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Recreation/Trails |
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Linking People and Places |
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Working with local
governments, community organizations and businesses, we help create and
maintain:
- Hiking and biking
trails, river walks and greenways
- Safe and attractive
locations for healthful exercise, and
- Opportunities for
children and adults to learn about animals and plants that live
and grow here.
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In the Henry County and City
of Martinsville area of Virginia, DRBA’s affiliate, the
Martinsville-Henry County Rivers and Trails Group, is active in a
number of different projects. DRBA partnered with Henry County Parks
and Recreation to plan and construct a rail trail, a trail at Fieldale along the Smith River, and nature trails through a
new nature preserve on the Smith River. |
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 Rail Trail,
Martinsville
and Henry County, Virginia
The Martinsville-Henry County Rivers
and Trails Group is assisting Henry County with the planning and
construction of a 4.5 mile trail along the Danville and Western Rail
Line formerly owned by Norfolk-Southern Railway. The planned
multiuse trail will stretch from Fieldale to Martinsville,
terminating at Prillaman Chemical Company, which is no longer in
operation. The paved trail, designed for walking and biking, will
connect to the existing Spur Trail in Uptown Martinsville.
Construction on the project, funded by a Federal Transportation
Enhancement Grant secured by Congressman Rick Boucher will begin in
2009. The group is excited about its development and already hopes
to expand it in the future |
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Smith River Fieldale, Henry County, Virginia
The planned
Smith River Fieldale
Trail begins at 3521 South River Road in Fieldale,
 Virginia.
The first phase of the multiuse trail, designed for pedestrians and
cyclists, follows the Smith River upstream for approximately one
mile, ending at the entrance to the Fieldcrest Lodge. An additional
mile and a half of trial, following the Smith River downstream from
the trailhead, is currently under development and will be completed
by Spring 2009. Funding for the development of the Fieldale Trail
has been provided by Dominion Power and the Virginia Department of
Forestry.
Fieldale Iron Bridge Preservation Project
Discover
how a
special project will re-use parts of this
beautiful old bridge along other points of
the Fieldale Trail and how you can
help make it happen!
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Smith River
Greenway, Eden, NC
The first leg of
the City of Eden’s greenway system is now
open! A new trailhead for the Smith River
Greenway is located on the east side of the
Smith River, just downstream of the Spray
traffic circle and Island Ford Bridge (now
under construction).
The trail is
level and smooth and extends for
approximately 1.7 miles to the Eden
 Family
YMCA on Kennedy Street. Interesting plants
and wildlife are to be found along the trail.
From the circle,
the Greenway can be accessed by crossing the
Smith River on Meadow Road and turning
right. Parking, picnic shelter and rest room
facilities are available at the trailhead.
Benches are located along the trail.
The Eden
greenway along the Smith River was a project
of one of DRBA’s founders, Mike Covey. Mike
met with all of the landowners to gain their
approval, and he worked tirelessly to make
this beautiful trail possible.
The next phase
of the planned city-wide system will extend
the greenway up river beyond the bridge
toward the Spray dam.
DRBA thanks City
of Eden Mayor John Grogan, members of the
Eden City Council, planning director Kelly
Stultz, Sam W. Smith, Inc., and the Annie
Penn Community Trust for making the greenway
a reality. |
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 Chinqua-Penn Trail,
Rockingham County, North Carolina
In Rockingham County, DRBA
received funding from the Annie Penn Foundation to improve the
Chinqua Penn trail to make it safer for seniors to traverse the 1.7
mile scenic loop through the NC State Research station.
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 Caswell County, NC Trail
Master Plan
DRBA volunteers and staff
have been working to build a partnership of stakeholders to draft a
trail master plan for Caswell County, NC. The plan will look at linkages
along waterways and to local neighborhoods. A pilot trail project is
being developed to connect county and town parks with a senior
center, day care center and elementary school. |
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Richmond and Danville
Rail Trail
 The
Ringgold to Sutherlin portion of the
Richmond and Danville Rail Trail is a 5.6
mile section of the former railway bed that
connects the restored Ringgold, Virginia
depot with the Sutherlin community. The easy
grade passes through wetlands, farms,
fields, and forests. It is located about
three miles north of US 58.
The most striking feature is the massive
1850 five-arch stone trestle over Sandy
Creek. This trail and the Danville Riverwalk
are included in the proposed “Beaches to
Bluegrass” trans-Virginia trail.
Download the
trail guide. |
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Dan
River Batteau
 Canoe, kayak or charter a batteau through
North Carolina's nationally significant
batteau navigation system on the Dan River
in Rockingham County, NC.
Recognized by the National Register of
Historic Places, the trail features 33
fascinating navigational structures
including sluices, wing dams and landings
designed to enable boats to maneuver the
rapids. Stone fish weirs, believed to have
been built by Amerindians as many as 1000
years ago, were modified much later to
improve navigation. Download the
front and
back of the Dan River Batteau
NavigationTrail brochure (two pdf files)
to learn more. |
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You can learn more about trails in Virginia
and North Carolina from these sources: |
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Sites
(Pittsylvania County, VA info under
development) |
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Publications
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Get the latest free Adobe pdf file Reader here!
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