My family and I rode this trail yesterday, starting in Erwin, to Dunn and then back to Erwin. Ten miles round trip. My 8, 11 and 13 year olds all enjoyed this trail. The surface is well kept. The grade, if there is one, was not noticable in either direction. There are several road crossings on this trail but they are well marked.

We passed several historic houses on the side of the trail as we left Erwin, then you get into nice rolling country. As you get into Dunn you pass behind some industrial plants, which I always find interesting.

My 8 year old wanted to head back as soon as we got to Dunn, although I would have liked to explore Dunn a little on bike before heading back. The streets in Dunn appeared to be wide and not too heavily traveled, so they may lend themselves to exploration.

We bought water and snacks at the BP in Erwin before we headed out. It is a block away from the trailhead in Erwin. There was plenty of parking and we felt safe to leave our truck there while we were gone.

When we returned there are several eating options within site of the trailhead. Tubby's Diner was very busy and looked inviting, but the kids chose the pizza place, Pizza House a few doors down. The pizza was good, my wife and I split a sub which was tasty. There was also a Chinese restaurant and another upscale looking restaurant on that strip. Next time I want to try Tubby's.

It was an easy drive from Raleigh to Erwin. Less than an hour, we took 401 south out of Raleigh got on 55 E in Fuquay Varina and rode that right into Erwin.

Thank you to the towns of Erwin and Dunn North Carolina for making such a nice trail available to us.

We rode the trail yesterday (9/5/10). The reviews left us a little unsure as to what we would find. What a pleasant surprise. The trail was well groomed and maintained, and we got to see some of the things that make up the little places like Erwin and Dunn. A small neat business district, a small suburban or residential area, and then the farmland growing things like cotton and soybeans. This was a great ride, will be back.

How about directions from the South? thanks.

My family lives in a rural area of our county and - though our eight year old son enjoys riding - he can never venture off our property for a ride. This is particularly frustrating for him as I do all my riding on the country roads which are currently off limits to him. I was hoping to find a trail not too far from where we live where I could take our son - and in time our six year old daughter - out on rides that they would like and which I thought offered a safe and enjoyable atmosphere.

I found one such ride on the Dunn-Erwin Rail-Trail.

My son, who had previously done his rides around our house, rode like he was in the last stage of the Tour de France - except on a trail in Dunn & Erwin rather the Champs-Élysées in Paris. We started about 1.5 miles from the Dunn end of the trail and headed towards Erwin. We rode back to the end at Dunn before returning to our car and heading home. He was absolutely thrilled by the experience and we are planning to do it a few more times during the fall. Though in the future we will schedule the ride so that we end up in Erwin at lunch time so we can dine at either the Pizza or Chinese restaurant that are at the trails' end.

I do have to say that riding the trail on my road bike (Novara Strada) was a bit of a challenge; however, it was not an overly difficult task. I had my son lead the entire ride and he easily and safely negotiated the road crossings and the bollards (aka orange posts) without difficulty. I do wish the trail was better maintained and having a better 'in-town' experience at the Dunn end of the trail would be terrific; however, the trail met my expectations and I look forward to many more rides with my son and daughter over the years ahead.

For me and my son, it was an enjoyable and memorable first ride together.

I ran the Dunn-Erwin trail end-to-end (and back) a few weekends ago while visiting relatives in Dunn. I grew up near the starting point on the Dunn end and remember when the trail was a set of rusty, unused rails. As a runner, I appreciated the markers ever 0.1 mile indicating the distance to and from Dunn and Erwin. The trail itself was very flat, making for a pleasant run. It was a quiet run and I passed through lots of rural areas between the towns that I had never been through before. I agree somewhat with the previous posters that the beginning to the Dunn end of the trail was not well marked, but since I grew up nearby I knew where it was located. It would be great if the Dunn end could be extended further toward downtown.

We rode this trail on Sunday May 4, 2008. The trip began at the Dunn trialhead which was very hard to find. Parking at the school which was suggested was very unsafe and in my opinion not a place to leave an unattended vehicle. The first part of the trail was very rundown and the trail narrowed drastically as grass grew towards the inside of the trail. Dunn has done nothing to enhance the trail or even acknowledge it. As we rode toward Erwin we noticed that as the trail crossed numerous highways that as the trail approaced the roadway, there was a lot of loose gravel and usually a sharp curb where the trail height differed from the roadway height. Mix this with large orange steel posts which you have to negotiate at this point makes it very unstable for even the most experienced rider. There are large iron bars like butterfly wings protruding from the inner steel posts to keep motorized vehicles off the trail and these bars barely allow for a bicycle. I am thankful I took the mountain bike rather than the recumbent. Also as the trail approaced the road, it usually was at such an angle, traffic was hard to spot. Traffic was also usually very high speed coming across these bicycle crossings. The trail had large piles of gravel alongside which had eroded towards the middle of the trail causing thick piles of gravel on the trail. Judging from the marks in the trail this was a very popular trail for dirt bikes and four wheelers. I just can't think of anything good as far as the condition of the trail between the trail heads themselves.
I will have to commend the folks at Erwin though on the neatness and the marking of their trailhead. I surely wish I would have started my ride at the Erwin side. The people milling thru the town were friendly and it had the atmosphere of a smalltown. There was not a lot there, but what was there was a pleasant surprise from what was at the other end. The trail may not have been so bad for a hiker or walker, but for cycling, its just not there. The scenery is not so bad, it's just the safety of the trail that is a little disturbing.
I have ridden trails in numerous other states and found them great. Actually I am very much in favor of the rails to trails program. I will have to commend Florida and Virginia on their trails as they are superb. I dont believe this is so much a rails to trails issue but a local on. Being a native North Carolinian and cycling in this state for over 45 years, NC has just never adjusted to cyclists nor will they ever I truly believe.
Again I commend Rails to Trails and Virginia and Florida on their trails, but I would have to rate this one as unsafe. For walkers and hikers, it may be worth the jaunt. Thanks

"We drove from Raleigh to experience this trail, and although the trail itself was enjoyable, the towns at both ends - Erwin and Dunn - were not. Part of why we chose to visit the trail is because we enjoy visiting historic old towns that are quaint yet vibrant. Instead, we found two ""downtowns"" that are severely rundown and depressed. Again, the trail is worth experiencing -- you'll see cotton and corn fields, old graveyards, and other interesting sights. But ""downtown"" Erwin, where the trail ends, seems to consist of a few rundown buildings featuring a pizza joint and a cafe. Venture onto the surrounding streets and you'll find yourself amid rural suburbia, not a historic old town.

We found the same to be true in Dunn, at the beginning of the trail. From the trailhead, there are no directions or signs indicating how to actually get ""downtown""'...we had to stop and ask one of the few people we could find out and about -- an ice cream truck vendor. Once we found our way ""downtown,"" we thought things were looking up. Banners from the lightposts read: Dine. Shop. Discover Downtown Dunn. Or something to that effect. Sadly, there were few shops, no restaurants, and little to discover other than the fact that downtown Dunn needs a lot of help. It should take down the banners until it has some of those things to offer.

After what we had read about the historic towns of Dunn and Erwin, we were looking forward to tooling around on our bikes on each end of the trail. Wish we had known in advance that the trail really is the main attraction here, not the cities. As long as you're clear on that beforehand, you shouldn't come away disappointed. "

Excellent trail - level with nice gravel surface. Has concrete markers each 0.1 mile so it is easy to keep up with a timed pace. Has enough variety to make it interesting.

"Rode the trail today in the rain. Started in Erwin, rode to Dunn, tooled around downtown Dunn for a while then pedaled back to Erwin. There are a couple of places to eat in Erwin, signage at the trail in Erwin gives good info on trail and area history as well as points of interests. The ride and lunch were a nice way to spend a rainy afternoon. Wish the trail were longer."