Grayson Gravel

01/05/2026

01/05/2026

🌳 Virginia Creeper Trail Tree Work (Abingdon–Damascus Section) 🌳

Over the winter months, crews will be removing select trees along the section of the Virginia Creeper Trail between Abingdon and Damascus. Many of these trees are ash trees that have died due to the emerald ash borer and now pose a safety hazard to trail users.

The trail will remain open during this work. Please use caution, stay alert, and follow any posted signage or directions from crews while you’re on the trail.

Thank you for your patience as we work to keep the Virginia Creeper Trail safe and enjoyable for everyone.

12/30/2025

The Grayson Gravel Long Haul is the longest route in our gravel cycling network, coming in just shy of 150 miles. It adds two rail trails, the Virginia Creeper Trail and the New River Trail, onto either side of our Grayson Gravel Traverse route. We have designed the route to be ridden West to East, from Abingdon to Pulaski.

This makes for a great 2 or 3-day bikepacking route with nearly 2 miles of gravel for every mile of pavement, but the climbing in between the rail trails should not be underestimated!

Part of the Virginia Creeper Trail is currently closed for repairs. We’ve included a road detour to get around this closure on the Ride With GPS route.

Route Details:
Distance: 148.4 Miles
Elevation: +11,426’ / -11,544’
Surface: 38% Paved, 62% Unpaved

12/15/2025

The New River Trail is officially open from end to end! Part of the trail was closed due to a multi-phase trestle restoration project, which finished up last week. The full trail is now open, which is great news for any cyclists and other trail users who had been missing access to the trail from Fries.

This means that our longest route, the Grayson Gravel Long Haul, is back in business! The Virginia Creeper Trail is still partially closed, but we have included a detour from Damascus to Whitetop in the Ride With GPS file.

Who’s thinking about tackling this route in the spring?

New River Trail State Park

12/14/2025

Great news!

🎉 Great news, trail lovers! 🎉

The New River Trail is officially OPEN from end to end. 🥾🚴‍♀️🌲

💚 Thank you for your patience while we made important improvements to the trail and trestles.

Grab your gear, gather your crew and come explore the beauty of New River Trail once again. See you out there! 👋

Friends of New River Trail

12/10/2025

The Grayson Gravel Circuit is a 143-mile mixed-surface gravel bike route that is based on the Grayson Gravel Traverse Route. It takes all the great riding along the point-to-point Traverse route and turns it into a loop based out of Whitetop, although riders can start the loop wherever they choose. The northern portion of this loop rolls through Jefferson National Forest, and includes a steep climb outside of Troutdale with a max grade of 27%! With several lodging and camping options and a few notable resupply points, this loop makes for a perfect bikepacking experience.

Route Details:
Distance: 142.7 Miles
Elevation: +/- 14,808’
Surface: 57% Paved, 43% Unpaved

11/26/2025

The Grayson Gravel Traverse is a 72-mile mixed-surface gravel bike route that connects the Virginia Creeper Trail and New River Trail over well-maintained and remote roads featuring a variety of challenging climbs. The route follows optimal west-east gravel corridors just south of the Grayson Highlands area, in the foothills of Virginia’s highest peaks, criss-crossing the creeks that carry water from the high mountains down to the New River. This overlooked gem of Virginia presents some of the best gravel cycling in the state, mostly unridden and undiscovered.

Route Details:
Distance: 72.5 Miles
Elevation: +6,911/-8,333
Surface: 60% Paved, 40% Unpaved

View routes: https://ridewithgps.com/collections/41362

11/20/2025

Virginia Creeper Trail update!

Earlier this month, the U.S. Forest Service awarded a contract to rebuild the Virignia Creeper Trail between Damascus and Whitetop Station. There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the construction on December 11th at 3:30pm in Damascus Town Park.

The trail remains closed between Damascus and Whitetop. Please stay off the trail until the reconstruction is complete to help avoid unnecessary delays in the work. You can find a detour option linked in our bio.

11/20/2025

Reconstruction of the Creeper Trail will be starting in December, with a ribbon cutting on Dec 11! Please don’t trespass or use the closed part of the trail until reconstruction is done and it’s officially reopen. This will help the project avoid unnecessary delays.

Important update from this evening’s meeting: Kiewit stated very clearly that trespassing anywhere on or around the closed part of the Creeper Trail will not be tolerated. They will be enforcing the closure with police presence. Let’s all do our part to keep workers safe and avoid unnecessary delays.

They will have a website with updates and pictures of the progress being made. Once the website is available, we'll share the url.

There will be a ribbon cutting on Dec 11 to mark the official start of the reconstruction.

https://www.whitetopva.org/whitetop-station

11/08/2025

“Allow me to reintroduce myself…” 

Grayson Gravel is a small collection of bikepacking routes based out of Grayson County, VA. We have three main routes to choose from, each with stunning views, gorgeous gravel, and their fair share of challenging climbs. Here’s the lowdown:

The Traverse: 72.5mi, 6,911’ of gain
The Circuit: 142.7mi, 14,808’ of gain
The Long Haul: 148.4mi, 11,426’ of gain

You can find more specifics about each of the routes at the collection, linked in our bio. If you’re heading out to ride one of the routes, we’d love to hear about it! Please send us thoughts and photos from your rides.

10/17/2025

“Our guest, David Landis, is the driving force behind Mountaineer Gravel, a regional project connecting cyclists to the backroads, trails, and small towns that make this part of Appalachia such a unique place to explore.

In this episode, David shares how Mountaineer Gravel got its start, why West Virginia’s rugged terrain is perfect for adventure cycling, and what’s ahead with the upcoming Mountaineer Monster — a multi-day bikepacking race that’s part endurance challenge, part love letter to the mountains.

If you’re interested in destination development, sustainable tourism, or just love a good story about community and grit — this one’s worth a listen.”

Visit Mountaineer Country