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Local Biking Trails
We in the Southwest Virginia / Northeast Tennessee region are blessed to live in an area that offers a number of fun and scenic biking trails. Whether you're a novice or an expert mountain biker, the area has plenty to offer, from pretty lakeside paths to challenging technical single-track trails.Some of our favorites are listed below. For your information (and safety), we also provide recommendations about the level of difficulty we feel a trail offers.
The Virginia Creeper Trail
Steele Creek Park
Warrior's Path State Park
The Kingsport Greenbelt
Bays Mountain Park
Sugar Hollow Park
The Virginia Creeper Trail
The Virginia Creeper Trail stretches 35 miles from Abingdon, VA through Damascus to the NC State Line near Whitetop, VA. The Creeper Trail is open to hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding. The former rail bed passes through the back country of Southwest Virginia, and is rich in both beauty and history.The Virginia Creeper Trail is a gentle bike trail that is enjoyable for all levels of biking ability — from beginners to experts. Pack a picnic lunch and make a day of it! To learn more about the Creeper Trail, download maps and more, visit www.vacreepertrail.com.
Level of Difficulty: Beginner
Hints and Tips
• Pack a few bucks so you can enjoy a halfway point snack. You'll know it when you see it.
• Blue Blaze Shuttle will run a "midnight ride" during warm months. Ride the trail at night!
Safety
• As always, don't forget your helmet.
• Be careful when mounting and dismounting the trestles.
Steele Creek Park
Steele Creek Park is among the largest municipal parks in all of Tennessee. Amidst its many offerings are the miles of biking trails that crisscross the entire park. These trails offer the best views in the park, as well as the proper pace to enjoy them. Steele Creek Park offers very challenging biking in a convenient location. You will never be too far from civilization, and the park receives enough visitors so that someone will be close at all times. Level of Difficulty: Beginner (Lake Trail) and Expert Only
The lake trail at Steele Creek is mostly flat and excellent for beginners and families. Everything else at Steele Creek is expert-only mountain biking — very steep, narrow single-track trails.
Hints and Tips
• Steele Creek is a beautiful park with many recreation areas. Pack a picnic lunch and make a day of it.
Safety
• As always, wear a helmet and any other needed safety equipment.
• Watch out for those walking and running on the lake trail.
Warrior's Path State Park
Warrior's Path State park in Kingsport, Tennessee, is a great place to bike. The park is named for a trail once used by the Cherokee that passes where the park now rests. Purchased by the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1952, the park is host to a myriad of outdoor activities. The biking enthusiast can enjoy up to 8.5 miles of double and single-track trails that offer challenges for nearly all ability levels. Though the gradient at Warrior's Path isn't as severe as other parks in this area, the trails are rocky and technical enough to earn the park an advanced intermediate ranking as a whole.
Individual Trail Breakdown
• Lake Valley Road — 0.8 miles — Beginner — double track
• Darwin's Revenge — 2.14 miles — advanced — single track
• Bone Yard — 2.44m — advanced — single track
• Rock City — 0.55 miles — advanced — single track
• Whitetail Loop — 2.12 miles — intermediate — double track to single track
• White Tail alternate — 0.19 miles — intermediate — single track
• Zip Line — 0.34 miles — intermediate — single track
• Ridge Top — 0.48 miles — advanced — single track
• Magic Carpet Ride — 0.17 miles — advanced — single track
Download Biking Trail Map
Level of Difficulty: Advanced-Intermediate
Hints and Tips
• Plan on spending time exploring new trails.
• Start somewhere different every time. Learn what each path has to offer.
Safety
• As always, wear a helmet and any other needed protective gear.
The Kingsport Greenbelt
The Greenbelt is unique in this area. It has the ability to join school districts, neighborhoods, and other parks with one linear trail. This singular capability gives the trail utility as well as aesthetic appeal.Riders at any level of ability can use this trail and enjoy the scenery. More advanced riders may miss the technical trails offered by some other parks, but its functionality makes up for any lack of rocky, technical, single-track trails.
For more information and a virtual tour, visit the Greenbelt's website.
Level of Difficulty: Beginner
Hints and Tips
• Figure out how this path and park can best serve you!
• Use this trail to go green by leaving your car at home.
Safety
• As always, wear a helmet and any other needed safety equipment.
• Watch out for those walking and running.
Bays Mountain Park
Bays Mountain is a large, 3,500 acre park in Kingsport, Tennessee. Beyond biking, the park boasts live animal habitats, an education center, a planetarium, and astronomy. Regardless of age and outdoor experience, Bays Mountain can offer something of interest to nearly any visitor. Bikers planning a trip to Bays Mountain will find tons of challenging fire roads, hard climbs and fast descents. Fire roads will offer a relatively broad trail. Some will have gravel, while others won't. Bays Mountain is a great place to work on your conditioning for biking, but while you're there, scout out locations for other activities. This park has a lot to offer.
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate — Advanced.
Hints and Tips
• This is a big park, so you should pack a lunch.
• Try every season.
• Explore other aspects of Bays Mountain.
Safety
• As always, don't forget your helmet.
• Get a map as you come in.
Sugar Hollow Park
Sugar Hollow Park is a 400 acre park between exits 7 and 10 off of interstate 81 in Bristol, Virginia. Though this park is not very large, it boasts a few recreational sport fields, picnic sites, campsites, and a pool. These are generally packed during race weekends, but other times of the year the park is great for quick rides. The convenience of Sugar Hollow more than makes up for its lack of size and trail lengths. Pick one of its trails and do as many laps as needed to get an adequate ride in.Level of Difficulty: Beginner
Hints and Tips
• Don't shy away just because of the size. This is a well maintained and popular park.
• Race weekends will have this place filled up, but getting to know race fans is a blast.
Safety
• As always, don't forget your helmet.