I rode this trail with two friends—Martha Wicker and Dalea Snell. Wonderful companions on the trip! Logistics summary: Dalea and I drove to our place in western North Carolina and Martha and Ed stayed at Bear Den Camp Ground on the Blue Ridge Parkway. They picked us up on Tuesday morning at the bottom of Swofford Road to drive us to West Virginia. We left my truck at the Brownie house at the end of Swofford Road. They brought us back there on Friday evening, and on Saturday Dalea and I drove back to Atlanta. Interesting fact–Bear Den Campground is actually at the top of the mountain behind our house, but it takes 30 minutes to drive there on the state roads and the parkway.
The Greenbrier River Trail is definitely one of my favorite trails of all the Hall-of-Fame rails to trails, primarily because of the scenery—the many wild flowers along the trail and the presence of the Greenbrier River almost constantly at our side. Of course, the flowers could be because of the time of year we rode the trail, but I would guess that there are several flowers no matter the season. The trail was hard packed crushed gravel amidst the dirt but gave no problems with balancing or thorns in the trail debris. The one part that is paved on each side of Marlinton was nice, except that either because of the pavement or because of its proximity to the town, broken glass was strewn on the trail and almost unavoidable to miss.
Unfortunately, I picked up some of the glass and ended up with a flat tire about a mile out of town, going south. A group of riders were not far behind us, and they graciously helped me change the tire because I was having so much difficulty getting the tube out of the new tire. None others picked up the glass, but the riders in the group knew immediately where I had picked up the glass because we all saw it when we came upon it. They reported it to someone in Marlinton, so hopefully it will get cleaned up before anyone else gets a flat. The two young men who helped me were indeed a blessing to have come along just at the right time and being willing to delay their ride and help me. That’s what I like about biking—good people!
Other than the glass, the trail was well kept and deserves the Hall-of-Fame recognition. Fallen trees had been removed from the trail, outhouses with toilet paper and hand sanitizer were available along the trail, picnic tables and benches could be found along the trail, the width of the trail is suitable for riding side by side or passing other riders coming in the opposite direction, mile markers consistently told us where we were, water pumps were available near the two or three campsites we saw, tool stands were located in Marlinton and seems like one other place along the trail. And nature provided us with pleasantries as we rode—a flaming orange azalea and other pink azaleas could be seen in places, all the purple, pink, white, and yellow wildflowers (I can’t remember all their names—Martha and Dalea know them; I just enjoy them) and their butterflies accented the trail, frequent creek crossings and little waterfalls made good photo stops. Little chipmunks could be occasionally seen, birds could be heard especially in the morning hours, and the greatest treat was the bear cub who crossed the trail in front of us twice, ran along in front of us for a while and then ran in the nearby field trying to escape from our presence. Too fast for a photo, but Martha was able to turn on her video camera and get a glimpse of him running away.
The schedule we settled on was perfect: the first day we rode about 37 miles, the second day about 31 miles, and the third day about 11 miles—79 miles in all, and all a little bit downhill. Nice elevation change. We started in Cass, rode to Watoga State Park (right on the trail!) where Ed and Martha camped in their RV camper and Dalea and I stayed in a park cabin, and then the next day continued south from the Park to the Anthony Trail Access. On the third day we started at the Anthony Trail Access and rode to the finish line in North Caldwell. We have to admit that we slipped past the ”do not enter” part of the trail at the end because we had talked to a couple that day who told us that the trail was completed following the required work done after the flooding and who had been told by one of the workers that they could skip the detour and take the trail out of North Caldwell to the Hopper Trail Access—the northern point where we were supposed to have taken the detour south to North Caldwell. Once we arrived at the Hopper Trail Access and saw the steep hill that led to the detour, we unanimously voted to slip around the barrier and stay on the trail. It will be good when the trail is open all the way; we actually couldn’t see any reason for the trail not to be open on the day we took it.
Over the course of the entire trail, we got to ride through two tunnels, one on the first day and one on the second day. They were not long, but it’s always fun to have to pause to turn on the head or bike lights, remember to remove our sunglasses, and experience the darkness of the tunnel. Ed, Martha’s husband, patiently and graciously transported us and our bikes to and from the starting points. We told him he was indispensable, and we meant it!
Along with the riding, we had some other planned activities. We took a hike at the end of the first day on the Arrowhead Trail up to the Anne Bailey lookout tower at the top of the mountain and were treated to a wonderful view of the Greenbrier River valley. It was a rather steep hike—call it moderately strenuous—but it was well worth the hike. Only about two miles round trip. It was just that after riding 37 miles we were a little tired. We went back to their camper and had a delicious cookout that Ed had prepared for us. On the second day of riding we stopped shortly after lunch and rode with Ed over to the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs where we walked around on their lovely grounds and then took the Bunker Tour to learn about the construction of the 1962-1992 location of Congress’ secret escape from a possible nuclear war. It was well worth the trip! The location of the Bunkers was revealed through a leak to the Washington Post in 1992 in an article entitled “The Last Resort” if any reader wants to read about it.
We used Martha’s very detailed, well-prepared itinerary for our trip, and Dalea and I were most grateful for the work she put into it. She built in ice-cream breaks on all days, had us stopping at the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia on the way up and New River State Park on the way back where we had two different spectacular views of the New River valley and bridge. One of the great side trip events on the way up on Tuesday was our hour-long kayaking excursion at Summersville Dam. She and Ed had brought along their three kayaks, paddles, and life vests for a wonderful experience out on the lake. We were able to kayak over to a waterfall and even kayak behind the waterfall. It was great! Along the trail, she picked out picnic lunch places next to waterfalls on the trail, zeroed in on Watoga State Park for a scenic lodging place, allowed us plenty of time to leisurely ride the trail and stop for photos, and yet made sure we were able to do all that we wanted to do in addition to the riding. On the first day she had a 45 minute “free time” allowance at the end of the day, supposedly before our 2 mile “moderately” strenuous hike. When I asked on the drive up why she had done that, she said we’d need it to get ready for the hike. Either coincidentally or because I was the one who questioned the need for “free time,” I was the one who got the flat tire and who used up the 45 minutes changing my tire. Consequences come when we doubt her wisdom in creating our itinerary!
Martha and I have ridden all of the Hall-of-Fame rails to trails, and in thinking about them all, I get nostalgic thinking of the many neat trails that I will ride again if opportunities appear, but I must still say that this is one of my favorite because of the isolated and beautiful scenery. In my mind, West Virginia is a hidden gem. Ron and I and Ed and Martha rode from Cass to Marlinton back in 2006 when we first started riding the Hall of Fame trails, and I was eager to do those same miles again plus the rest of the trail this year and to take my friend Dalea on this most enjoyable adventure.
Greenbrier River Trail Photos
Georgia Pedal Pushers 