Find the top rated bike trails in Radford, whether you're looking for an easy short bike trail or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a bike trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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Southern Virginia's New River Trail is one of America's premier rail-trails and has been designated as an official National Recreation Trail by the US Department of the Interior. It is also a state...
The Mill Mountain Greenway provides residents and visitors to Roanoke with a nice connection from the city's downtown to Mill Mountain Park. Within the park, you can explore numerous hiking trails,...
The Wolf Creek Greenway follows its namesake waterway for two miles through Vinton on the outskirts of Roanoke in western Virginia. Its surface is mostly cinder and gravel with a few short asphalt...
Stretching from Veteran’s Park to Worth St, in western Mt. Airy, is the Emily B. Taylor Greenway. The trail has been a hit with residents since the its construction in 2001, and remains arguably one...
The Dick & Willie Passage Rail Trail runs for 4.5 miles on a former Danville & Western Railroad corridor, which was acquired by Southern Railway in 1920 and ultimately abandoned by its successor,...
The Roanoke River Greenway will one day span 25 miles between Roanoke and Salem along its namesake waterway. Currently, much of the paved pathway is already in place and runs through a wide variety of...
The Ararat River Greenway is a pleasant, hard surface trail in Mt. Airy, NC. The trail gets its name from the Ararat River, and was part of an initiative to restore the waterway with the twin goals of...
Martinsville's Uptown Spur Trail, as its name implies, runs along an abandoned railroad spur line. Like the trains before its conversion, the paved trail branches off from the former main line—now the...
Lick Run Greenway begins in downtown Roanoke and heads north just over 4 miles to end between Huff Lane Park and Valley View Mall. Along the way, the paved pathway traverses two parks: Washington Park...
In the early 1900s, a train line nicknamed “the Huckleberry” was built to transport coal and provide mail and passenger service to Blacksburg. The line was also used by the Corps cadets at Virginia...
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The Lewisburg and Ronceverte Trail (commonly known as the L&R Trail) will one day connect these two historic towns set amid the Allegheny Mountains of southern West Virginia. The beautiful natural...
The Greenway Trail is a one-mile path of finely crushed limestone that is located just outside of New Castle. The trail runs mostly on Craigs Creek Road (VA-615), but starts at a kiosk mimicing a...
This connector trail links Mount Airy’s two most popular trails, elevating the experience on each by providing an uninterrupted 6-mile walk or ride along the three greenways. The v-shaped trail, which...
The Tinker Creek Greenway winds through Roanoke's east end from Fallon Park to just over a mile southeast. Along your journey, you'll be closely paralleling the pleasantly wooded Tinker...
The Tinker Creek Greenway winds through Roanoke's east end from Fallon Park to just over a mile southeast. Along your journey, you'll be closely paralleling the pleasantly wooded Tinker...
Martinsville's Uptown Spur Trail, as its name implies, runs along an abandoned railroad spur line. Like the trains before its conversion, the paved trail branches off from the former main line—now the...
Lick Run Greenway begins in downtown Roanoke and heads north just over 4 miles to end between Huff Lane Park and Valley View Mall. Along the way, the paved pathway traverses two parks: Washington Park...
The Dick & Willie Passage Rail Trail runs for 4.5 miles on a former Danville & Western Railroad corridor, which was acquired by Southern Railway in 1920 and ultimately abandoned by its successor,...
The Roanoke River Greenway will one day span 25 miles between Roanoke and Salem along its namesake waterway. Currently, much of the paved pathway is already in place and runs through a wide variety of...
The Lewisburg and Ronceverte Trail (commonly known as the L&R Trail) will one day connect these two historic towns set amid the Allegheny Mountains of southern West Virginia. The beautiful natural...
The Greenway Trail is a one-mile path of finely crushed limestone that is located just outside of New Castle. The trail runs mostly on Craigs Creek Road (VA-615), but starts at a kiosk mimicing a...
The Wolf Creek Greenway follows its namesake waterway for two miles through Vinton on the outskirts of Roanoke in western Virginia. Its surface is mostly cinder and gravel with a few short asphalt...
Southern Virginia's New River Trail is one of America's premier rail-trails and has been designated as an official National Recreation Trail by the US Department of the Interior. It is also a state...
The Ararat River Greenway is a pleasant, hard surface trail in Mt. Airy, NC. The trail gets its name from the Ararat River, and was part of an initiative to restore the waterway with the twin goals of...
In the early 1900s, a train line nicknamed “the Huckleberry” was built to transport coal and provide mail and passenger service to Blacksburg. The line was also used by the Corps cadets at Virginia...
Stretching from Veteran’s Park to Worth St, in western Mt. Airy, is the Emily B. Taylor Greenway. The trail has been a hit with residents since the its construction in 2001, and remains arguably one...
The Mill Mountain Greenway provides residents and visitors to Roanoke with a nice connection from the city's downtown to Mill Mountain Park. Within the park, you can explore numerous hiking trails,...
This connector trail links Mount Airy’s two most popular trails, elevating the experience on each by providing an uninterrupted 6-mile walk or ride along the three greenways. The v-shaped trail, which...
Stretching from Veteran’s Park to Worth St, in western Mt. Airy, is the Emily B. Taylor Greenway. The trail has been a hit with residents since the its construction in 2001, and remains arguably one...
Southern Virginia's New River Trail is one of America's premier rail-trails and has been designated as an official National Recreation Trail by the US Department of the Interior. It is also a state...
This connector trail links Mount Airy’s two most popular trails, elevating the experience on each by providing an uninterrupted 6-mile walk or ride along the three greenways. The v-shaped trail, which...
The Greenway Trail is a one-mile path of finely crushed limestone that is located just outside of New Castle. The trail runs mostly on Craigs Creek Road (VA-615), but starts at a kiosk mimicing a...
The Wolf Creek Greenway follows its namesake waterway for two miles through Vinton on the outskirts of Roanoke in western Virginia. Its surface is mostly cinder and gravel with a few short asphalt...
The Ararat River Greenway is a pleasant, hard surface trail in Mt. Airy, NC. The trail gets its name from the Ararat River, and was part of an initiative to restore the waterway with the twin goals of...
The Tinker Creek Greenway winds through Roanoke's east end from Fallon Park to just over a mile southeast. Along your journey, you'll be closely paralleling the pleasantly wooded Tinker...
The Roanoke River Greenway will one day span 25 miles between Roanoke and Salem along its namesake waterway. Currently, much of the paved pathway is already in place and runs through a wide variety of...
The Mill Mountain Greenway provides residents and visitors to Roanoke with a nice connection from the city's downtown to Mill Mountain Park. Within the park, you can explore numerous hiking trails,...
In the early 1900s, a train line nicknamed “the Huckleberry” was built to transport coal and provide mail and passenger service to Blacksburg. The line was also used by the Corps cadets at Virginia...
Martinsville's Uptown Spur Trail, as its name implies, runs along an abandoned railroad spur line. Like the trains before its conversion, the paved trail branches off from the former main line—now the...
The Dick & Willie Passage Rail Trail runs for 4.5 miles on a former Danville & Western Railroad corridor, which was acquired by Southern Railway in 1920 and ultimately abandoned by its successor,...
The Lewisburg and Ronceverte Trail (commonly known as the L&R Trail) will one day connect these two historic towns set amid the Allegheny Mountains of southern West Virginia. The beautiful natural...
Lick Run Greenway begins in downtown Roanoke and heads north just over 4 miles to end between Huff Lane Park and Valley View Mall. Along the way, the paved pathway traverses two parks: Washington Park...
I had a very bad (like, emergency room kind of bad) crash on this greenway near washington park. they have allowed roots to push up the asphalt in a section that is shaded and has poor visibility; none of the damaged area is marked. the city of roanoke should be ashamed of the lack of maintenance. it's a hazard and I would avoid any trail maintained by the city.
A friend and I bike-packed the trail (Caldwell to Cass and back) 10-12 Sep 2018, Trail was in good shape. Keep in mind this is a long 77 mile trail (yes 77 miles, trail starts at mile marker 3, goes to mile marker 80) mostly through wilderness. Yet the upkeep of the trail was very good. Despite getting rain at least once a day (and locals indicated that the summer has been very wet), the trail was in great shape. There were some muddy/greasy spots - spots being the operative word here - (note; this is before Florence) but not many.
The trail surface was good, some isolated spots were more gravelly where recent repairs or maintenance had been done. I rode a full suspension mountain bike (definitely overkill - rode with suspension locked out). My friend rode a no suspension Trek Crossrip. Both of us were fully loaded with camping gear and clothes and neither of us had any issue with the trail. Any hybrid with decent off road tires will do fine here.
The trail is typically dual track with both "lanes" rideable. While there ar every short lengths where the tracks get narrow (mostly in open grassy sections), they are few and far between and not real problems at all.
We rode three days, 55 mi Caldwell to Marlinton (camped at Stillwell park) on day 1, then 65 miles up to Cass and then down to a cabin at Watuga St Park on day 2 before finishing 43 miles back to Caldwell on day three.
Note to bikers, if you rent a cabin at Watuga, know that the park office is 5 miles off the trail (uphill), not what you want to deal with if you've had a long day in the saddle already. We called and switched o one of the two cabins on the river and had them leave the key in the cabin for us - avoiding the trek to the office.
Note also that Marlinton is in the National Radio Quiet Zone and has very limited cell coverage. However, both the visitor's center and the Dirtbean Café have free wifi and you can make phonecalls over wifi from either location.
Only negative is the lack of towns and amenities along the route, especially between Caldwell and Marlinton. Once we hit Marlinton, the Dirtbean Café (Café, bar (wine/beer), Pizza joint, Coffe Shop, and bike shop) became our lodestone. Good food, good local craft beer, friendly staff. Hit it three times in our up and back journey (really good craft brews).
Bottom line, good trail for a multi day trip (have to plan it right though). An contrary to an earlier review, WV can be proud of this trail.
We drove down from SE PA. Unfortunately it was raining so we only managed 24 miles out and back from the Austinville parking area. When we returned we were super dirty and our bikes were too. Luckily there was access to water to rinse all the gravel from us and our bikes. The next day we parked in Galax and rode to the split at Fries . The bridge and tunnels were awesome. The trail is in fabulous condition and I would highly recommend this trail very scenic and lots of wildlife.
We pulled into the La Parral Mexican Restaurant lot and looked for the trail access. Take the road at the far end of the lot (southwest?) down to the parking for the trail head. We made sure to start our "climb" at the bottom of the trail (Virginia Road). Most of the trail was indeed uphill, but we put the bikes in low gear and took our time (we are 75+). It seemed a steeper climb than one expects from a Rail to Trail but still doable. It was a great trail surface with interesting information about the trail and clean, convenient stops along the way. The return trip was glorious. We just loved it.
Rode 26 miles of the trail over the weekend and have to say it was probably the worst trail that I have ridden.
We rode from the northern trailhead in Cass on Saturday, and then headed south from Marlinton on Sunday. There was one location of less than a quarter mile where it seemed to have been maintained - more for hiking than for biking as it was a combination of so much gravel that it was like biking on sand then in the same stretch there were large stones better for keeping a pickup from sinking than for biking.
Much of the trail was a pair of tire grooves spaced about the width of a pickup truck, with weeds growing in between. There was little evidence that trail - the riding surface - had been maintained in a few years. In a couple of areas the trail was barely visible through the freshly mowed lawns. There were areas where the tire tracks were without gravel and which had become mud for a biker to navigate.
And, it's a state park? So, are we to assume that there is an annual maintenance budget??
Maybe the sections of the trail further south are better for biking.
I accidentally found this on a run from my hotel. I was running through a very hilly neighborhood and literally ran into it. It is a good surface. As I was running northwest, I ran toward the battle site and it was very pleasant. As they develop the trail system, it will improve. The parking lot at the town end is great but there is no map of the trail and no information on the trail or how to donate. It is a lost opportunity to generate support. Many of us like to donate to these kinds of efforts. I am giving a 3 as it is a short trail and I am usually cycling.
I got on the bike at the Galax, VA Trailhead at 7 a.m.. You have to pay for parking which is uncommon for the trails I have ridden to date. At that time of day, I only saw one other cyclist in my first hour on the trail. While I would have loved to ride the entire length of the trail, I did not have 100+ miles in my legs and I still had a 5 hour drive to Dad's in Washington, PA. So I rode out 25 miles and turned around for a 50 mile ride.
Like the Great Allegheny Passage, I cannot say enough great things about this trail. The gravel surface was well maintained and I had no issues with my gravel bike riding the trail. Note that it is also used by horses and there were some piles to avoid, particularly on the bridges. They were infrequent, but noticeable. But it is a multiuse trail so no deductions for that in my mind. This trail is rural. Galax was a small town and there are few towns along the way. When riding gravel I use a camelbak instead of water bottles as bottles get dirty from the dust kicking up from the tires and dirt makes the drinks a touch less refreshing. My camelbak was near empty after my 50 miles. You will see a water bottle on the bike in the photos. Again since this trail is so remote, I use it as a first aid kit with basic first aid items, sun tan lotion, and a swiss army knife. On very long rides I use the second bottle to carry gels, bars, and other things to eat.
The scenery is breathtaking. The trestles were beautiful, the bridges amazing, and the tunnel closest to Galax was incredible. The view of the dam on the New River was also pretty cool. I encountered plenty of wild life. I saw many deer. The last one certainly startled me as I did not see it in the woods and it jumped out on the trail only about 10 yards in front of me and ran down the trail for about a quarter mile. I did let out a little scream as I was not expecting it and could not close the gap to draft. Also saw some wild turkeys, lots of little critters, and some cows relaxing in the New River having a drink.
I will return to ride more of this trail. Maybe next year when I go to Dad's for Father's Day, I will stay at the other end of the trail and do an out and back from the other side. But I would rather go back and ride the entire trail over two days completing it twice.
Excellent ride, great scenery, and enough "must see" items like the tunnels and bridges make this a 10 gear ride on my rating scale. (assuming a 10 gear cassette).
This trail is actually 80 miles. I'm not sure why it says 77, but my family started at mile marker 80 this July. We road down to mile 75 and back. This part of the trail starts at Cass and has a slight downgrade. It's crushed stone, but the trail is kept up nicely. It also follows the river. Our goal is to keep going back and doing it in sections each year.
We started at Marlinton (milepost 56) and headed north. Found that perfect campsite at milepost 69. Toilets, water, shelter, near the river. We ended up staying 2 days! The second day we rode to Cass for lunch and see the trains. We stopped near milepost 74 to read, swim, enjoy the day. Beautiful spot!
Touring bike ride from Galax to Foster falls, and back the next day. Nice and easy ride. Beautiful scenery, lots of views over a creek or the river. The campground at Foster falls is awesome. There is a convenience store and a subway 5 miles away from there.
well maintained trail. easy to find. nice scenery
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