The New River Rail Trail is a 57 mile linear park that follows an abandoned rail bed along the New River. We started the trail right in Fries, about a mile from where we are staying. It’s all unpaved but it was fairly smooth and right next to the river for the first 5 miles to Fries Junction.
We then turned towards Galax, riding along Chestnut Creek. There’s a long trestle bridge crossing the New River at Fries Junction followed by a short tunnel. We crossed many short trestles on the route and they all had a very polite sign asking us to dismount and lead our horses.
The trail along the creek was beautiful but nearly every inch of it rattled our bones, our butts, our shoulders and the fillings in our teeth! We stopped quite a bit for breaks which was no real hardship given the scenery, and we eventually arrived at Chestnut Falls. I guess Falls might be a bit ambitious but it really was pretty and suitably noisy!
There was a picnic table at the Falls and ample parking for bikes and horses. I was happier than I look in this picture although I was not looking forward to more rattling of my bones on the return journey,
We headed back to Fries for a total of 25 miles on the New River Trail. The trail was not busy but we did meet and talk to a few other bikers. I think we may need to pull out Google translate sometimes. We met a nice couple back at Fries Junction but there was definitely a language barrier much like that with the hunters on the Blue Ridge.
We’re walking to the Windy River Cafe in Fries tonight for the pinto bean platter; a regional specialty. I’m having sweet potato fries as a side so I can settle this sugar vs. salt question! (Late follow up: the sweet potato fries were salted – no sugar. So it was either a very specific regional specialty on the Skyline Drive, or else the chef made a mistake that day.)