Lately my boyfriend and I have been talking about traveling and finding fun activities to do as a family. Talking about fun places to go reminded me of when we went to Virginia last year (when I was nine weeks pregnant) with some friends to go biking on the Virginia Creeper Trail. That was the first time my boyfriend and I had gone biking, and I did surprisingly well despite being in the nauseous and tired stage of pregnancy! I’m about to share with you our crazy but fun experience biking the Virginia Creeper Trail.
If you ever decide to go bike riding on The Virginia Creeper Trail, I highly suggest going in the morning. We left late from where we live so we didn’t make it to the Sundog bike rental and shuttle bus (Damascus, Virginia) until about 3:00pm. We almost missed the last shuttle bus! We got our bikes and we headed to the trolley to board up. My friends brought their 6 month old son, and they had a baby pull along carrier! We hitched a 4:00pm ride to the Whitetop Station aka the top a 17 mile bike trail. The whole Virginia Creeper Trail is 34 miles. This pregnant mama could not survive that! Anyways, it took a good hour or so to get to the trail entrance. It was gorgeous up there! We went in October so the leaves were beautiful Fall colors, and the mountains were also gorgeous. I totally recommend going in the Fall.
After biking for a few hours, we took a break. We found a big rock to sit on near a bridge right off of the trail. We were the last shuttle bus to be taken up to the trail so we were able to take our time without fighting the crowd. We brought snacks and drinks in two book bags that we had put in the storage part of the baby carrier. So we munched and played around while she fed the baby. Then we started biking again! About an hour later, we ventured off to a small river. We walked around and took pictures. Then we realized it was getting dark so we started biking again.
Once it got dark, it got DARK. We were the last people on the trail so we were all alone in the dark woods with many miles left to go. We started to regret all of our breaks we had taken along the way. We even had to use our phone lights to see the path and each other, and it was a shame because I could tell that there was such beautiful scenery around me, but we couldn’t see it. It was too dark, and we were just trying to book it back to Sundog rentals. I’m not going to lie.. I was scared, and my boyfriend kept saying he heard animal sounds behind us to pick on me. Also, our friends’ baby was not happy at all by that point so he was screaming. He was tired of all the riding I think. I was too honestly.
After about two hours in the dark, we made it to the roadside part of the trail. I was happy to see civilization! We got back to Sundog around 9:45pm, and I was starving, and my pregnant bladder was not having it! We put our bikes in the outside storage place, and we got ready to leave. The rental place was beside a Subway restaurant so I ran in and had to use the bathroom before they closed! Haha.
We had a great time, but next time we go, I’d like to start biking around noon instead of 4:00pm. Even though biking in the dark gave us a good story to tell, I’d love to take my time enjoying the whole trail next time. I would definitely recommend biking on the Virginia Creeper Trail if you love the outdoors though. It is definitely worth taking a day trip! I can’t wait to go back one day!
Watch our experience on YouTube as well! https://youtu.be/v5SvoJ51iIw
9 replies on “The Virginia Creeper Trail”
I love Virginia! This trail looks amazing. And how fun that you got to go on a bike ride for the first time together. We have family in Richmond but don’t have any trips planned in the foreseeable future.
We have never been to Virginia before so this looks pretty cool!
Besides the part about it getting dark, sounds like a great experience.
This sounds like such an awesome trail! I would’ve definitely been scared to ride in the dark too though haha
Whew! I’m glad you all made it back safely! I hope you get to go back sometime with an earlier start so you’re able to enjoy it more! (Yay for having a good story to tell though? :P) Virginia is so pretty!
This sounds so fun and adventurous! My family loves bike riding, maybe we’ll make this trip sometime.
This is so interesting — I’ve lived in VA all my life, but never heard of the Virginia Creeper Trail! (Of course, I tend to skip most things that are remotely creepy, so that could be part of the problem haha).
Loved reading your adventure biking in the dark haha. The picture is a great representative of the name itself.. it’s a bit creepy with the long road and without a soul in sight. You guys are very brave to have ventured into the darkness :))
Beautiful scenery! Looks like a great place to visit!