Explore the best rated trails in Staunton, VA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Lumberjack Trail and Hawksbill Greenway. With more than 15 trails covering 175 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.
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The enhanced bike-ped trail snakes alongside the John W. Warner Parkway for 1.6 miles, from East Rio Road down to McIntire Park. It mostly lies on the route of the old Southern Railway. Points of...
While the Saunders-Monticello trail leads to the home of one the United States most prominent presidents, it is quickly becoming a destination in itself. It’s less than ten minutes’ drive from...
The Hawksbill Greenway is a 2-mile non-motorized pathway in the town of Luray, Virginia, two hours from Washington D.C. It extends from Linden Street in the west to the Flowering Forest in the east....
The Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail offers a quintessential rail-trail experience in central Virginia, midway between Lynchburg and Charlottesville (less than an hour’s drive from each). The trail...
The Chessie Nature Trail travels through breathtaking rural Virginia countryside, following mile markers left behind by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad that ran this route. Dont be surprised if you...
Spanning more than 20 miles, the Rivanna Trail surrounds Charlottesville, connecting several parks along the way and providing a recreational outdoor amenity for city dwellers. The trail has a mix of...
The South River Greenway is a 1.2 mile multi-use trail running along the South River through Waynesboro's Downtown corridor. Views along the way include those of the river, Blue Ridge Mountains,...
The South River Greenway is a 1.2 mile multi-use trail running along the South River through Waynesboro's Downtown corridor. Views along the way include those of the river, Blue Ridge Mountains,...
Located in the Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area of the Monongahela National Forest—a hotspot for mountain biking and rock climbing—the Seneca Creek Trail is a scenic feast of streams, meadows,...
While the Saunders-Monticello trail leads to the home of one the United States most prominent presidents, it is quickly becoming a destination in itself. It’s less than ten minutes’ drive from...
The Chessie Nature Trail travels through breathtaking rural Virginia countryside, following mile markers left behind by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad that ran this route. Dont be surprised if you...
Spanning more than 20 miles, the Rivanna Trail surrounds Charlottesville, connecting several parks along the way and providing a recreational outdoor amenity for city dwellers. The trail has a mix of...
Waterfalls, river views, rugged rock formations, vibrant fall foliage and delicate flowers in the spring: These are the sights that put the “scenic” in Jackson River Scenic Trail. The serene...
The West Fork Trail is a pleasant 22-mile trail that snakes its way through a remote mountain setting and follows the West Fork River for most of its route. The soothing rumble of the river...
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The scenic East Fork Trail follows the East Fork of the Greenbrier River through hemlock stands and pine plantations and past many small waterfalls, extending 8 miles from the Island Campground in...
West Virginia's beautiful Greenbrier River Trail is one of America's premier rail-trails and popular with bicyclists, hikers, walkers and cross-country skiers. Most of the trail runs along the...
The James River Foot Bridge carries the Appalachian Trail over the James River in Snowden, Virginia, approximately 20 miles northwest of Lynchburg. The bridge was built on the piers of a demolished...
The Hawksbill Greenway is a 2-mile non-motorized pathway in the town of Luray, Virginia, two hours from Washington D.C. It extends from Linden Street in the west to the Flowering Forest in the east....
Located in the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area of the Monongahela National Forest—a hotspot for mountain biking and rock climbing—the Lumberjack Trail offers a scenic hike on an old...
The enhanced bike-ped trail snakes alongside the John W. Warner Parkway for 1.6 miles, from East Rio Road down to McIntire Park. It mostly lies on the route of the old Southern Railway. Points of...
The Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail offers a quintessential rail-trail experience in central Virginia, midway between Lynchburg and Charlottesville (less than an hour’s drive from each). The trail...
Widney Park Rail-Trail is located in the quiet West Virginia community of Durbin. The old railroad town has a charming Main Street with welcoming shops and restaurants and the rail-trail is located...
The enhanced bike-ped trail snakes alongside the John W. Warner Parkway for 1.6 miles, from East Rio Road down to McIntire Park. It mostly lies on the route of the old Southern Railway. Points of...
The West Fork Trail is a pleasant 22-mile trail that snakes its way through a remote mountain setting and follows the West Fork River for most of its route. The soothing rumble of the river...
Located in the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area of the Monongahela National Forest—a hotspot for mountain biking and rock climbing—the Lumberjack Trail offers a scenic hike on an old...
The Hawksbill Greenway is a 2-mile non-motorized pathway in the town of Luray, Virginia, two hours from Washington D.C. It extends from Linden Street in the west to the Flowering Forest in the east....
While the Saunders-Monticello trail leads to the home of one the United States most prominent presidents, it is quickly becoming a destination in itself. It’s less than ten minutes’ drive from...
The James River Foot Bridge carries the Appalachian Trail over the James River in Snowden, Virginia, approximately 20 miles northwest of Lynchburg. The bridge was built on the piers of a demolished...
The scenic East Fork Trail follows the East Fork of the Greenbrier River through hemlock stands and pine plantations and past many small waterfalls, extending 8 miles from the Island Campground in...
Spanning more than 20 miles, the Rivanna Trail surrounds Charlottesville, connecting several parks along the way and providing a recreational outdoor amenity for city dwellers. The trail has a mix of...
The South River Greenway is a 1.2 mile multi-use trail running along the South River through Waynesboro's Downtown corridor. Views along the way include those of the river, Blue Ridge Mountains,...
Located in the Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area of the Monongahela National Forest—a hotspot for mountain biking and rock climbing—the Seneca Creek Trail is a scenic feast of streams, meadows,...
West Virginia's beautiful Greenbrier River Trail is one of America's premier rail-trails and popular with bicyclists, hikers, walkers and cross-country skiers. Most of the trail runs along the...
Waterfalls, river views, rugged rock formations, vibrant fall foliage and delicate flowers in the spring: These are the sights that put the “scenic” in Jackson River Scenic Trail. The serene...
The Chessie Nature Trail travels through breathtaking rural Virginia countryside, following mile markers left behind by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad that ran this route. Dont be surprised if you...
Widney Park Rail-Trail is located in the quiet West Virginia community of Durbin. The old railroad town has a charming Main Street with welcoming shops and restaurants and the rail-trail is located...
The Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail offers a quintessential rail-trail experience in central Virginia, midway between Lynchburg and Charlottesville (less than an hour’s drive from each). The trail...
This is a well maintained trail that takes you from a high trafficked trail, through less trafficked cow pastures (DONT FORGET TO CLOSE THE GATES) next to the Maury River between Lexington and Buena Vista. My husband and I love running the Chessie especially when we are logging marathon training miles. Definitely a must run if you are in the area. If you love it ~ there is a marathon and 1/2 marathon on the Chessie in mid October. You can always check in with the locals at the Lexington Running Shop on Main Street to see if there is a group run upcoming on the trails. 😀👍 Always better with friends. Run Happy Y’all!
We loved this trail. My family and friends are 100% amateur bike riders. We parked at the south end at Caldwell and shuttled up with Chuck at All Sports to Cass. We hit the trail at 830 am and biked 47.3 miles the first day. It took us until about 6 that evening to reach camp. But that was with lots of stops including the grocery store in Marlinton and water and ice cream at Jack Horner Corner in Seabert. Which is an awesome store with bike parts accessories rentals beer pizza food etc. super nice place.
We camped at a designated spot in hammocks. The bathrooms where nicer than expected. All the water wells had water that I recommend you use. The trail was clean and mowed recently. No over hanging brush or tall grass. There were lots of places to get in the river. The calls are well cared for and have fire pits. It even appeared that the forest guys leave the fallen trees cut into firewood blocks trail side. We finished up the remain miles on day two and ended around 3pm. It was me (36) my wife (40) my friend (39) and our kids. 14 13 and 12. The kids had a blast and let the pack both days.
I’m super impressed With this trail system and we plan to
Make this trip annually. I would suggest if your a amateur rider to do it in 3 days. So you can relax and enjoy camp
More.
As the trail goes by a former titanium mine, that is now an EPA Superfund site, I found the lack of nature kind of creepy. Also the first part has lots of fences, whether to keep you out or something else in, I’m not sure.
I am a section cyclist who over time has completed all sections of the 77 mile Trail. The Trail has no bad sections. Traillink’s Greenbrier River Trail description and reviews give complete and accurate information on the Trail. I will not repeat. I share three observations.
First, if you have time to do only one section, this is the one. It is in the Northern Section between Clover Lick southward to Sharp’s Tunnel and bridge. This Trail section has the most scenic and remote mountains. It is a ‘gorge’ with the mountains sloping down to each side of the River with a mountain sharing the Trail on one side. No roads or houses for 5 miles. Two of the greatest landmarks on the trail are in this section. They are Sharp’s Tunnel and the adjacent curved bridge over the Greenbrier River. Hey, it’s the reason they are shown on the cover of the State Parks’ brochure.
Second, the fastest trip to Clover Lick, Cass and the Northern trailheads is from the East side of the River. From Marlinton the trip uses some combination of WV routes: 39, 28, 92, 66 depending on the trailhead. Note: The Clawson/Thorny Creek trailhead is on the end of a painful and s-l-o-w drive on a rough steep gravel road for 5 miles which takes 15 minutes. I have a front wheel drive minivan, but I made it out. Instead, I recommend access to this fine Trail portion by taking the Trail from Marlinton or Clover Lick.
The Northern trailheads can also be reached from Marlinton on the West side of the River using US 219 to County Road 1 immediately north of Marlinton. Know that this route is scenic but slower as it is a rural, paved and one lane shared road in many places.
Finally, the Greenbrier River Trail State Park reviews can be found on two web sites. You found one. The other is Trip Advisor which is free. You have to query ‘West Virginia’ and run through the menus to find the Trail listing. In Sept. 2019 there were 120 reviews. Trip Advisor rates the Trail as # 11 of 169 Outdoor Activities in WV. I have cross posted this review.
My husband surprised me with a trip to this trail for my birthday! We started at the south end and did the first 11 miles (in and back out) and then rode the northern section from Cass down to Marlinton on the 2nd day and the 3rd day went from Marlinton to Beard. It was honestly the best surface on a Rail Trail that I’ve seen... The terrain is pretty well flat (I think it descends 740 feet over 78 miles) and is an easy ride for any level of rider. Not a lot of places to stop to get water, snacks or food so carry all that with you. We didn’t get to finish all the trail but will be going back. My favorite part was from Marlinton to Beard though.
My husband, 7 year old son, and I rode this trail over three days on our hybrid bicycles. Cass to Marlinton (about 25 miles), Marlinton to Renick (almost 32 miles) and Renick to Caldwell (about 21 miles). There is a slight downhill slope if you begin at Cass and end at Caldwell. The only exception was around mile 13 where it appears that there was a rockslide and the best way for the trail maintainers to fix the trail was to build a short, moderately steep incline and equally short and moderate decline on the other side.
We arranged a shuttle with Chuck at Appalachian Sports in Marlinton for the first 2 days and a shuttle with Bobby and Cyndi at Free Spirit Adventures in Caldwell for the 3rd day. All of them were very helpful and friendly.
The trail itself was fairly well maintained, with occasional brush sticking out into the pathway and only one blowdown for which we had to dismount and push our bicycles over the branches. The surface is mainly crushed gravel with a few miles of pavement approaching and leaving Marlinton.
The trail is generally 15-30 feet above the river, sometimes veering away from it, and has river access at various points, the best access was in the final section between Renick and Caldwell. We saw multiple people swimming in the relatively shallow Greenbrier River in this section.
There are outhouses, water pumps, and campsites or shelters scattered along the way, but you definitely want to pack your own water. If you wanted to bike camp and had the map, it would easily be doable. We plan to do this in a future trip.
We thoroughly enjoyed our ride, despite the temperatures being in the high 80s/low90s and took advantage of the river access and water pumps to stay cool.
Park at Riverside park. Head toward the river and follow the trail (it only goes one way from this point). It’s paved and not too hilly with lovely views of the river along much of the path. We turned around at the overpass as the neighborhood began to look a little sketchy at that point. But by the time we got back to Riverside Park, we had completed a nice 3 mike loop.
My wife and I rode the trail on a Saturday morning. We saw very few walkers/riders until we approached Lexington. Yes, we did have to navigate through Black Angus cattle and the manure. It was actually entertaining to stop and chat with the cattle. They were quite docile and friendly.
The trail was a bit rough through private land, so you have to slow down and be careful of rocks, sticks, etc. Our Trek FX3's were great on the trail. The river was beautiful and we saw deer along the trail. It took about an hour each way. The gates have all been upgraded for easy access.
We would definitely return. :)
The trail had uncut grass and thorny blackberry bushes, making it difficult for our family. Not even a mile into the south end (Durbin), we had to navigate a rock slide. At roughly mile 8, we had a downed tree to go over that had probably been there only a few days. We planned to camp, and luckily we spotted some around the Iron Bridge area (about mile 10). Several campsites span that section on the parallel Forest Road 44. On day 2, we chose to ride the forest road instead - up to the Wildell access point, then back down to our car in Durbin. Very hilly and fun forest road!
In early April two of us rode the Trail north to south, from Cass to North Caldwell, 77 miles. We really enjoyed the ride.
The Trail is double track or road, level or gentle grades. The surface is mostly small crushed limestone, with coarse gravel periodically. Pavement occurs around Marlinton. We rode 35mm wide tires, which were fine.
Several trees were down from a recent storm. The state trail crew removed them and cleared a small rock slide. Numerous small branches and sticks littered the trail, so we had to watch as we rode.
The two tunnels (511 and 402 feet) have rideable surfaces. It was helpful to have a light, as the tunnels bend.
The Trail follows the river, which is mostly placid with occasional riffles. Hills are on both sides.
We saw blue heron, woodpeckers, teal, wood ducks, Canada geese and deer.
The ride is very rural, passing occasional cabins and a few farms. Marlinton is the only town with services. We enjoyed red pepper soup at its Dirt Bean Cafe, which doubles as a bike shop. It’s important to carry hydration and food.
We did a layover day in Watoga State Park, which offers numerous hiking trails. Park cabins 1 and 2 (Riverside) are close to the trail. Unfortunately they were not open yet, so we stayed in cabin 3, up the hill but well worth the climb. By prior arrangement a cabin can be left unlocked, to avoid riding 5 miles from the trail to the Park office.
There is no lodging at North Caldwell, the south trail end. Lewisburg is 3 miles away and has motels, but requires riding on US 60 (a 2-foot shoulder and busy traffic).
We used Appalachian Sport to shuttle us back to Cass, about a 2-hour drive with a local who filled us in on picking ramps and ginseng.
Bottom line: if you like multi-day rural trail riding, the Greenbrier is an excellent choice, especially with a layover day in Watoga State Park.
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