I started thinking about this last year and everything that has happened and all the places we have been.  I forget just how busy we are until I think back on all that we have done.



We welcomed in the year at Smith Mountain Lake.



We travelled to Williamsburg by ferry for Father's Day



We camped at Todd Lake



We visited Virginia Beach.



Mark and I had a weekend away in Leesburg.



Visited Manassas.



Hiked the Blue Ridge Mountains.



We biked the Virginia Creeper Trail.



We did a one day marathon wine tour in the Great Neck region.



Visited friends in Harrisonburg.



Took in some culture at a plantation.



Attended a few festivals.



Did I mention we visited a few wineries?



All in all it was a great year.  We made so many great memories and the good part is I have them documented on here for us to read about whenever we want to take a stroll down memory lane :)







Abingdon Winery

Well you didn't think I was going to visit an area with a winery and NOT stop in did you?!?!?  While on our trip to bike the Virginia Creeper Trail, which you can read about here, we stopped in and visited Abingdon Winery.




Abingdon Winery

I think because the area seems so rural and hometown I was expecting something smaller...but this winery was anything but small.  They offered a complementary tasting of 6 wines from there menu of over 20 wines!  The owner and her brother were in the tasting room doing the pouring and according to the brother the owners actually do the blending.  They were able to help us narrow down what we would like and then started pouring!




The wines on the wall are award winning wines.



Large tasting room with a lot of natural light.



They have a piano in the corner and a small fire burning in the fire place....can someone say cozy!  They do sale wine by the glass and when I asked to have three glasses our host pointed out that it would be cheaper to just buy a bottle and have it uncorked right there.  And so we did. 




Plenty of seating around the embers.



They look like they are up to no good.



Yep that box next to him is OURS!

The winery has a large patio outside and a picnic area right next to a rolling stream.  I could so see myself out there on a warm summer day.



Patio area.



Picnicking by the water.

According to some of the other people there doing a tasting the winery is only about a half mile off of the Creeper Trail.  So if you are doing the portion of the trail from Abingdon to Damascus you can easily stop in here for a bit and have a tasting and rest up from a long journey :)



An old barn at the winery



The winery



Another shot of the winery



Hurry you still have time this year to make it!

We really enjoyed our little visit here.  And since it was after we had biked all day it seemed like the perfect reward for all of our hard work! 

We left here and went in search of some of the rest of our party that opted out of wine tasting in search of fishing.  We found them further down the road (same road as winery) at a fishing boat ramp and more of the bike trail.  The spot was just as picturesque as the rest of the trail. 





This is along the trail.  So a nice spot to stop and eat.




Across from the trail is a large stream for fishing.



We found her on the trail and took her home with us :)

It really was a great way to wind down our day.  We topped it off with pizza at a local pizza place and headed back to the house to zonk out!  I started looking at places to stay as soon as we got home from this trip so that we can maybe stay a week when we come back.  Yep that's us....always looking for the next adventure.   




The Virginia Creeper Trail



Riding the trails. 

As promised I wanted to share as many of the details as I could with everyone about this great adventure.  I had a little anxiety about this trip because I didn't know if what I was reading and hearing about this place was really what I would find once I got here.  The Virginia Creeper Trail is a mountain trail for use by hikers, bikers and horse back riders.  It is just a smidgen over 34 miles from end to end and there are a number of ways and areas where you can get on/off the trail.

 To start this adventure off first we had to get to Damascus Virginia.  Most everyone knows that Virginia is shaped a little like a boot.  Imagine where the toe part of the boot is....that is where Damascus is located.  And we live more in the central part.  We drove some 5 hours to get to this area.  It is very remote.  But don't be fooled by this.  The area is set up to handle the volume and I thought they did a smooth job getting everyone where they wanted to be.  



Adventure Damascus

There are a couple ways to do this trail from what I've learned.  You can be shuttled to the Abingdon Va end of the trail and work back to Damascus or you can be shuttled to the White Top Station end of the trail and ride back to Damascus.  Since you park at the shop in Damascus and the trail in only a block behind the store you just hop off trail when done and get back to your car.  There are several other bike shops in this area that offer bike rentals, shuttles and all things biking.  But I can only tell you how ours worked.  We used Adventure Damascus as our shuttle.  If you don't have a bike don't worry...you can rent one here.



Waiting for the ok to get loaded up




The trailer carrying our bikes



The van we rode in to the top

We chose the option of going to the White Top Station end.  By doing this you are taken to an elevation of close to 3500 feet and you bike down to around 1800-1900 feet.  You are dropped off at mile post 33.  We could have biked to the very end of the trail (mile post 34) but opted to just start towards Damascus.  The easier the better for us!  So we started our journey down the mountain and since almost all of this portion of the trail you are going down all you have to do is petal a small amount and enjoy the views!  This is the part I was worried about.  I had Emma in the bike trailer and was worried it would be very difficult.  But it was really not hard at all. 



The parking lot at the drop off area.  Those are Christmas trees.



About to start the adventure



Emma getting strapped in

Along the trail there are trestles, streams, Christmas tree farms, mountain views, animals.....and even a couple places to get hot cocoa. 




Trestle



Christmas tree farm



Doesn't this look like a post card?



Green Cove Station

I was also a little worried about the need for bathrooms....but they have that covered too.  Along the trail there are a few bathrooms set up for use.  They really aren't much more than glorified porta potties but hey...they worked for me.

Cross the bridge here to get hot cocoa






Bathroom inside!



Some of the sights




This stream is next to trail for most of the way down

 
Along the trail are a couple places to grab a bite to eat.  Nothing fancy but a place to stretch your legs, let the kids run around, refuel on corn dogs and talk with the others about what they think of the trail. 

There were also cabins for rent at this spot

Now in the summer I might be tempted to jump in.



Our friends that suggested this adventure



Looking down on the water from a trestle

I wanted to stop so many times and just snap picture after picture so I could take all the sights home with me.  But Emma had other plans.  She was tired of the bike trailer and my butt was getting sore so we continued on until we got to mile post 16.  Making it back to this mile post you are back where you started the journey...you just hop off the trail and head a block over to where you parked that morning. 





Emma after the long journey

We started the biking somewhere around 10:50 and we got off the trail around 2:30.  You certainly can do it faster if you don't stop and really petal down the entire way.  And you can also draw it out longer if you like to stop and take more time on the trail.  I did see where the Appalachian trail intersected with this trail a few places.  So stopping for a hike, picnic, fishing wouldn't be out of the question. 


Over all it was a great experience.  Mark and I have said we would like to come back when we can take a few days and really spend a lot more time here.  I would like to do the other end from Abingdon to Damascus and I would like to do some hiking too.  I know there is a state park in the general area so maybe I can combine two of my loves :) 





Before the trail





After the trail!



 After the trail we did manage to squeeze in a few more fun things.  I will be posting that tomorrow!