Sharing our road trip on Instagram a few weeks ago, I received the most questions on our family bike ride along the Virginia Creeper Trail. This was one of our favorite experiences, and I will give you the conclusion first: if you have a family that loves to be outside, go do this!
As a travel-lover, I not only want our experiences as we roam this earth to be safe and healthy, I also want them to be rewarding and FUN. But my mom-mind always runs into dark places, and I tend to worry a lot. (Note: a global pandemic does NOT help with this.)Â
And so, I worried that our trip would end in bike wrecks, complaints about exhaustion, someone not being able to make the trek, sunburn, bug bites…. (honestly, being in my head is exhausting). But this trip was incredibly successful and easy! This was a great family trip.
Read on for what you need to know to take your family on the Virginia Creeper Trail.
About the Virginia Creeper Trail
The Virginia Creeper Trail is a rails-to-trails system that runs from Whitetop, Virginia (right on the border with North Carolina), through Damascus, then back up to Abingdon. The entire trail is 34.3 miles, yet read on for tips as most families and beginners do only half in a day.
The railroad was originally built in the 1880’s, but ran its last train in 1977. Upon its demise as a successful train operation, there was significant litigation and general argument about what would happen to the miles upon miles of trestles, bridges, and green space. When the US Forest Service entered and offered to purchase chunks of the trail, the remaining sections to be under the ownership of various towns, it became possible to see a vision for this long swath of land. In June 1987, Congress passed an act recognizing the Virginia Creeper Trail as a National Recreation Trail, and work began in earnest to repair broken bridges, remove tracks, and create what we know today. In summer of 1989, the Virginia Creeper Trail opened to the public.
As I mentioned, the entire trail today is 34.3 miles. It is a combination of packed direct, gravel, bumpy rock, and some paved areas. It reaches to the second highest mountain peak in Virginia in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area (which is where we camped, more below).
The trail passes through some of the most beautiful, rugged, untouched landscape; hugs a mountain river; weaves through historic towns; and opens up onto majestic Virginia farmland. It changes and makes for an interesting ride the whole time.
Before going, you need to decide which portion of the Creeper Trail you want to do, and in which direction. You can see from this general elevation guide that Damascus (at under 2,000 ft) sits at the bottom of a “U” shape – meaning it’s the lowest elevation. Whitetop is the highest point (nearing 4,000 ft). While going from Abingdon, VA to Damascus can be relatively flat, Damascus to Whitetop is definitely NOT.
The most common trip for first-timers (and what we did), is to ride from Whitetop to Damascus. This was nearly entirely downhill, with beautiful places to stop (we packed a picnic and enjoyed a spot under a bridge). Biking without stopping would have taken us just over 2 hours, but we took our time and enjoyed the journey.
It’s important to ensure your group is set up with the right equipment. The terrain changes, and seats with shocks, bikes with gears and water cages for easy access were important. Even though we have bikes at home, we rented using this company with a Whitetop location, but there are many outfitters throughout the area (see a list).
You will have to arrange a shuttle. The bike shops will provide this service, you just have to decide which way you want to be shuttled! If you are good with a set start time (we weren’t), you can shuttle to your start point, and have your car at the end. We decided to park at Whitetop and be shuttled back from Damascus when finished. Either way has pros and cons, but expect a 20 minute shuttle ride (and perhaps a wait for your shuttle) into your planning.
And yes, you can arrange a shuttle with your own equipment if you choose.
CHECK YOUR BIKE BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE PARKING LOT! We had to make a few tweaks and make sure everyone was comfortable and safe before pulling out on our 20 mile ride. Be thorough and make sure everything is good to go before starting your ride.
We rode during COVID-19 pandemic days and on a Monday, so not much was open along the way (including the bathrooms) or once we got to Damascus. But usually, Damascus has a brewery open on the weekends, ice cream shops and diners. But by going on a Monday, we didn’t have to deal with crowding on the trail.
Where to Stay Near the
Virginia Creeper Trail
We decided to camp – remember that pop up we bought that we shared on Instagram? Well, we were thrilled to use it yet again (and we’re pretty committed to social distancing recommendations).
The Mount Rogers National Recreation Area has plenty of options. We chose Grindstone as it had hookups. While we were committed to having a/c for end of July camping, it turns out the weather was so mild it wasn’t necessary!
Grindstone was, by far, the prettiest campsite we’ve stayed at as a family. The wash and bathroom facilities weren’t great, but they were adequate and available. Yet the campsites were big, with a lot of privacy, and moss covered boulders under towering pines made the whole place feel magical. Our kids had a wonderful time exploring the little trails around the site. We wish we had stayed one day longer to allow for some good Mount Rogers hiking, too, but we had already made plans to move on.
If you don’t want to camp, consider Abingdon. Abingdon is much larger than Damascus, with a cute, vibrant, downtown historic area. It has more options for lodging, as well. Damascus is much smaller and caters to the Appalachian Trail through-hikers.
Quick Tips for Families About the Virginia Creeper Trail
If you read all of that text, I am incredibly grateful (and impressed). But if you want the Cliff’s Notes version, here’s what you need to know:
- Decide which portion of the trail you are going to do, and which way.
- Set up bike rentals and a shuttle. Note that bikes towing trailers/child carriers are available for rent and will work (although some areas are rocky and bumpy, so be sure to cushion your little one). Also, some shops will rent child seats or third wheel bikes.
- Find lodging in Abingdon or camp in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area.
- Pack provisions, and wear layers (it can be cold in the mornings at Whitetop).
- Wear a helmet!! (Bike shops will rent them but we brought our own.)
- Follow trail etiquette: when passing a biker, announce yourself. Let’s be safe!
- Plan to take over 2 hours and enjoy the journey. The trail from Whitetop to Damascus eventually parallels the Holston River, and there are wonderful places to stop and wade.
Learn more about the Virginia Creeper Trail National Trail here.
This sounds amazing! We are looking at doing this with our family in the summer or fall. Thanks for all the tips!
I highly recommend it! If you have specific questions, please feel free to reach out, happy to help if I can.
We will be biking the trail for the first time next week. We are renting bikes in Damascus. We are biking from Whitetop to Damascus. What do you recommend for how many waters per person and will we need snacks? And how best to transport those? It’s my husband and I and another couple and we are in our late 50’s. Thank you!
I am excited for you! We find water consumption really depends on weather for us, but it doesn’t hurt to have more than you think you may need. We usually bring a big (32 ounce) nalgene for each person (then we also like to pack a small gatorade or other refreshing drink for everyone that is different than water). Once you get to Damascus, you will have options to fill up water bottles and buy cold drinks. And, if memory serves, there may be a spot or two to stop along the way. Pretty quickly into the trail past Whitetop is Green Cove, which I believe has a little shop selling drinks and concessions.
For hauling stuff/gear, the bikes we rented and the ones we own have cages on them for smaller, soft bottles (they will NOT fit the larger nalgenes). But bringing a backpack is the easiest – just be sure not to load all the water into one backpack because whoever has that will be carrying a lot of extra weight. We’ve learned (the hard way) to all have a backpack and to carry our own water as it evens out the load and weight.
You can always try a hip bag/fanny pack situation, but I find those pretty uncomfortable while riding.
Have fun! I am so glad you will be going!
Thank you for posting this. It’s exactly what we needed to plan our trip there in October. We were thinking about bringing our own bikes, however, would you recommend just renting the bikes there to limit wear and tear on the bikes? We have hybrid bikes…so no mountain bikes. We wanted to do the trip going downhill all the way. Is the trail all paved going downhill? Just curious. Thanks again for your article!
Hi Janeen, I think bringing your own bikes is a great idea if you have an easy way to haul them! For us, we just can’t bring bikes and our pop-up camper, unfortunately. And hybrid should be fine. Even the parts that we were on that weren’t totally paved were packed down and easy to ride. I don’t think that what the rental shop gave us were mountain bikes anyhow. You can certainly head downhill if you plan your route right – the middle is at the bottom of the elevation, so going the way we went, ending in Damascus, was a very easy bike but we did NOT do the entire trial. I hope this helps? Feel free to reach out with more Qs!