Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in North Carolina, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Did the full length of the trail, 27 mi out and back, starting on the north end at Gilkey. Trail is smooth asphalt the entire way with benches and tool stations along the way. The people designing and implementing the trail have done an outstanding job. Now, the communities along the trail need to step up and recognize the benefits they have from this trail traffic. Little if any effort has been made to inform visitors of the restaurants or other establishments that are available to trail users. They need some appropriate and tasteful signage and access points so users can exit and get a bite to eat. They would do well to have some brewpubs or coffee shops right along the trail.
This was our first trail ride in over 2 years and it was so much fun! Easy to get back into. We went from parking at the solite park up to the most northern point. A round trip of almost 14 miles and it was fantastic!
Started out with high hopes of a great ride, but trail was very poorly marked. Lots of cracked and holed pavement made for a bumpy ride. Lots of busy intersections...glad I rode, but won’t go back.
I don’t live in the area but am a nurse at one of the health facilities in the area. I prefer running outdoors but am leaving home before the sun comes up and getting home after dark. I stumbled upon this trail behind my office during a lunch break several years back and loved it. I have been running it before or after work ever since. It’s a little confusing at first as it’s access points are minimally marked. But once you get the layout under your belt it’s a very nice trail!
Stuck in town with a broken car in the shop all day, we tried almost every variation and branch of this trail and then continued on Casey Road and New River Hills Road to connect to the South Fork New River Trail (you cannot currently see the SFNRT on google maps, but it's mapped out on here) to give us quite a few miles (about 11). Scenic brooks and rivers, bridges, budding trees, a section through pine trees and a small covered bridge made this trail very enjoyable! It was busy enough that I (immuno-suppressed) needed to put on a mask for part of it and had to slow the bike down a few times. With all the twists and turns and side routes, it is a good idea to have the trail map up on your phone if you are trying to maximize your miles.
We had to put our car in the shop while on our Blue Ridge Parkway trip and there were no rental cars available in Boone, so we headed out on our bikes. We enjoyed the first part of this along a scenic brook, but the last section up a quite steep and muddy hill is better suited to mountain bikes.
Not a scenic trail (such as along a river) but a smooth pleasant ride. Every mile and half-mile is marked and at every mile the pavement has what looks like a narrow gauge RR track imbedded in the pavement. There are many “road” crossings, most we simply needed to slow down rather than stop because there were entrance/driveways rather than true road crossings but all were clearly marked. Trail towns/restaurants could connect better by advertising what is close to the trail. It looks like Spindale is working to do that based on construction I saw. Lunch at Spin City Corner Cafe was excellent! But they are not open on weekends. Several others places were not open on Mondays. The trail does travel behind some rundown buildings but I never felt unsafe, I also was not riding solo. The 5 miles at the north end are rural/wooded and a bit hilly. The rest connects the 4 trail towns which kinda all run together.
Overall great trail . But trail is cut in between three busy intersections with plenty of cars so you have to be really careful . Also beware of dog poop among the trail. Some dog owners aren’t cleaning up after themselves .
First time on the ATT. Parked at the New Hill Olive Chapel Road access. So many nice features to this trail. This area is fortunate to have such a lovely trail! Don't hesitate to try it!!
I roundtripped this entire trail in 1 day (44 miles, 4.5 hours, average speed just under 10mph), starting in Durham. Parked in the free lot under the freeway. Unfortunately I noticed a homeless camp there right away. The first 5 or so miles had several homeless camps along the side of the trail; lots of garbage; a security call phone. The next few miles of the trail are currently detoured because of nearby road constructions. Some of the signage along the detour could be improved. I found myself stopping often to look around to see where I was supposed to go next. There are multiple road crossings along the way - stop and be careful crossing the roads; the oncoming cars do not stop for bikers! There are also lots of new homes being constructed along the way as well. The northern end is paved. The southern end finally turns into a nice pleasant ride through the woods (it is fenced-off hunting lands) on a crushed-stone bed. The southern end has large parking areas and restrooms. I was hoping to see more history along the trail, but literally only passed 2 old falling-down tobacco barns along the way. It looks like a great trail (especially the southern end) for locals to jump on for a quick ride or jog, but not something that I as a visitor to the area would ever want or need to ride again.
Really astonished to see it for the first time. Had a great time with kids and family. It will be a great bike riding trail during summer ¿
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