Page 30 - Fall 2014
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rails
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destination
Map Illustration
by Danielle Marks
Danielle Marks Design
364
Lakeview Drive
Hartfield, VA 23071-3110
804 238-1539
All artwork © 2014
Danielle Marks
Once part of the
Richmond and Alleghany
Railroad—and before that
a canal towpath—the rail-
trail is well maintained by
the military school and
well used by it as well, as
evidenced by the packs of
cadets frequently found run-
ning on it.
At the start of the trail, stone abut-
ments fan out across the Maury River.
They are remnants of a covered bridge
that was wiped out by the 1969 hur-
ricane. After admiring them from the
overlook, we realize we are, in fact, on an
island: With the bridge gone, the trail-
head is really just a park. We cross the
U.S. 11 concrete bridge to the north side
of the river to begin our walk in earnest.
For just over seven miles, the trail
hugs the Maury as it flows eastward,
streaming under bridges, beside old
warehouses and past pastures and homes
and what’s left of the canal system.
Wooden benches along the way offer
places to stop and rest and enjoy the
peace. We perch on rocks by the river
and eat locally grown Honey Crisp
apples that we’d stowed in our back-
packs. Our view takes in Reid’s Lock and
Dam, where evergreens grow out of the
lock’s old stone walls.
As we move on, we often have the trail
to ourselves. Occasionally we encounter
walkers and runners of every age, all
of them friendly. We greet a father and
daughter walking their dog, an elderly
couple looking for birds, a young couple
taking photos of the radiant leaves.
“
That’ll be 10 cents,” more than one
passerby laughs, as I take their photos.
We come upon a group of cheerful vol-
unteers searching out and bagging invasive
plants. The unofficial spokeswoman, Lisa
Tracy, works for the Rockbridge Area
Conservation Council and says her group
is trying to raise money to place signposts
at the trailhead to prevent people like us
from getting confused.
Technically, biking is allowed on the
Chessie Trail, but you wouldn’t know
from the signs and information guides.
At any rate, the gravel and dirt path is
too rough for road bikes and the gradi-
ent too flat to interest many mountain
bikers. As the cool shadows grow, I think
more than once about coming back in
the dead of winter to cross-country ski.
After starting our walk at 9 a.m. and
moving at a pretty leisurely pace, with
plenty of stops along the way, we arrive at
the cliffs beyond the I-81 bridge around
noon before turning back. At 7.2 miles
one way, the Chessie’s a bit much to take
on if you’re just out for a stroll, and we
want to get back to Lexington well before
the restaurants begin closing their lunch
shifts at 2:30 p.m. We pick up the pace,
still stopping now and then to admire the
colors and savor the silence.
A college friend who grew up in
Lexington had recommended Bistro on
Main, so that’s where we head. It’s a
quiet place where you can get a taco
sal
ar
w
up the
says is like a homemade Blue Moon.
After our late lunch, we walk
across the street to Lexington Coffee
Roasters, a specialty coffee shop where
Brendan Hagerty offers tasting flights each
Saturday.
Later, we could have headed over
to Hull’s Drive-in, a few miles up Lee
Highway, for a movie before crashing at
Llewellyn Lodge for another night. To
round out the weekend, on Sunday we
could have headed west to walk a section
of the 14-mile Jackson River Scenic Trail
in Covington, Va., or gone east to the
nearly seven-mile Virginia Blue Ridge
Railway Trail in Piney River, each about
an hour’s drive from Lexington.
Locals had also recommended visit-
ing Natural Bridge, Va., where a river has
cut a 20-story-high arch through solid
limestone. And then there’s Goshen Pass,
Virginia’s oldest natural preserve, a gorge
that provides spectacular views of the
Maury River and some of the best kayak-
ing in the state, and is only about 15 miles
upstream from the Chessie trailhead.
But all of that will have to wait.
There are Halloween costumes to don
and parties to attend and friends to see.
The sun, never strong, is inching its way
toward the mountains, and we have to
settle for color-gazing along I-81 as we
drive home to Washington, D.C.
Frank N. Carlson is a producer for the
PBS
NewsHour
inWashington, D.C.
Visitors to the Chessie
Nature Trail are
treated to small-town
charm and majestic
beauty along the
7.2-
mile route.
Frank n. Carlson (3)
