Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
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On our travels from New England to Tennessee to see family we stopped for a day at the Guest River Gorge, a rail trail in Jefferson National Forest in Southwest Virginia. The Guest River rail trail is a great example of a true rail trail. That is, a former path built for a railroad line, now abandoned and transformed into a recreational space dedicated to walking and biking. The packed, crushed stone surface of the trail makes for very Easy Walking.
The path follows the Guest River, which joins the Clinch River where the trail ends. On one side of the trail is the river. The opposite side of the path runs next to and sometimes underneath towering limestone cliffs.
Bridges take visitors from one side of the river to the other as the waterway winds southward.
A large barrier of rock was tunneled through so the railbed could allow passing trains to follow a mostly level grade. We sailed through the tunnel underneath the rocky outcrop on our adaptive bicycle. This was much easier than having to figure a way to get up and over the perhaps 200 foot bluff.
The path had a noticeable slope—we had little need to pedal as we followed the river downstream. Of course, this meant that our trip back required pedaling for the entire distance back to the trail head. No parking or other access is available at the far end of the trail, so it is an out and back type trip.
We have seen benches placed along the way on many rail trails we have visited. The number of well-maintained benches along this path is impressive. What a welcome amenity on a six mile long stretch of a former railroad bed. Be sure to plan how far you want to go, keeping these things in mind.
The six mile (give or take) path had no grade crossings, which made this a delightfully quiet adventure. The silence was broken only by the rushing river crashing against rocks down below us, a welcome companion on our outing.
Speaking of companions, our visit was on a weekday, in early November. We saw a few families and some runners on the trail. We were the only ones on bikes the day we were there. The size of the parking lot gave us a hint of the number of people who enjoy the trail in warmer weather. (Our morning walk the day after our bike ride was a brisk 26F degrees.)
The trailhead is near Coeburn, Virginia, not really on the way to popular tourist destinations, but well-worth the trip if you are anywhere near SW Virginia. It is located in the mountains and cell phone coverage was spotty. The trail is part of the Jefferson National Forest. Happy trails.
Marjorie
Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors, and is the author of Easy Walks in Massachusetts, 2nd edition, More Easy Walks in Massachusetts, 2nd edition, Easy Walks and Paddles in the Ten Mile River Watershed, Easy Walks South of Boston and Finding Easy Walks Wherever You Are. Her memoir, the backstory of Easy Walks, is My Liturgy of Easy Walks: Reclaiming hope in a world turned upside down.
Marjorie Turner Hollman 