Find the top rated bike trails in Staunton, 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.
The enhanced bike-ped trail snakes alongside the John W. Warner Parkway for 1.6 miles, from East Rio Road down to McIntire Park. It mostly lies on the route of the old Southern Railway. Points of...
The Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail offers a quintessential rail-trail experience in central Virginia, midway between Lynchburg and Charlottesville (less than an hour’s drive from each). The trail...
The Hawksbill Greenway is a 2-mile non-motorized pathway in the town of Luray, Virginia, two hours from Washington D.C. It extends from Linden Street in the west to the Flowering Forest in the east....
While the Saunders-Monticello trail leads to the home of one the United States most prominent presidents, it is quickly becoming a destination in itself. It’s less than ten minutes’ drive from...
The South River Greenway is a 1.2 mile multi-use trail running along the South River through Waynesboro's Downtown corridor. Views along the way include those of the river, Blue Ridge Mountains,...
Spanning more than 20 miles, the Rivanna Trail surrounds Charlottesville, connecting several parks along the way and providing a recreational outdoor amenity for city dwellers. The trail has a mix of...
The Chessie Nature Trail travels through breathtaking rural Virginia countryside, following mile markers left behind by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad that ran this route. Dont be surprised if you...
While the Saunders-Monticello trail leads to the home of one the United States most prominent presidents, it is quickly becoming a destination in itself. It’s less than ten minutes’ drive from...
The Hawksbill Greenway is a 2-mile non-motorized pathway in the town of Luray, Virginia, two hours from Washington D.C. It extends from Linden Street in the west to the Flowering Forest in the east....
Spanning more than 20 miles, the Rivanna Trail surrounds Charlottesville, connecting several parks along the way and providing a recreational outdoor amenity for city dwellers. The trail has a mix of...
The Chessie Nature Trail travels through breathtaking rural Virginia countryside, following mile markers left behind by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad that ran this route. Dont be surprised if you...
The South River Greenway is a 1.2 mile multi-use trail running along the South River through Waynesboro's Downtown corridor. Views along the way include those of the river, Blue Ridge Mountains,...
The enhanced bike-ped trail snakes alongside the John W. Warner Parkway for 1.6 miles, from East Rio Road down to McIntire Park. It mostly lies on the route of the old Southern Railway. Points of...
The Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail offers a quintessential rail-trail experience in central Virginia, midway between Lynchburg and Charlottesville (less than an hour’s drive from each). The trail...
Spanning more than 20 miles, the Rivanna Trail surrounds Charlottesville, connecting several parks along the way and providing a recreational outdoor amenity for city dwellers. The trail has a mix of...
While the Saunders-Monticello trail leads to the home of one the United States most prominent presidents, it is quickly becoming a destination in itself. It’s less than ten minutes’ drive from...
The Chessie Nature Trail travels through breathtaking rural Virginia countryside, following mile markers left behind by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad that ran this route. Dont be surprised if you...
The Hawksbill Greenway is a 2-mile non-motorized pathway in the town of Luray, Virginia, two hours from Washington D.C. It extends from Linden Street in the west to the Flowering Forest in the east....
The enhanced bike-ped trail snakes alongside the John W. Warner Parkway for 1.6 miles, from East Rio Road down to McIntire Park. It mostly lies on the route of the old Southern Railway. Points of...
The Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail offers a quintessential rail-trail experience in central Virginia, midway between Lynchburg and Charlottesville (less than an hour’s drive from each). The trail...
The South River Greenway is a 1.2 mile multi-use trail running along the South River through Waynesboro's Downtown corridor. Views along the way include those of the river, Blue Ridge Mountains,...
My husband, sister and I rode the trail end to end and back this past summer. We are from Pittsburgh and have the Great Allegheny Passage trail that runs from pittsburgh to Cumberland Maryland, about 150 miles. So I am a bit spoiled having the best trail in the country, in my opinion, in my backyard. The Greenbrier River trail was disappointing. The trail surface was bad. It was basically two narrow tire tracks with grass in the middle taking up most of the trail. You can’t take your eyes off the trail to look at the scenery because of the trail surface being so narrow. There are almost no amenities on the trail, just the one town of Marlinton at mile marker 55, and a convenience store in the town of Seebert, but there are picnic tables and port-a-potties often along the trail. There are few choices of overnight accommodations. We started in Cass and stayed at the Bear Creek Lodge,It was close to the trail, nothing fancy and it had food on the first floor. Our next stop was in Seebert. We where lucky enough to find the Hillsboro House B&B, about two miles from the trail at Jack Hornes Cornes convenience store in Seebert. It was a great place to stay. But it is an uphill climb from the trail. I recommend not taking the road there, it was very busy with no berm, take Burnside rd. to Workmen rd. to Denmar rd. That takes you right to The Hillsboro House. At the end of the trail near Caldwell, we stayed at The Greenbrier River Cabin, it was beautiful and right at the end of the trail. There are just not a lot of amenities close, just a convenience store about a mile away, again on a very busy road with no berm. We had pizza delivered to the cabin. Due to the radio wave tower in the town of Green Bank, you probably will not have cell service on the trail. We had no service the entire trip until we got to Caldwell. We have done long distance bike trips (200 miles) every summer for the last 10 years in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Missouri, and Michigan. This is a trail I would not recommend. Although the scenery in West Virginia is breathtaking ,the trail is remote and the trail surface was not good. Had the trail been in better condition I would rate this trail higher.
We loved this trail. My family and friends are 100% amateur bike riders. We parked at the south end at Caldwell and shuttled up with Chuck at All Sports to Cass. We hit the trail at 830 am and biked 47.3 miles the first day. It took us until about 6 that evening to reach camp. But that was with lots of stops including the grocery store in Marlinton and water and ice cream at Jack Horner Corner in Seabert. Which is an awesome store with bike parts accessories rentals beer pizza food etc. super nice place.
We camped at a designated spot in hammocks. The bathrooms where nicer than expected. All the water wells had water that I recommend you use. The trail was clean and mowed recently. No over hanging brush or tall grass. There were lots of places to get in the river. The calls are well cared for and have fire pits. It even appeared that the forest guys leave the fallen trees cut into firewood blocks trail side. We finished up the remain miles on day two and ended around 3pm. It was me (36) my wife (40) my friend (39) and our kids. 14 13 and 12. The kids had a blast and let the pack both days.
I’m super impressed With this trail system and we plan to
Make this trip annually. I would suggest if your a amateur rider to do it in 3 days. So you can relax and enjoy camp
More.
I am a section cyclist who over time has completed all sections of the 77 mile Trail. The Trail has no bad sections. Traillink’s Greenbrier River Trail description and reviews give complete and accurate information on the Trail. I will not repeat. I share three observations.
First, if you have time to do only one section, this is the one. It is in the Northern Section between Clover Lick southward to Sharp’s Tunnel and bridge. This Trail section has the most scenic and remote mountains. It is a ‘gorge’ with the mountains sloping down to each side of the River with a mountain sharing the Trail on one side. No roads or houses for 5 miles. Two of the greatest landmarks on the trail are in this section. They are Sharp’s Tunnel and the adjacent curved bridge over the Greenbrier River. Hey, it’s the reason they are shown on the cover of the State Parks’ brochure.
Second, the fastest trip to Clover Lick, Cass and the Northern trailheads is from the East side of the River. From Marlinton the trip uses some combination of WV routes: 39, 28, 92, 66 depending on the trailhead. Note: The Clawson/Thorny Creek trailhead is on the end of a painful and s-l-o-w drive on a rough steep gravel road for 5 miles which takes 15 minutes. I have a front wheel drive minivan, but I made it out. Instead, I recommend access to this fine Trail portion by taking the Trail from Marlinton or Clover Lick.
The Northern trailheads can also be reached from Marlinton on the West side of the River using US 219 to County Road 1 immediately north of Marlinton. Know that this route is scenic but slower as it is a rural, paved and one lane shared road in many places.
Finally, the Greenbrier River Trail State Park reviews can be found on two web sites. You found one. The other is Trip Advisor which is free. You have to query ‘West Virginia’ and run through the menus to find the Trail listing. In Sept. 2019 there were 120 reviews. Trip Advisor rates the Trail as # 11 of 169 Outdoor Activities in WV. I have cross posted this review.
My husband surprised me with a trip to this trail for my birthday! We started at the south end and did the first 11 miles (in and back out) and then rode the northern section from Cass down to Marlinton on the 2nd day and the 3rd day went from Marlinton to Beard. It was honestly the best surface on a Rail Trail that I’ve seen... The terrain is pretty well flat (I think it descends 740 feet over 78 miles) and is an easy ride for any level of rider. Not a lot of places to stop to get water, snacks or food so carry all that with you. We didn’t get to finish all the trail but will be going back. My favorite part was from Marlinton to Beard though.
My husband, 7 year old son, and I rode this trail over three days on our hybrid bicycles. Cass to Marlinton (about 25 miles), Marlinton to Renick (almost 32 miles) and Renick to Caldwell (about 21 miles). There is a slight downhill slope if you begin at Cass and end at Caldwell. The only exception was around mile 13 where it appears that there was a rockslide and the best way for the trail maintainers to fix the trail was to build a short, moderately steep incline and equally short and moderate decline on the other side.
We arranged a shuttle with Chuck at Appalachian Sports in Marlinton for the first 2 days and a shuttle with Bobby and Cyndi at Free Spirit Adventures in Caldwell for the 3rd day. All of them were very helpful and friendly.
The trail itself was fairly well maintained, with occasional brush sticking out into the pathway and only one blowdown for which we had to dismount and push our bicycles over the branches. The surface is mainly crushed gravel with a few miles of pavement approaching and leaving Marlinton.
The trail is generally 15-30 feet above the river, sometimes veering away from it, and has river access at various points, the best access was in the final section between Renick and Caldwell. We saw multiple people swimming in the relatively shallow Greenbrier River in this section.
There are outhouses, water pumps, and campsites or shelters scattered along the way, but you definitely want to pack your own water. If you wanted to bike camp and had the map, it would easily be doable. We plan to do this in a future trip.
We thoroughly enjoyed our ride, despite the temperatures being in the high 80s/low90s and took advantage of the river access and water pumps to stay cool.
Park at Riverside park. Head toward the river and follow the trail (it only goes one way from this point). It’s paved and not too hilly with lovely views of the river along much of the path. We turned around at the overpass as the neighborhood began to look a little sketchy at that point. But by the time we got back to Riverside Park, we had completed a nice 3 mike loop.
My wife and I rode the trail on a Saturday morning. We saw very few walkers/riders until we approached Lexington. Yes, we did have to navigate through Black Angus cattle and the manure. It was actually entertaining to stop and chat with the cattle. They were quite docile and friendly.
The trail was a bit rough through private land, so you have to slow down and be careful of rocks, sticks, etc. Our Trek FX3's were great on the trail. The river was beautiful and we saw deer along the trail. It took about an hour each way. The gates have all been upgraded for easy access.
We would definitely return. :)
The trail had uncut grass and thorny blackberry bushes, making it difficult for our family. Not even a mile into the south end (Durbin), we had to navigate a rock slide. At roughly mile 8, we had a downed tree to go over that had probably been there only a few days. We planned to camp, and luckily we spotted some around the Iron Bridge area (about mile 10). Several campsites span that section on the parallel Forest Road 44. On day 2, we chose to ride the forest road instead - up to the Wildell access point, then back down to our car in Durbin. Very hilly and fun forest road!
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.
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.
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