Road Trip Day 3: The Road to Damascus

We drove from Charlottesville through the amazing mountains of Virginia. The fall colors are in full effect, with yellows, reds, and oranges throughout the hillsides. After a five hour drive, we pulled into the tiny town of Damascus, VA, known as "Trail Town USA". I had made reservations at a small B&B called Apple Tree Bed and Breakfast, a cute country home owned by a retired couple. After "checking in" to our bedroom upstairs, we headed out to find some dinner. The town is basically a single street, with small shops and trees lining both sides. The only place open was an Italian restaurant where we had some decent pizza before heading back to the B&B. We had a big day ahead of us, biking the Virginia Creeper Trail.


We woke up early the next morning to catch our breakfast, a delicious meal provided by our hosts. At the breakfast table we enjoyed conversation with the other guests and our hosts. One retired couple had biked across the country 10 times! After breakfast we headed for Damascus Adventure Tours, a bicycle tour outfitter. They hooked us up with a couple of mountain bikes and a shuttle ride to the top of Whitetop Mountain for about $25 each. The ride up the twisty mountain roads took about 30 minutes, and then we were surrounded by gorgeous views of the area. We were in the SW corner of Virginia and could see mountains which were in Tennessee and North Carolina as well. The Virginia Creeper trail rides along an old railway line and gently slopes downhill the whole way back to town. The scenery was breathtaking, with the fall foliage and a small river running beside us. We'd stop occasionally and only hear the sounds of leaves falling to the ground, or running water. Sometimes my bike felt like it was racing the water down the mountain, and at others, slowly gliding down like the leaves. This was one of the most gorgeous trails I've ever biked on and I'd highly recommend it to anyone. The whole route is along a nice trail, nothing tricky to bike through, and almost no pedaling required. I would definitely like to come back and bike it again sometime. At various points along the trail we would intersect the Appalachian Trail, another trail I'd like to tackle someday in this area. After what seemed to be a very quick 17 miles, we pulled back into town, returned our bikes, and headed off for Asheville. Of course, there are pictures to be seen, and you can view them here.