Mountain biking, hiking trails in downtown Richmond

Who’s up for a run through the wilderness in downtown Richmond? Lucky for you, Richmond has some of the best trails that deliver the feeling of biking along an isolated mountain trail right in the heart of the city.

The James River trail loop is one of the most popular outdoor fitness areas in Richmond. The Belle Isle, Buttermilk, and North trails combine for a circuit course that runs along the hillsides above both banks of the river between the Boulevard Bridge and the Robert E. Lee Bridge downtown.

Check Richmond.com to see what these trails look like and read the full story.

Richmond MORE and city open Forest Hill Park trails

After nearly six months and 800 man hours, one of the key elements to the revitalization of Richmond’s Forest Hill Park is now complete with the re-opening of the biking and hiking trail.

The trails were closed to allow the reworking of portions of the original trail to help prevent erosion and to make it easier to maintain, said Nathan Burrell, Trail Builder for the City of Richmond.

“That’s why we build them that way — to cut down on the maintenance and let us work on other projects and continue to expand,” he said.

The restored trail is intended for use by everyone, not just the mountain biking community, he said. The single-track trail winds it’s 3.2 miles around the perimeter of the wooded areas of Forest Hill Park and highlights many of the park’s existing features.

Several new techniques were put to use and the trail looks fantastic.

The restoration of Forest Hill Park’s lake was completed under budget and a month early and the park will soon put in place a footbridge over Reedy Creek at the above the lake in memory of the Bryan Harvey family. The lake has become a marsh after being filled by silt over many years of neglect.

“We’ve turned the corner on perception,” said J.R. Pope, the city’s director of Parks and Recreation Department. “People are taking ownership of the parks.”

The trail restoration was a combined effort from the City of Richmond Parks and Recreation Department, Richmond Mid-Atlantic Off Road Enthusiasts, and many other volunteer groups.

RA-MORE is an all volunteer organization formed in 2005, is dedicated to improving the state of mountain biking in the Greater Richmond Virginia area.

The Forest Hill Park trail project cost $15,000 to complete — $5,000 from the city and $10,000 in donations, mostly from RA-MORE.

One example of the cost is the new wooden multi-use bridge over a brook in the middle of the park.

“The bridge is incredible,” Pope said. The bridge has a curve in the middle as it crosses the ravine and a staircase — a fine example of carpentry.

Several overheard comments from riders as they approached bridge for the first time were nothing but complimentary.

Greg Rollins, president of RA-MORE, congratulated the 25 members that attended an opening day picnic before the group hit the trail to celebrate its completion.

“J.R. saw that the mountain bikers wanted to be a part of the parks,” Rollins said. “Guys that come out and put 8 hours in each Saturday.”

Burrell was the project leader and was especially proud that the trail was completed in time for the Urban Assault mountain bike race, which is part of Dominion Riverrock, scheduled for May 14-15.

“We were able to bring something together that only a small amount of people could use….to something that walkers, hikers, bikers, everyone could use,” he said. “And as a result, everybody is happy!”

Burrell added that the next trail building project is in the wooded hillsides Dogwood Dell, below The Carillon and across the road from Pumphouse Park. 

Pope agreed and said that effort would be the next logical step in establishing the Pumphouse as the new visitor’s center for the James River Park System.

Greenway trail cleanup held in Southside Richmond

Richmond City Councilman Doug Conner of the South Central 9th District held a Richmond Greenway and Trail Cleanup Friday morning on a former CSX railroad bed that runs between Belt Boulevard and Hopkins Road.

“The area had been abandoned for 40 years and it had become a dumping ground,” Conner said, adding that when he was elected to city council in 2006, he made it a focus of his to get CSX — the owner — to clean the area. CSX cleared the area, but there was plenty of vegetation and dumped material again on the site.

The plans for this 2.5 mile “ecological corridor” are for a future public bike and pedestrian trail that will serve as a scenic recreational greenway area, providing neighborhoods a safe alternative way to connect without automobiles and away from busy streets.

“So we can help some people get off the couch,” said Jennifer Wampler of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Richmond is considered a pilot project for attempts to create a interconnected system of long-distance trails in Virginia, Wampler said.

The property has not been purchased from CSX yet, but the hope is that it will soon. Several landscaping firms have donated designs for the project.

A larger goal is that it could be linked to the United States of America East Coast Greenway, which is being built in sections from Main to Florida, and to the Virginia Capital Trail, which would link Richmond to Williamsburg and Jamestown.

The plan for the area depends on federal funding, according to Champ Burnley of the Virginia Bicycling Federation. Private donations for the project could be matched in quadruple by federal “transportation enhancement funds” that are designated only for bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

The community volunteer cleanup focused on the area next to Southside Plaza at Hull Street. Volunteers from the Richmond Outreach Center and the Southside Baptist Christian School helped remove unwanted trash and debris from the areas, including a couple of discarded couches.

Upgrades to Forest Hill Park bike trails

Fans of South Richmond’s Forest Hill Park should have even more to celebrate this spring when the weather turns warm. The city plans to celebrate the recently repaired lake at the park, and can now add planned improvements to the excellent and extensive mountain bike trails within the park. This was reported yesterday by Andy Thompson, outdoors writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and a consistent user of the FHP and James River Park System trails:

The lake project was just the highest-profile aspect of a parkwide conversion from diamond in the rough to gleaming gem. The next step will be no less dramatic than the lake work: an overhaul of the entire trail system that rings the park’s wooded slopes. And the news on that front is just as good as the recent lake news.

Nathan Burrell, trails manager for the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities, said he expects to have the project completed by next spring. That means cutting over 3 miles of new trail and reclaiming the old, toting rocks, building crib walls, planting, transplanting, and much more – a huge undertaking.

“If we did it like we do now just with volunteer labor,” Burrell said, “You’re talking about another five years before the trails are actually redeveloped.”

Maybe my favorite part of the article was the mention of the work to combat erosion:

Burrell also took pains to explain that because of advances in trail-building methods, the future trails – and the work to create them – will lead to much less erosion than the current paths.

And fat tire lovers shouldn’t worry that FHP will lose luster. The park will still be a destination ride. In fact, if it turns out as Burrell envisions, it’ll be better than it is now. It will flow more, double back on itself less and generally offer a more rider-friendly experience.

The upgrades are long overdue, and in no fault to Richmond MORE or the City of Richmond.  I vaguely recall there being disputes over the care of the trails, and work was halted. Biking on the trails was not halted, however. Getting Burrell more involved and allowing the excellent people who volunteer for Richmond MORE back in to repair and rework those rocky hillside trails will improve the trails for everyone — not just the trail users.

The trails in the park have no doubt helped to enhance the perception of Westover Hills and Woodland Heights neighborhoods — increasing the real estate values. Just as important, more well-intentioned people in the park helps to raise the levels of safety and could help cut down on the likelihood that some moron graffiti “artist” would defile the place.

Thanks again go to J.R. Pope and the City of Richmond Department of Parks and Recreation!