Biking the Tobacco Heritage Trail, South Boston, Va

 

• Date Biked:  September 3, 2022
• Posted Mileage: 4 miles
• Total miles Tracked: 9.2
• Type of Trail: Rail trail, crushed gravel
• Conveniences:  A few benches and picnic tables along the trail. 
• Best Features:  Historical sites
• Worst Features:  short ride, no trail-town feel
• Wildlife spotted:  Rough green snake
• Vegetation: Hardwoods, wildflowers
• Associated Website: https://tobaccoheritagetrail.org/
• Primary Author:  James

The largest chunk of the Tobacco Heritage Trail runs between La Crosse and Lawrenceville, Virginia. We've biked it a few times, and wrote about it in this previous post. But, there's another finished segment a few dozen miles away in South Boston. It's a little over 4 miles long, and most of it is a rail trail, flat and straight, making for an easy, if somewhat short, bike ride. 

The dedicated trailhead is at Cotton Mill Park, off Railroad Street. There's plenty of parking, but that's about it. A few benches, no water fountains or restrooms. 

You ride from this along a path that takes you to the old rail bed portion of the trail. You'll be turning right once you reach it, but you can also follow the path a little distance if you head left. You'll arrive at a historical site called Boyd's Ferry where there's a good view of a railroad bridge crossing the Dan River, plus a marker commemorating the Revolutionary War. 

Heading back onto the rail trail, you'll have roughly 3 miles of easy riding along a crushed surface. It's a nice, easy ride. There's plenty of wildflowers, but the landscape is a bit bland compared to most other Virginia rail trails. 

Fortunately, you don't need to stray far from the trail to find points of interest. About a mile from the end there's a turn off that leads to the Diamond Hill Cemetery, the graveyard for the Berry Hill Plantation, where you'll find a memorial to the enslaved people buried there.

 

As you head up the hill to the cemetery, you see another road leading further into Berry Hill. Follow this a hundred yards or so and you'll reach the brick ruins of the slave quarters. There are more roads leading further into the plantation but we didn't follow them. The cemetery is plainly open to the public, but we weren't certain if the larger plantation grounds were open. 

This portion of the Tobacco Heritage Trail is a good place to try out if you're just hungry for a good place to get in a bike ride, but South Boston doesn't seem to cater to trail riders. The trail is near downtown, but doesn't really pass through it, so it lacks the "trail town" feel of a town like Damascus or Farmville. On the plus side, since these trails aren't catering to tourists, the trails aren't crowded. It's a nice, peaceful getaway. 

Biking the Virginia Blue Ridge Rail Trail, Amhurst VA

• Date Biked:  June 12, 2021  
• Posted Mileage: 7
• Total miles Tracked: 13.8 miles
• Type of Trail:   Rail Trail
  
• Conveniences:   Real bathroom at the Rose Mill Trailhead. Picnic tables. 
• Best Features:   A beautiful trail with fairly gentle grades
• Worst Features: A bit of a long drive for a short ride
• Wildlife spotted:  Deer
• Vegetation:   Wild flowers, hardwoods, pines
• Associated Website:  https://www.nelsoncounty-va.gov/wp-content/uploads/Map-of-Trail-13.pdf
• Primary Author: James

About a half hour drive north of Lynchburg, Virginia, is the Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail. This is a relatively short trail, only 7 miles, with no connecting trails. So, it can be kind of a long drive just to ride this trail by itself. You may want to combine it with the Lynchburg trail system if you'll looking for a full day of biking. But, if you happen to be passing through the area, and just want a quick ride you can knock out in under two hours, this is a pretty good trail. 

The surface is mostly gravel, a little rough in a few patches, but overall very rideable. You see a few houses along the way, but for the most part you're following a creek and passing through railway cuts, feeling nicely removed from civilization. The day we rode there were tons of blooming wildflowers and numerous butterflies. 

Thankfully, you aren't too removed from civilization. There's a trailhead at Rose Mill Road with a brand new bathroom. A nice gazebo too! 

Cheryl and Hope chatting along the ride

At just seven miles long, we mostly raced out to the end and took note of what we wanted to photograph on the way back. There's a short length of track at the end of the trail with some equipment and plaques telling you about the history of the railroad. 

There are several small bridges, but one fairly long one passing over the river offers nice views...

... and there's even a covered bridge. Very short, but still a nice touch. 

This trail was part of a weekend adventure with our friends Hope and Danny.  

The beginning/end of the line features a caboose and what looks like might have been an old train station. There's some informational signage, but if we read it I've completely forgotten what it said! It's fine. We don't go out on these trails to read the signs. We go out to smile and take photos of flowers and butterflies. What more can you ask from a trail? 

Biking the Little Tennessee River Greenway, Franklin, NC

 

• Date Biked: March 20, 2021
• Posted Mileage 4-ish
• Total miles Tracked:  6.19
• Type of Trail:  mixed surface rail trail
• Conveniences:  Trailhead with bathrooms and picnic tables
• Best Features:  Covered Bridge
• Worst Features:  Rough surface, confusing trail path 
• Wildlife spotted: None
• Vegetation:  Wildflowers
• Associated Website: https://www.littletennessee.org/ 
• Primary Author: James

When we tackled the Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga Trails back in March, we saw no reason to race straight home. From north Georgia, it's a relatively short hop into western North Carolina, so I scanned Google Maps to find a greenway we might explore. The Little Tennessee River sprang up. It is, as far as I can tell, the westernmost rail trail in North Carolina, so it seemed like a good one to check off our list. 

The Little Tennessee River Greenway follows two railway cuts along the eponymous river through Franklin, NC. Franklin is a lovely little town. We ate lunch at the Motor Company Grill, which specializes in ridiculously decadent burgers and shakes. Laden with calories, we went in search of parking for the greenway, and launched our journey from Tassee Park near the midpoint of the trail. This has bathrooms and picnic tables, but the paths down from the parking area to the trail itself were a little rugged. We headed south. Before long we reached the best feature of the greenway, the Nonah Bridge, a wooden covered bridge that is a thoughtful blend of functional infrastructure and public art. Riding through it is reminiscent of riding through a cathedral, or perhaps the upturned belly of a wooden sailing ship. 

I've thought a lot about this bridge in the last two months. Having ridden several dozen greenways in numerous states, some of our favorites are ones where the people in charge of the trail understand that greenways are more akin to parks than to highways. Yes, we love long trails that let us ride from one town to another, but usually the trail itself is the destination for us, not merely a neutral surface that exists to provide easy passage from point A to point B. Once you think of a greenway as a long, thin park, it sets some expectations. Parks feature sculptures, flower gardens, and picnic shelters. Obviously, on a thirty mile greenway that passes through multiple jurisdictions, you wouldn't expect every foot to be lined with flowerbeds. Some of our favorite trails just let nature run wild six inches off the pavement. But the Nonah Bridge leaves me wondering why more greenways don't make the effort to build beautiful infrastructure. Not to name names, but Cheryl and I can name a trails where, instead of a lovely bridge crossing a pleasant river, there's are bland concrete slabs bordered by chain-link that give the surrounding the feel of an industrial wasteland. I understand that a beautiful bridge like the Nonah costs more than something drab, but we drove over a hundred miles out of our way because of the pictures of this bridge. No doubt other people do as well. Attractive things make good attractions! 

So, big bonus points for the LTRG having such an excellent feature, one that's made me look at every greenway I've since ridden in a different light. Unfortunately, the fact that this trail includes such a great bridge makes the rest of the trail a baffling disappointment. The trail is a mix of paved and gravel surfaces, at somewhat random intervals. The gravel is rough enough that I wouldn't recommend tackling this trail on a road bike. The other problem we had was a lack of clear signage. As you head toward downtown, the trail reaches the back of a shopping center. Google maps indicated the trail continued on the other side of the river, but the pathway wasn't immediately clear, and the bridge crossing into downtown had a ton of traffic on it, so we turned back. It looks like we only missed out on another mile or so of riding. Even though there are downloadable trail maps, if a trail sort of fizzles out in a parking lot, clear markers pointing toward the next step of the journey are a necessity. 

If you're serious about biking, this trail is probably a little too short to be worth the drive just to ride it. But, I imagine that in the fall, when the color is changing, this would be a spectacular greenway for a walk or run. But, if you are looking for a longer trail that has fully embraced the "greenway as a park" philosophy, do we  have a trail for you! Up next: The Swamp Rabbit!

Biking Fripp Island and Hunting Island State Park, SC

 

• Dates Biked: October 15 and 18, 2020
• Total miles tracked:  Hunting Island:  14 miles (includes from our rental on Fripp and back), Fripp Island:  11.2 miles.  Beach ride on Fripp:  10 miles.  
• Best Features: Biking with friends and beach rides! 
• Worst Features:  Mosquitoes  
• Wildlife spotted: Egrets, herons
• Vegetation: Maritime forests, marshes
• Associated Websites:  pledgethepink.com; https://southcarolinaparks.com/hunting-island; https://frippislandresort.com
• Primary Author: Cheryl

For the last several years, I have been participating in a 3-day walk for Breast Cancer called Pledge the Pink, held in the low country of South Carolina.  This year, it was going to be located with Fripp Island as the home base, with walks on Hunting Island State Park and the Habersham community in Beaufort County.  Alas - Covid.  The walk itself became a virtual event this year, but James and I and our friends Hope and Danny decided to keep our reservations at our house on Fripp Island.  We participated in the virtual event, but chose to get our daily miles on our bikes instead.  We have two other posts for our biking on the Spanish Moss Trail in Beaufort and Pinckney Island Wildlife Refuge in Hilton Head, but we had other great biking on Fripp Island, including their wide beaches and the neighboring Hunting Island State Park, so we felt we needed to share the rides with our readers.  

Hunting Island State Park is just magical.  In addition to the miles of beach that are part of the park, there are 3 main trails that run parallel through the park, and some shorter loop and connector trails, along with the paved roads that wind through the park. Most trails are sandy, so if you're biking, you'll need some wider tires.  There are also roots, fallen limbs and pine cones.

The Lagoon Trail

Leaving the Nature Center parking lot

And did I mention the mosquitoes?  Oh my!  We were there in October and they were the size of pterodactyls!  We had bug spay, but they were biting trough our shirts.  We quickly detoured over to their boneyard beach.  We left out bikes near the footbridge that crosses the lagoon and wandered among the driftwood.   

If you've never experienced a boneyard beach, Hunting Island State Park provides the easiest opportunity to do so.  It's not even a mile from the parking lot at the nature center.  Other such boneyards require ferry rides or several miles of trekking to get there.  And just what is a boneyard beach?  It's where a maritime forest is being reclaimed by the ocean.  

Footbridge to the boneyard as seen from the beach

After wandering around this section of the beach for a while, we hopped back on our bikes and rode up to the lighthouse.  The four of us had climbed the 167 steps of the lighthouse 2 years prior.  With Covid, they were limiting the people climbing the day we here here this year.  If you get a chance to do it, the view is spectacular.  

Hunting Island Lighthouse

We left the main grounds of the state park and headed back down the stretch of HWY 21 back to Fripp Island.  We took a quick detour on the Marsh boardwalk trail.  We were hoping to see some birds, but just saw a bunch of crabs instead.  

We rode our bikes the next two days on the Spanish Moss Trail in Beaufort and Pinckney Island Wildlife Preserve in Hilton Head.  The link will take you to our Spanish Moss review, and Pinkney is coming up soon!

Our last full day at Fripp for Pledge the Pink, we decided to just ride our bikes around the island.  It was high tide and many of the roads on the island were covered in overwash.  That didn't stop us from having some fun.  

SPLASH!

If you can still see the tops of grass, it's shallow enough to ride through!

After lunch, James and I took our bikes over to the beach and rode the entire length of Fripp Island and back.  We love riding on the beach, and the wide stretches of sand during the low tide did not disappoint.  

The pics might make it look like we had the beach all to ourselves. Not true! There were also a crazy number of birds. Here's a video of us riding through one of the flocks:

Next year, our Pledge the Pink walk will be based in Hilton Head.  We look forward to gathering together and walking our 10 miles a day for Breast Cancer.  You can bet we'll be hauling our bikes down and looking for more beaches to pedal.

Survivors sporting some FANCY socks!