One of our favorite activities, first tried several years ago, is to bike the Virginia Creeper β a 34 mile rails-to-trail route that extends from Abingdon, VA, through Damascus, on up to Whitetop Station in the Mount Rogers Recreation Area near the North Carolina border.
We peddled the 18 miles from the top at Whitetop Station down into Damascus β almost all downhill, starting at about 3, feet elevation and dropping to about 2, feet in Damascus. We first rode the Creeper in the spring of , and then returned again this October for the fall edition. We camped in Damascus, which aside from being a very cool trail town along the Appalachian Trail AT is a great town to use as base camp for a ride on the Creeper. If you stay close to town, almost everything is a short walk.
While some people peddle up the Creeper, the majorities of people, ourselves included, paid for an outfit to sherp us up to Whitetop Station on Mt. Rogers and then peddle the 18 miles back to Damascus. There is a thriving community of businesses that make a living out of providing this service in town.
Keep in mind if you peddle the VA Creeper and I highly recommend it! Since this is an almost exclusively downhill ride, it is not exactly a cardio workout; if you can roll, you can ride.
The ride is so beautiful β for much of its way it runs along or near the Whitetop Laurel River. Keep in mind that you are always close to the AT, and in certain parts of the AT shares the trail with the VA Creeper you can see the white blazes that indicate the AT. While the last time we were here we enjoyed the lushness of spring, this time we had the opportunity to see the many vibrant as well as muted colors of fall.
