The trial is located beside the movie theater in Birkdale/ Huntersville. Nice paved trail. You can continue on the sidewalks to the park and extend your ride. Enjoyable 1.5 mile ride each way!

The trail is paved and well maintained. My favorite is the northern part which is about 5 miles after that you have to deal with crossings and traffic lights. An elderly couple got an accident and the husband busted his head. Blood all over the road. We have to help the wife to go back to her car and lift her ebike. It needs a lot of concentration and need your attention coz there are few sections that are not smooth.

Note: this is a public road and not a 'rail trail' where cars are prohibited.
We started at the intersection of Hwy 21 and Railroad Grade Road on the Fleetwood side, mid-morning on a Tuesday. We parked off the side of the road as there was no designated parking area here. We should have driven on about 3/4 mile to a gravel lot across from the Fleetwood Post Office and parked there (assuming that is allowed). The first 3/4 mile from the intersection with Hwy 21 is very steep downhill, narrow, with blind curves... not the safest conditions for bicycles; also some traffic. It was quite an ascent at the end of our return trip. Next time we will avoid this section.
Railroad Grade Rd. branches off to the left about 1/4 mile past the Fleetwood Post Office. Here the road becomes 'unimproved', which means it is chip seal without any painted lines. I would call this the trail road. I saw at least one previous review that mentioned heavy traffic. We did not encounter heavy traffic on this section of the road during our ride... car or bicycle. The riverside scenery is beautiful. We were particularly impressed with a large Christmas tree farm. There is a gradual incline to Todd but hardly noticeable. We would definitely do this ride again.

The “Creeper” is a nationally recognized rail trail in southwest Virginia. People of all riding abilities can ride parts of this trail; it’s downhill from Whitetop to Damascus and you can get a shuttle to the top of the mountain! There are 46 bridges or trestles along this 34 mile pastoral ride between Whitetop and Abingdon, Virginia. Definitely worth a visit. We did a YouTube video of our ride that you can find on our channel, Bent on Bike Trails.

The trail was very well maintained with tool kiosks along the way. We did Forest City- spindale and return. I give the trail a 10. The scenery a 2. Mostly views of gas stations, fast food and ugly buildings.

Whitetop down to Damascus was a downright scary ride for me. When I was 15, I fell off my bike and broke my jaw -- this ride brought back that memory almost the whole way down. The scenery, however, was gorgeous. Would MUCH prefer to have hiked this, even part of it vs what we did. We had ridden the Abingdon to Damascus leg a few months ago, and that was a really nice ride. Thia surprised us both!

Started at Johnson City entrance and rode to Sycamore Shoals near Elizabethton. Excellent surface and very wide. Next day, started in Elizabethton. Narrower trail with lots or barriers because trail crosses city streets.

We rode on a Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed the entire R/T ride starting from Gilkey. Granny B’s in Spindale made a great stop for killer sub sandwiches and baked goodies. Lots of restrooms and water on the entire route. Highly recommend for families too.

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.