Find the top rated birding trails in Johnson City, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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The first 4-5 miles from Johnson City is some of the prettiest trail I've ridden on, the second half is nothing special. Slight up and down the whole time and very well maintained.
On October 8, 2020, I pedaled round trip from Damascus, VA to Abingdon, VA on the Virginia Creeper Trail.
At Abingdon, I walked around town for an hour or so before making the return trip. Abingdon is a nice town with many historic buildings and markers that I enjoyed reading.
This part of the trail was uncrowded and has a lot of nice-to-beautiful scenery.
I had planned to ride a 2nd day on the trail, doing a round trip from Damascus to the end of the trail at Whitetop, but after seeing the crowds that were taking the shuttle to Whitetop, I changed my plans. I didn’t want to be pedaling uphill and having to avoid the crowds coming down. I was told by a couple of the shuttle drivers that I talked to that this is the most crowded time of year on the trail because people come to see the fall colors. Maybe I’ll return after the leaves have fallen to do the Damascus to Whitetop section.
Why 4 stars instead of 5? Partly because the Creeper Trail is over-hyped, so my expectations were sky high. It is a nice trail, but I much preferred the New River Trail (which I rode on October 9 and 10) because it is less crowded, has better scenery, and is better maintained than the Creeper.
We thoroughly enjoyed our great walking experience on this trail. One request we might suggest is a better observance of verbal announcements by cyclists approaching hikers from behind on the trail. Pls announce your approach as trail protocol requires. Collision between a bike tracking at high speed and an inspecting walker can end tragically. All in all, a great experience.
We rode up with our bicycles. Took roughly 45 minutes with stops to take in the beautiful views. Recommend starting from the bottom (park right outside of the church) and ride up. The ride down is amazing! Enjoy!
Very nice trail for walking or biking.
The best section of this trail is from White Top mountain to Damascus Virginia, so just stay in Damascus and take a few rides from there. Get a shuttle to White Top stop for lunch, swimming or fishing in the creek. Later on, or even same day, you can ride from your vacation house to the Abingdon winery. My wife and I didn’t really want to ride back after a bottle of wine, but we did. It’s an easy ride. There’s also lots of other great , close by outdoors options from Damascus as well .
Great trail for all ages and riders. Will definitely be 5¿ when it's completed. Don't forget to stop by The Store @ Mendota.
The trail is smooth and has some wooded sections as well as the historical aspect of the Oak Grove and Morehead cemeteries
Based on the previous reviews, I thought the traffic would be minimal. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I wanted to cut our run short due to the volume of traffic and little to no shoulder. There were tons of vehicles heading in and out of the drop points for the tubing on the river. People were whizzing by us despite the 35mph (which is still too fast for this road). The road is fairly exposed with no shade and there isn’t anything along the way like a store or gas station to replenish fluids. We started and Todd and hoped there was a convenience store or something in Fleetwood, but to our dismay there wasn’t. I would NOT recommend this route for running or biking.
Beautiful trail. Worth the time and effort. Completed the entire trail from white top to Abington once, trail is rocky and loose gravel in some places so keep your eyes open. From white top to demascus it’s a breeze, demascus to Abington is a bit tougher due to loosing the trees and river most of the way adding extra heat to the trail. But it’s manageable. Biked up from demascus to white top the 2nd and that was a workout especially after Taylor’s Valley area with the steady climb and having to watch out from the groups coming down the trail off and on. Gotta watch out for the fly byes and little kiddies but most are respectful. Good times all in all!
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