Virginia Creeper National Recreation Trail
VA - 34 miles
Surfaces: Gravel
Great trail to rollerblade!
Most of this trail is great and peaceful. The only real watchout is parts of the trail in Salt Lake City. There are many homeless encampments and groups of people doing drugs out in the open (especially around North Temple). This was May 2024. The trail directly south of Salt Lake can get confusing at times as the signage is not great. Other than that it's a great trail that follows the Jordan river.
Perfect for hybrid bikes! Runs along the Red Cedar River for most of the trail and enjoyable to see the kayaks and canoes. Very lightly used.
This was an OK trail. We enjoyed that it was pretty well marked with the exception of one crossing near some train tracks. Too many road crossing points. Portions of the trail were rough because of roots growing under the pavement. We actually saw a runner take a pretty nasty spill because of the rough surface. It was nice to check it out, but we won’t go out of our way to come back.
I've been running a couple different out and back stretches between McPherson Ave and Greenville about three times a week from spring to fall for about 4 years now.
I can see how the surface might not be good for skinny wheel bikes in areas, but for runners. the surface is pretty great. Not only is it a softer impact surface than asphalt, even better, no crown in the path is needed to shed water. No crown means a perfect flat surface across the path. I can run on the sides, out of biker's way, and not have one leg travelling farther than the other to make up for the drop in the crown, screwing up my hips and back.
Sounds amazing underfoot, too.
Not to mention the nature and surroundings.
I ran by a fawn sleeping right in the middle of the path a couple days ago. Eagles, Sand Hill Cranes, Fox, all kinds of water birds. It's amazing.
Please never pave this path. Touch it up here and there, but no asphalt.
_104627_sc.jpg)
No water on trail
The amazing smell of the flowers at the start of the trail would be worth another ride for that alone. (We started at Welty Road Park.) Lots of hills, definitely a workout, some shade and some sun. The creek is absolutely beautiful.
The trail was in good shape. We enjoyed riding through the Greer and National tunnels.
We started at Mile Marker .5 in Chillicothe on a delightful ride through South Eastern Ohio. We stopped after 19 miles at Austin next to a new establishment (Austin Mill) selling beverages and food. This trail is fabulous! We were thrilled to see how well the trail is being maintained; finding the trail quite smooth with normal asphalt separations that had been filled. Yes, there are occasional root bumps; nothing to worry about as the tree canopy provides great shade. Yes, there are a couple of places where the big arrows had faded to direct us but trail sense kept us on trail. Thank you to the three Ohio counties teaming up to make/maintain the memorable bike trail.
Nice winding trail from Jefferson to Bagley for walkers, bikers, skaters, strollers 🚴🏾¿¿¿🚶🏾¿¿¿🤱🏾🛼 and they avoided what would have likely been mosquito 🦟 traps by filling holes with dirt 🪨 and plants 🪴 🌲 🌺 🌹 but on a hot day like today 🌡¿ you may want to avoid it because there is NO SHADE AT ALL.
The bike path leading to Huffman Prairie offers a scenic journey, albeit with minimal shade, so lather up on sunscreen. Its gentle terrain makes for an easy ride, perfect for cyclists of all levels. As you pedal through, you're reminded of the profound historical connection between bicycles and the Wright brothers, who honed their flying skills on these very grounds. It's not just a bike path; it's a ride through history.
I have thought long and hard about this trail/pathway but finally decided to tell the brutal truth. I had seen this trail over the 20 years I have lived here but never taken the effort to ride its length until yesterday. The weather was not a problem as the temperature was in the high 60’s and there was very little wind with no cloud cover, sunscreen was mandatory in these conditions.
The one positive for this trail is that it is generally level with little or no ups and downs.
If you’re looking for a route with beautiful river views or forested byways, then this is not a route for you. The views on this route are of distant hills which are not forested and agricultural land growing crops and raising livestock which brings about pollen issues for some and the unpleasant smells associated with agriculture. The trail has zero markers indicating directions, I had to use the map feature on my phone to locate the trail after passing through the downtown area of Grandview. Additionally, there are zero public facilities along its entire length so take plenty of water. In the urban areas you can find fast-food locations and several small local restaurants which may let you use their facilities.
The trail is in two counties; Benton and Yakima, and three cities; Proser, Grandview, Sunnyside and it is easy to tell when you have crossed from one area of responsibility to another. The trail surface in Prosser is fairly smooth and vegetation free and transitions to a Benton County section has lots of cracks in the pavement which have been sealed but still have gaps which affect the ride however, there was no vegetation growing in them. Grandview has a small section of the trail on each end and to get between these two points entails having to travel on Wine Country Road (the major thoroughfare) for approximately 1.4 miles. What trail sections which are within Grandview are fairly well maintained. Between Grandview and Sunnyside the trail is in Yakima County and could see some maintenance, like the Benton County section there are lots of cracks in the pavement, but they have not seen any sealer and thus have unmaintained vegetation growing through them (this is evident when you pass the Kubota tractor dealer on your right as you approach Sunnyside when the errant vegetation is gone). The trail in the city of Sunnyside is maintained similarly to Prosser and Grandview.
What this trail needs is one entity to be overall in charge of overseeing its condition and maintenance and able to work with all government entities involved. It needs signage of one type or another to direct users in the correct route instead of making them fumble to find their way. Restroom facilities would also be of great help for users while water may be a bigger problem as this area of Washington state is rather arid as the average rainfall is less than 15 inches. The agriculture in the area depends heavily on irrigation networks to bring water to the farms.
I started at the Prosser end and rode to the Sunnyside end and back. Starting in Prosser there is no designated trail parking, and you will have to find street parking. The actual end of the pathway is not marked so I’ll call it as the intersection of Wine Country Road and Grant Ave. The pathway is on the west side of Wine Country Road and proceeds north across the Yakima River, trail travels in a north westerly direction overall. About a block past the bridge on your left will be Chukar Cherries, a local business which specializes in coated cherries and nuts (primarily chocolate) and they usually have samples available. The pathway continues north past the local airport on your left until you reach the first cross street, Old Inland Empire Highway, which has a crosswalk but no signals. A short distance later you will come to the intersection of Gap Road and Wine Country Road, cross Gap Road (once again a cross walk but no signals). Continue north past the Love’s Truck stop taking care when crossing both of their entrances (one for cars and one for trucks).
You are now into the rural area of the county and the pathway goes in a northerly direction for about a ½ mile the pathway crosses to the other side of Wine Country Road, no crosswalk, no signals so use care. The pathway is in need of maintenance as there are lots of cracks in the surface which have been sealed at some point in time but could use attention as you can feel everyone as you ride over it. About ¼ mile you come to Johnson Road, once again the story on this route no cross walk or signals as we are out of the populated areas. The pathway veers to the right and down to pass under the rail bridge and then back up to the level of Wine Country Road. The path continues to parallel Wine Country Road until you come to an Irrigation canal where the pathway turns to the right for a short distance and then back to the left and you cross the canal on a small bridge. About 1.3 miles and you cross a small rural road, Williams Road, and continue north as you pass the WDOT/WSP truck scales and inspection station on your right. If you look to your left, there is a very good chance that you will see a crop growing on lines strung from other lines between tall posts. If you drink beer there is a very good chance this is where the Hops used in its brewing process is grown (Washington grows roughly 69% of Hops in the USA with the Yakima valley producing the majority of that).
In approximately 2 miles you will come to the intersection of Wine Country Road and McCreadie Road, the cars travel through a roundabout and there is a crosswalk for the pathway on McCreadie Road but no signals. In a very short distance, you will cross an irrigation Canal and then enter a small park with a rose garden. At the other end of the park the pathway ends, and you are on Wine Country Road, travel west using the bike lane where available, I found traffic to be moderate. After about 1.2 miles you will reach the intersection of Wine Country Road, 4th Street, and Euclid Street (there is a drive-thru coffee stand on 4th Street as a reference point). You will want to cross to the other side of Wine Country Road and cross Euclid Street to get back onto the pathway, there is a light and crosswalk to assist getting across the intersection.
Once on the pathway, travel through a small parking lot (could be used as a trailhead although not marked as such with signage), continue in a northwest direction for approximately ½ mile and you will approach an unnamed intersection with a crosswalk and signal (to the right leads to I-82 on and off ramps). Once again when you get a little further along on the pathway you leave the urban area and enter into the rural county area and it is noticeable on the pathway from the needed maintenance. Almost every crack in the pavement from here to the point where the city of Sunnyside takes over maintenance had large clumps of vegetation growing in them. The road next to the pathway has now changed names from Wine Country Road to Yakima Valley Highway. After a little under 2 miles you cross Tear Road, no crosswalk or signal and continue for approximately 2.3 miles to Waneta Road. Waneta Road is the south/east I-82 access to Sunnyside and can be rather busy, there is a crosswalk and signals to help you get through the intersection. In just under ½ mile (Walmart on your left) you will reach Lincoln Road which has a crosswalk and signal to help you cross. In another ½ mile you will come to Edison Avenue (crosswalk and signal) and after crossing Edison Avenue it is only a short ¼ mile to the north/west end of the pathway where there is a small parking lot for use by users of the pathway (once again no signage).
The return journey is a reverse route back to Prosser, where you can stop at Chukar Cherries and try a sample or two as your personnel reward for enduring the trip.
Not the longest by far, but not a bad little trail.
Right along a busy 6 lane road where people seem to race between stoplights and show off their sub par modified exhaust systems. Bring your earplugs.
_162023_sc.jpg)
As with most rail trails, this one has tons of invasives. Seems like it was in need of mowing and pruning the sides. It’s asphalt the entire way now which is nice. The bumps are not terrible, and the worst ones are painted in orange. It’s definitely worth doing once if you are from out of the area like me. However it doesn’t have a lot of features compared to some other trails I have been on. For some reason I prefer the Nickel Plate and Converse/Sweetser trails northeast of here. Still 4 out of 5 stars for me.
_144023_sc.jpg)
_222282_sc.jpg)
_183583_sc.jpg)
