Biking the Virginia Creeper Trail: Whitetop to Damascus
The
Virginia Creeper Trail is a rails-to-trails project in southwest
Virginia that attracts visitors from around the world. Mark and I
joined up with a couple of friends last weekend to enjoy
the gentle downhill ride from Whitetop to
Damascus. Although this stretch (the most popular part of the
trail) is 17 miles long, it was easy enough even for me --- and I
haven't been on a bike in over a decade.
For $25 apiece, we
rented a bike and were driven to the top of the hill, making the day
very simple and worry-free. We chose The Bike Station a bit at
random since there are five other outfitters in Damascus and all of
them have comparable prices. It turns out that The Bike Station
is run by a trio of very pleasant brothers, and we're glad we stumbled
upon them.
I
picked one brother's brain while he ferried us uphill, learning that
95% of the visitors to the Creeper Trail are non-locals, and that those
of us who like to avoid crowds should shun July, August, and
October. In fact, he said that the weekend we chose was one of
the slowest ones in a long while, which made me happy. The
Creeper Trail is extremely family friendly, and I'd say that half of
the other bikers had kids along for the ride.
Unlike everyone else, we
took it slow and kept our brakes on a lot of the way rather than
zipping along at the speed of gravity. (We certainly didn't have
to pedal, except for a bit at the very end.) Even so, I felt like
the scenery was whizzing past way too quickly. The upper parts of
the trail pass through northern hardwood forest and the lower parts
through cove hardwood forest, following a beautiful creek for most of
the distance. Old railroad trestles come at regular intervals,
giving beautiful views, some from 70 feet in the air. We stopped
a few times just to soak in the scenery.
It seemed like we had
barely been on the trail at all before we reached Green Cove
Station. We had to explore the old train station, though we
passed on the modern candy being sold behind the counter. 
Historic
medicines lined the shelves, and one of our friends noticed a bottle of
mercury (not for sale) --- clearly, the station dated back to snake oil
salesman days. In the back room, old timey farming utensils
caught my eye, including this scythe with grain basket. I have to
admit, though, that some of the old tools looked like they came out of
my barn --- surely they weren't all that old.
Two thirds of the way
from Whitetop to Damascus, we stopped at the only restaurant along the
trail --- the Creeper Trail Cafe in Taylor's Valley. The Cafe is
a basic hamburger joint, but Mark and I shared the most food-like
options on the menu and really enjoyed them --- cream of broccoli soup
and a chicken salad sandwich. Servings are large, so I highly
recommend the route of picking a soup and sandwich and sharing --- our
friends 
ordered
a meal apiece and had to throw a third of each one away to make room
for the world famous chocolate cake. The cake was a beauty ---
three stories high --- and was quite tasty, although Mark thought it
didn't quite live up to the hype. During the shuttle ride up, our
driver quipped that the Creeper Trail is the only biking trip on which
you'll gain weight, due to the "fat free"
chocolate cake.
We wouldn't change a
thing about our trip down the trail, but next time we might choose to
pack a lunch and stop along the creek for a picnic. We had fun
clambering around on the rocks, and could certainly have stayed longer
at several spots along the trail. In fact, I could easily have
spent a couple more hours along the Creeper Trail, even though I
suspect that no one else lollygagged around for anything like the 5
hours it took us to travel 17 downhill miles.
Want
to visit the trail? The best place to start planning your trip is
the online Virginia Creeper Trail
Guide. Stop by
their website to see a list of outfitters, to download trail maps, and
more.
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