Find the top rated trails in Richmond, whether you're looking an easy walking path or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Situated midway between the nation’s capital and the Virginia capital of Richmond, the Virginia Central Railway Trail will one day offer more than 30 miles of trail from downtown Fredericksburg west...
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 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 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 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...
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...
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...
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...
Situated midway between the nation’s capital and the Virginia capital of Richmond, the Virginia Central Railway Trail will one day offer more than 30 miles of trail from downtown Fredericksburg west...
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...
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 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 Railroad Ford Trail is located in beautiful Lake Anna State Park in Spotsylvania County near Richmond, Virginia. The park boasts 2,463 acres with swimming, boating, fishing, horseback riding and...
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...
Situated midway between the nation’s capital and the Virginia capital of Richmond, the Virginia Central Railway Trail will one day offer more than 30 miles of trail from downtown Fredericksburg west...
The Railroad Ford Trail is located in beautiful Lake Anna State Park in Spotsylvania County near Richmond, Virginia. The park boasts 2,463 acres with swimming, boating, fishing, horseback riding and...
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 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 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...
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.
Yes, there is Single Track at High Bridge State Park. Two loops! One beginner and one advanced.
The Early Trail is a 1. 5 mile rolly flowy loop with no real technical trail features. But, there are surprises. First surprise is how sweet this loop flows. Second surprise was how some relatively simple looking sections really pushed the skills to ride at speed. Very tight in a couple spots and fast in others.
The Burnside Technical loop is 2.8 miles of constant something and a bit of everything. Over 300' of climbing for aerobic challenge intermingled with fast flow sections of berms and drop-thrus. A couple Roller Coasters that can throw you, so be careful.
The loops offer some delightful technical riding to the otherwise flat and boring rail trail. So, if MT biking is your thing and you are considering a family outing come out to Farmville and spend a day on the High Bridge Trail. The loops are located 1.5 miles East of the Farmville downtown plaza about half way towards the parking lot at River Road.
My wife and I drove from north of Baltimore to do the trail the first week of Oct over 2 days starting at Richmond and finishing at Jamestown. Overall, it was a good experience.
Lest anyone be fooled, I would not consider this easy. The first day we rode to and stayed at North Bend plantation (more on that in the minute). That was a 33 mile first day. There were constant hills throughout those 32 miles (1 mile done off trail) While no one incline was onerous by itsef the cumulative toll of all of them after 30+ miles was obvious by the time we were done. (We are not rookies, we recently rode the 110 mile Florida Keys and the 62 mile PA Grand Canyon). I would rate this one more as moderate than easy. The trail itself is paved well, and with 2 exceptions well marked. The most disappointing aspect of it was the lack of diverse scenery. It really wasn't all that scenic, it was mostly along the road on one side and the same scrubby woods on the other. And that is the other BIG negative, the road. Any sense of tranquility along the way is disrupted by the fact that while on a path the road is literally right next to you for about 90% of the ride. It is well traveled enough to keep you from getting relaxed with any sense of nature.
Now the best parts. The night at North Bend Plantation was awesome. Miss Ridgely is a terrific and fun hostess. The place is loaded with history and when she tells you it will feel like Grandma's house, yes, you do feel that much at home.
On arrival in Jamestown, we played tourist at the settlement, then spent the evening at Wedmore Place at Williamsburg Winery. The price, the room, the dining and especially the service was A+ all the way.
Finally, the Capital Trail Shuttle back to Richmond. Cheyenne and her service merit yet another A+. She was great at communicating, easing any concerns before and during the trip. She was on time, helpful and friendly.
All in all, a good 2 1/2 day trip. Worth the 3 hour drive to get started in Richmond...once. Would definitely visit both lodgings again. As for the trail, of the several overnighters we've done, this ride comes in last place for enjoyment of the ride itself.
Drove out from Colonial Heights. Started run in Farmville.
Trail nice, flat, marked well. However, a bit boring. Not much to see until bridge, 4+ miles from town. Bridge pretty cool. If in the area, take advantage of the ability to get some miles in.
Liked the trail but I only found one water fountain on it, which was at Farmville. Also it would be nice if they had a connecting trail from twin lakes state park to the trail.
On an unseasonably hot and very windy day in early May, 2017, four of us got on our bikes at the parking lot of Jamestowne Settlement for the 52-mile ride to Richmond. The trail is wonderful: a variety of settings from shaded woods to open fields, flat sections and hills. The views in many places are beautiful. Our only criticism is that there are almost no places to refill your water bottle. That was a serious issue on the day we rode with temps near 90 and strong headwinds. The next day was cool when we rode back east so the lack of water was not as serious. Hopefully, as this trail is used more (since it is relatively new) this deficit will be addressed. Right how the trail is in excellent condition and we hope it stays that way. It is a top-notch ride.
A friend and I took a break from driving to ride the High Bridge Trail east from Farmville to the bridge. The trail is decent crushed limestone, wide enough to ride 2 abreast. The scenery was the same until you get to the bridge, which is about a half-mile long. Great view from it. Photographing the bridge is a challenge, as hard to get a side view without walking a ways.
rode once here from the southern trail end in jamestown up 12.5 & back ... this time we started at the richmond end and rode 9 to dory park and back -- we'll need to go back and do the middle section one day .... anyhow this section is a little more "citified" than the other end - but great surface - it is hilly here (a little surprising) .... very few road crossings for going through a big city like richmond .. look for the big bike outside the city -- dory park was a good stop .. i wish there was a better trail guide for trying to plan a multi day trip
we started in farmville ... rode to rice ... went over the big bridge ... great surface ... the occasional restroom ... very very very (did i say very) few road crossings ... we want to come back and stay in farmville and do the whole trail eastward one day, westward the other (very doable as it would be about 30 or so each day as farmville is fairly in the middle)
Today I rode the entire trail both directions. I started in Richmond and rode East to Jamestown, then back to Richmond. The trail is very smooth, constructed of blacktop in good condition. There are several stores and businesses along the route that one can stop and purchase beverages. The trail is fairly flat but has some small undulations with total elevation gain of roughly 1000' in each direction. https://www.strava.com/activities/771724527
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