Explore the best rated trails in Petersburg, VA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Tobacco Heritage Trail and Ashland Trolley Line. With more than 9 trails covering 117 miles you’re bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
While Richmond isn’t necessarily known for its bike-friendliness, the Cannon Creek Greenway is a step in the right direction. The trail is 1.9 miles long, a north-south trail along the east side of...
The central feature for which the High Bridge Trail is named is an unforgettable experience, towering 125 feet above the mighty Appomattox River and nearly a half-mile (2,440 feet) across it. The...
Chester Linear Park runs for less than a mile on a former rail corridor in the heart of Chester, Virginia. The path courses through a residential neighborhood, but the enveloping woodlands provide a...
In western Williamsburg, the Powhatan Creek Trail stretches 2 miles from the historical Jamestown Settlement attraction to Clara Byrd Baker Elementary School. It begins near the one mile marker on the...
The Tobacco Heritage Trail currently runs in a continuous, off-road 17-mile stretch between the southern Virginia communities of Lawrenceville, Brodnax and La Crosse. Along the way, trail-goers can...
Victoria Railroad Park is a 21-acre open space located in the central business district of an old railroad town in south-central Virginia. Victoria was the halfway point of a Virginian Railway...
The sprawling Virginia Capital Trail snakes along the James River and State Route 5, a Virginia Scenic Byway, for 52 paved miles from the state’s capital of Richmond to the historic capitals of...
The Ashland Trolley Line runs on a portion of the former Richmond-Ashland Electric Line, which linked the two communities for 31 years until its closure in 1938. During this period, Ashland was a...
The Newport News Park Bikeway offers a pleasant 5-mile loop through southern Virginia woodlands. The unpaved trail takes you through the 8,000-acre park and offers a connection to Colonial National...
In western Williamsburg, the Powhatan Creek Trail stretches 2 miles from the historical Jamestown Settlement attraction to Clara Byrd Baker Elementary School. It begins near the one mile marker on the...
Chester Linear Park runs for less than a mile on a former rail corridor in the heart of Chester, Virginia. The path courses through a residential neighborhood, but the enveloping woodlands provide a...
The Ashland Trolley Line runs on a portion of the former Richmond-Ashland Electric Line, which linked the two communities for 31 years until its closure in 1938. During this period, Ashland was a...
Victoria Railroad Park is a 21-acre open space located in the central business district of an old railroad town in south-central Virginia. Victoria was the halfway point of a Virginian Railway...
The central feature for which the High Bridge Trail is named is an unforgettable experience, towering 125 feet above the mighty Appomattox River and nearly a half-mile (2,440 feet) across it. The...
The Tobacco Heritage Trail currently runs in a continuous, off-road 17-mile stretch between the southern Virginia communities of Lawrenceville, Brodnax and La Crosse. Along the way, trail-goers can...
While Richmond isn’t necessarily known for its bike-friendliness, the Cannon Creek Greenway is a step in the right direction. The trail is 1.9 miles long, a north-south trail along the east side of...
The sprawling Virginia Capital Trail snakes along the James River and State Route 5, a Virginia Scenic Byway, for 52 paved miles from the state’s capital of Richmond to the historic capitals of...
The Newport News Park Bikeway offers a pleasant 5-mile loop through southern Virginia woodlands. The unpaved trail takes you through the 8,000-acre park and offers a connection to Colonial National...
The sprawling Virginia Capital Trail snakes along the James River and State Route 5, a Virginia Scenic Byway, for 52 paved miles from the state’s capital of Richmond to the historic capitals of...
The Ashland Trolley Line runs on a portion of the former Richmond-Ashland Electric Line, which linked the two communities for 31 years until its closure in 1938. During this period, Ashland was a...
While Richmond isn’t necessarily known for its bike-friendliness, the Cannon Creek Greenway is a step in the right direction. The trail is 1.9 miles long, a north-south trail along the east side of...
In western Williamsburg, the Powhatan Creek Trail stretches 2 miles from the historical Jamestown Settlement attraction to Clara Byrd Baker Elementary School. It begins near the one mile marker on the...
The Newport News Park Bikeway offers a pleasant 5-mile loop through southern Virginia woodlands. The unpaved trail takes you through the 8,000-acre park and offers a connection to Colonial National...
Chester Linear Park runs for less than a mile on a former rail corridor in the heart of Chester, Virginia. The path courses through a residential neighborhood, but the enveloping woodlands provide a...
The Tobacco Heritage Trail currently runs in a continuous, off-road 17-mile stretch between the southern Virginia communities of Lawrenceville, Brodnax and La Crosse. Along the way, trail-goers can...
Victoria Railroad Park is a 21-acre open space located in the central business district of an old railroad town in south-central Virginia. Victoria was the halfway point of a Virginian Railway...
The central feature for which the High Bridge Trail is named is an unforgettable experience, towering 125 feet above the mighty Appomattox River and nearly a half-mile (2,440 feet) across it. The...
Drove from WDC to Richmond for a 60 mile training ride and loved the uncongested trail with excellent surface. Very infrequent stops available for restocking fluids or food, so pack accordingly. Will definitely come again.
Our biking group through Wintergreen Sporting Club had a lovely experience on this trail August 2019. We parked in the restaurant parking (free for customers). We enjoyed a terrific lunch with extremely bicyclist supportive staff after our ride! One look at us and they served water immediately.
Some of us have road bikes so the crushed gravel trail keeps the rider alert. Some piles of gravel along the way posed a challenge for road bikers. I ask those who maintain the trails to be aware of the perils of piled gravel and sand to bicyclists.
The historic markers, some shade along the way and the bridges make this a 5 star trail.
Wife and I rode Lawrenceville to La Crosse and returned the following day, staying at the Fairfield Marriott right off the trail. The trail is pretty flat, but more uphill on the way to La Crosse. The trail is in pretty good shape except for a fallen tree from the recent storms. The grass on the trail was recently cut so there was a lot of room to the sides and the center grass was low. The facilities along this trail are excellent—several bathrooms, garbage cans, and benches. The last four miles to La Crosse are paved which made for easy riding. We saw quite a few deer, a snake or two, and a couple of turtles on the journey. I keep telling the snakes to stay away because my wife is afraid of them; but they don’t listen to me.
There really isn’t that much along the trail so take food and water with you. La Crosse and South Hill have all kinds of places to eat, so once you get there you have plenty of choices.
My only complaints are the lack of use of the trail and the need for crushed limestone. The trail is really nice and we really did not see any use. With all that infrastructure people should take advantage of it being there and the towns and the county should try to highlight it more. The trail cover is more of a sandy material, not like the typical crushed limestone. When it is dry you can lose traction pretty easily and you will slide. Be careful with that. There is also an issue with the mile markers. It seems like you go from mile 1 to mile 4 with no 2 or 3.
Asphalt parts of trail are awesome but the boardwalks are a killer. Not recommended for quads. Beautiful and Clean! Definitely go there again but not on skates 😉
We are frequent visitors to this park. It is an excellent place to run, ride or walk bikes along the gravel path or bridge. Despite other reviews - this trail has several walking and mountain biking paths that are quite interesting. One is about a mile long that takes you underneath the bridge. Another close to Camp Paradise parking lot is about a 1.5 hike through the woods. There are several other trails along the path we haven't discovered yet - but it is definitely worth the trip.
On Wed 3Apr, four of us drove from Raleigh NC , parked in a secure paid-parking lot in Richmond VA, within 1 mile of Trail head. We backpacked requirements for an overnight stay. We biked to Green Spring Vacation Resort near the Jamestown Settlement. For a reasonable price, we got a 4-bedroom / 4-bathroom overnight rental. We Uber-ed to dinner and back. The next day we biked back to Richmond and made many stops to read the historical signs posted all along this beautiful paved trail. We were blessed with awesome weather and only 1 flat! I will describe this trail as 30% flat, 35% hill climbing, and 35% hill descending! Both days, we met a variety of riders going in both directions. The 2-day b-ride with about 55 miles each day was well-worth our 6-hour r/trip drive!
this was very pleasant if a little boring. there are some historical stops near Farmville and the High Bridge. the trail is closed for repair from about two miles east of main st. in Farmville to the river road parking area.
It’s an awesome trail and very easy to ride. 54 miles will various places to stop and rest along the way. I ridden the trail twice starting in Richmond, finishing at the Jamestown. And then took the Capital Trail Shuttle back to Richmond.
Farmville is in a shallow bowl along the Appomattox River with the High Bridge Trail rising out in two directions. It is uphill on a slight but steady grade. Not a bad grade, but one a casual cyclist would notice. So you park Downtown and ride out in either direction. The High Bridge is east. When nearly worn out, turn around and the down grade works for you. Further, Farmville is a college town (Longwood University) so there are abundant local and chain restaurants when you want to refuel.
We gave this an average rating as compared with other rails to trails and State Parks we have biked in the Mid-Atlantic area because once out of town the scenery does not change much. We have biked most of the Trail and it becomes a long green tunnel in many places. For this reason the Trail is best suited for a quicker pace consistent with biking and horse riding rather than walking. For the best Trail experience include the High Bridge structure, its role in history and its vistas.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g57784-d1908609-r634293226-High_Bridge_Trail_State_Park-Green_Bay_Virginia.html#
November 2017 we paddled this trail west of Chickahominy campground. We thoroughly enjoyed pedaling this trail and the geocaching along the way. You can hear the traffic along most of this trail, but the condition of it is excellent. Enjoyed multiple trips to Cul's Courthouse Grille. This November we finished the trail east to Jamestown. Again a lot of the trail paralleled the highway, but the geocaching was fun.
We have biked parts of this trail twice now. Except for the bridge, it's not a very interesting trail as it's just pretty much a straight, fine gravel path with trees lining it on both sides. What it lacks in interest, it makes up for in ease. Since it's a former railway it is very flat and not very crowded at all. We parked on River Road in Farmville and rode towards the bridge, which is only 1 mile from the parking lot (cost $4 per car year round). It is an ideal path for young families as it's flat, uncrowded and very few roads to cross. We had our 8 year old grandson and he easily rode a total of 10 miles, while the little ones were in the bike trailer. There are lots of fun places to eat in Farmville or bring a picnic and stop along the trail at some picnic tables. There are numerous port-a-johns as well as nicer restrooms along the trail every 2-4 miles (not flush, but clean and located inside a building). Make sure to bring plenty of water. The mosquitos were really pesky when we stopped, so you may want to bring bug spray this time of year. Also, there were literally hundreds of wasps all along the bridge. We didn't experience that the last time we rode, but the ranger said it's typical for this time of year. They don't bother you, but it also made us feel like we wanted to get off the bridge ASAP instead of stopping to take in the views leisurely. The little critters dropped the stars from 4 to 3.
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