The Virginia Creeper Trail: Partnerships Creating Public Value

<p>This past weekend my wife and I took a short trip out to the mountains for our anniversary. Among our activities was peddling all 34 miles of the Virginia Creeper Trail, a beautiful gem stretching from White Top, through Damascus, to Abingdon, Virginia. In 2014, the Trail was inducted to the Rail-to-Trail Hall of Fame. This Virginia Creeper Trail has it all: beautiful views, a well-maintained trail, lots of history, amenities along the way, and stops in two delightful small towns. It is a huge economic asset to the region. More than a quarter million visitors ride the trail annually, giving steady business to bike outfitters, restaurants, hotels, and so on. The Trail is also a great example of how partnerships—intergovernmental and public-private—make assets like this possible.</p> <p></p> <p>The rail right-of-way the Trail runs on dates back to the 1880s. After the last train used the rail line in the late 1970s, the idea for the trail began to take shape, with local advocates, spearheaded by Dr. French Moore, Jr., successfully arguing for maintaining the public right-of-way for the project. The U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and the two Towns took ownership of the different portions of right-of-way with the plan to use it for the recreational trail. Two million dollars in federal funding were also secured through the efforts of local Congressman Rick Boucher. The Trail was completed in 1984 and goes through both public and private land.</p> <p>A public-private (and intergovernmental) partnership that includes the U.S. Forest Service, the Towns of Damascus and Abingdon, [...]</p>