Find the top rated dog walking trails in Lenoir, whether you're looking for an easy short dog walking trail or a long dog walking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a dog walking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
_140830_st.jpg)
My family and I rode 2 days over the Thanksgiving holiday. The trail is paved like new with many convenient access points. Can’t wait to ride it again!
I enjoyed a quiet ride on the Thermal Belt trail yesterday. When I parked at the parking area just off US74 (near mile marker 12.5) at 10:00am the lot was empty and so was the trail. By 2'ish when I returned the lot was half full with cyclist's vehicles.
A very pleasant semi-urban rail with lots of light industry and old textile plants. Not scenic like the Creeper but very interesting to ride. The trail is beautiful with a fresh macadam surface. Lots of street/road crossings but light traffic at most of them. The final mile south of US74 is not yet paved.
I rode the section from US74 to just past Spindale (and back) and wasn't disappointed. Will start for Rutherfordton and ride South next time just to see what I missed,
Thanks to those who added another rail trail accessible from Western NC.
I had a hard time rating my recent trip on the Trail. Since I began riding the Trail in 2008 I have promoted the Creeper Trail to others as Virginia's Crown Jewel of trails. After a five year lapse, we came back to bike our favorite section from Whitetop to Damascus. We always take the first morning shuttle up and enjoy taking most of the day to slowly enjoy the views with the sunlight through the trees in the woods and time along the creek. We have always avoided the crowds of the weekends and holidays.
Thursday Oct 10 was our recent visit. It looked like the weekends of earlier years with the group sizes and the families with children (not in school?). Everyone on the trail got to practice the "on your left" greeting. We heard it 1000 times and felt badly we were holding others up. Our joy was taken away. The volunteer at Green Cove said the previous Saturday set a record estimated at 3800 visitors. Whew!
I am happy to see the increased use and support for the trail and its economic benefits for Southwest Virginia. I am now saddened to find no predictable lighter use days in the Fall for those of us who 'march to a different beat' and want to experience it differently than others.
As an aside, the Tuesday after Labor Day in September, we biked our favorite section of the Greenbrier River Trail near Marlinton WV. During seven hours we saw five people and some were abutting property owners cutting grass. The Greenbrier is wonderful in so many ways, but it's not quite the Creeper Trail experience. My Greenbrier River Trail review in September, 2019 is on TrailLink.
This is definitely a good trail for the jogger or biker or even if you are just looking for a random stroll. It is about a mile and a half long with pavement the whole way. There are a few little ponds that have ducks and there are benches scattered throughout. If you are bringing your dog with you on the trail, make sure you bring plenty of poop bags because there are no pet stations to clean up after your pooch. Birkdale Village is at the end of the trail so you can go catch a movie or something to eat.
Newly paved with asphalt and you can smell the new wood on the
bridges. Easy ride with long sloping hills, small towns and friendly people. Could use a rest room and more benches. To find a nice motel we drove back to Asheville NC. one of my favorite towns. I will ride this trail again !
Lattie Dockery
I had high expectations for the Virginia Creeper Trail as I heard many great things about the trail. I feel the Creeper is an average trail that did not live up to my expecations but still worth my trip from Philadelphia.
I started at White Top Depot and rode to the terminus at Abingdon. I rode on Labor Day and started early to avoid the crowds I had read about. The section to Damascus is almost all down hill which I did not enjoy, I felt that I wasn't doing any work for my mileage. The path isn't in the best shape so I needed to always pay attention to my speed and the path ahead and couldn't take in the scenery as much as I would've liked to. Damascus is a cyclist town as there are multiple bike shops and places to eat and is a perfect half way point to rest.
The second half of the Creeper from Damascus to Abingdon offered a much better ride to me as I had to actually pedal and work a bit which I enjoyed. The trail seemed to be in better condition and I was able to take in the scenery more. The cattle gates do require you to stop but I didn't mind as it was a nice change of pace from the constant downhill from White Top to Damascus.
The scenry is beautiful and changes from farmland to breathtaking views from some of the larger trestles. There are bathrooms at each trail head but there is no cell service until you get close to Abingdon so plan accordingly. I was able to get ahead of the crowds if I didn't I don't think my ride would've been as enjoyable. The section from White Top to Damascus is narrow and I could see issues with unskilled riders. If you are looking for an easy 17 mile ride I would highly recommend the ride from White Top to Damascus, as an avid rail trail rider I found the Creeper to be average.
Finished 9 miles, not bad for someone who hasn’t road a bike in 25 years.
My wife and I travel the country to ride rails to trails.
This trails has it all , scenery, friendly people and a nice wide
trail great for hybrid bikes. Elizabethton has a cover bridge and
a small town fill. Johnson City is the place to stay and downtown
is up and coming with restaurant and breweries. The trail even has a BBQ
restaurant on the trail. The trail could use restrooms is stead of
porta johns. Other then that you will enjoy the ride ! Lattie Dockery
Beautiful scenery. Wonderful condition. Not at all crowded (albeit at noon on a Monday in the middle of August). Very flat - which is great if that’s what your looking for. Definitely recommend for a quick but pleasant ride.
The trail sites are spectacular. We parked at Damascus our first day and biked up the mountain. We were warned by two locals that I spoke to that the trail would be of heavy use of people coming down the mountain. The ride up is not that hard. If you are in fair shape the slope is not bad. The trail itself is more dirt and rock than crushed stone. The bridges that you cross all have 1-2 inch edges that make it difficult to get on the bridge. About 5 miles up we began to meet bikers in groups of 10-12 or more. Twice I had to yell lookout. These weekend bikers do not know the rules of the trail. 2-3 wide and not moving over. These groups are bused to the top so they can coast down. We easily met over 200 bikers. We will bike this part again but not on a weekend. The next day we parked 4 miles south of Abingdon. This part of the trail is in better condition with crush stone. We rode to Abingdon first and there is an old locomotive to see. Again the scenery is nice to look at. You will also cross over a lake between mile marker 7-8. The bad part of this trail, 6 times you have to open gates to ride this trail. I talked to a local and asked why. I was told this is private property and the farmer is trying to keep his cattle out. From what I read this is not private property but owned by Abingdon. Overall this is a beautiful trail. Well worth our trip from Pittsburgh. RDD
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!
Map Search
