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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.
They are working in it. Has a lot of potential. Great to run on. I would wait to bike until they finish.
I confess. I liked it as city river trails go. It's varied. Look at its map and you'll see a reclining squid with arms going on both sides of the river and even down the middle of an island in the river. It helps to learn the various names of the legs so you'll have a clue as to where the heck you are. There are high legs, low legs, jungle legs, urban legs, tunnel legs, bowed legs and unshaven legs. Something for every leg man.
Let's say I lived nearby. I'd be on that trail often for biking and running. In the summer it was nice and firm, flat and wide. On a hot August Monday I saw nearly no one else except a humongous shaggy white free-range dog that chased me a 1/4 mile. The good news is: He didn't bite either me or my tire.
My brother and I rode the length of greenbrier, out and back, between 9/13 - 9/15 2018. We chose to start in Marlinton due to remoteness of the trail and lack opportunities to replenish supplies. Following this itinerary we would have the opportunity to either begin or end our day here and have access to most anything that we needed. I also had full cell service here on the AT&T network allowing us to check the weather forecast, check messages and check in with family. Heading south from MM 55 toward Caldwell on the first day, we were quickly away from civilization and passed the only trail side convenience store at Seebert (~MM46). The trail was well maintained in this section and easy to ride with our hybrids. I was pulling a Bob trailer with camping gear. The scenery is beautiful including the Droop Mountain tunnel and there are many very nice cabins/summer homes here. There is ample river access for fishing or refreshing with a swim. After hearing from some locals that the water fountain at the 3.1 MM was broken, we decided that our time would be better spent finding a clean water source. We slightly shortened our trip and set up camp at the 9.5 MM camp site. I would advise bringing some method for filtering water if you plan to ride for a length of time. There are few opportunities to fill water bottles. The site here was very nice with a brand new camping shelter. The only downside was lack of water. We had to ride 5 miles round trip to find a spring. Day 2, heading north back toward Marlinton we had the motivation of knowing that we could get some prepared food and cold drinks in Seebert. When in Marlinton, we returned to our vehicles to charge our phones and drove across the bridge to the IGA grocery store for water and food for our last day. We camped at MM 64, this site was similar to the others with fire ring/cooking grate, level crushed limestone tent pad, outhouse, shelter and even had a water pump. Day 3 we began heading north to Cass (16 mi) where we planned to turn around and finish in Marlinton. This section had some muck which made it difficult to maintain a good roll. This was also the only section that had a noticeable grade. After learning this, it may be worth considering starting out in this section as opposed to making the climb on tired legs. The river looked very favorable for fishing here as well and I regret not stoping to make a few casts. The second of two tunnels is on this stretch so be sure to bring a light. Overall, a very well maintained trail, more than sufficient camping facilities and remarkable scenery. I would recommend this ride to anyone who has the desire go off of the grid for a few days. I plan to return and spend some time on the river.
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.
On Sept. of 2018 I rode the entire trial both ways over 5 days, a total of nearly 160 miles. I am confused about the post from pfh24 that said it was the worst trail he had ridden. I found the trail in good condition all the way. Of course, there were some muddy spots as it has rained a lot this year and the week I was there, there is new gravel in places which one would expect on a trail this long, and the grass needed mowing in a few places but the middle of the trail was always fairly short grass and most of the grass on the trail on both sides was fine. There has been a lot of rain so grass grows fast in that situation. I started in Lewisburg and rode up approximately 15 to 20 miles one way, turned around and rode back to my car. I like to ride trails both ways because it is like riding two trails as you see it differently in opposite directions. The trail follows the beautiful and crystal clear river most of the way and you pass pretty farms along the way. It was not near as remote as I expected as there are many homes, mostly weekend and vacation homes along the river in a number of places and there are people living at the trailheads so you do not feel isolated which is good and bad. It was a wonderful week and I plan to do it again next year. The Seebert trailhead is a nice one as you can take the bridge across the river and Watoga State Park is directly across the bridge and they have cabins, swimming pool , trails, tennis, etc. there so it is a nice park. I plan to stay there next time instead of 3 nights in Lewisburg and two in Marlinton. I definitely recommend this trail and will definitely go back again if possible. am a 72 year old male and would recommend the wider tires on a mountain bike versus hybrid or rode narrower tires. There are places where it is more safe for stability to have the wider tires. I stayed at a Holiday Inn in Lewisburg and the Old Clark Inn in Marlinton. The Old Clark is an old small hotel and is clean and breakfast was good. It is old though but I found it fine and the folks were very nice there.
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.
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