Last fall we walked part of the extension of the Jackson River Scenic Trail while it was under construction. A mild winter meant that a lot of the work could be continued. It's now almost completely ready -- a few of the road crossings need to be finished, and there are no amenities (picnic tables, toilets). The extension almost doubles the length of the trail.
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| The first, and one of the longest, bridges on the new section. Last fall we had to ford the stream here. |
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| This bridge came along quickly since the old railroad structure was still intact. Last fall we gingerly walked across a bridge deck composed of rotting railroad ties. |
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| There's about 100 feet of very rough surface just south of the Natural Well road crossing. |
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| A new access point (Cedar Creek trailhead) at the northern end of the trail has been constructed. |
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| The trail ends at the county line. I hope that someday Bath County will fix up their part of the old railroad bed and the trail will be complete to Hot Springs. |
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| A very nice turnaround loop has been constructed at the northern end. |
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| Lon was waiting for me to finish taking photos. |
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| The northern 2 miles or so of the new section is less populated than the southern parts. A ground hog (woodchuck) ran up a tree as we rode by. On Thursday, we saw a black bear with a cub. |
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| Clearly the ground hog doesn't read signs -- he's trespassing. (See below.) |
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| Property rights along the upper Jackson River are contentious. Virginia takes History (with a capital H) seriously, and the property rights here can be traced back to colonial times and direct land grants from the King of England (Crown Grant). Once the US Corps of Engineers built Gathright Dam on the Jackson, the river below the dam was declared publicly accessible. Courts have since declared that while the riverbed is privately owned, the water is not. So it is legal to canoe/kayak/tube down the river, but you may not touch the river bottom or the banks. |
