2018 - Hike 5 - February 18th - Natural Bridge State Park
Natural Bridge State Park - VA
Cedar Creek Trail and Monacan Trails
Posted by Chris 2/20/18
Basics:
Length - Cedar Creek Trail was 2 miles in total (trail guide from state doesn't count from the visitors center to the bottom of the stairs) and the Monacan Trail was 3.3 miles
Elevation gain - Not stated, maybe 500 feet in total
Nearest city - Natural Bridge (Rockbridge County)
Difficulty - Moderate. The Cedar creek trail (which goes under Natural Bridge) is very wide and easy and other than 130 stairs, has few obstacles or challenges. The Monacan trail had rolling hills and lots of variation in gooting ranging from gravel to muddy.
The Day:
As you can probably guess from our location in Virginia, we are on a road trip! This week plus long trip is centered on a Charlotte NC visit of Brian's family but we actually are spending most of our time in Virginia. Both Brian and I have been to Virginia a few times but I know for me it was either that corner of the DC area or that 10 miles I looped though after coming North out of TN on a weekend jaunt. For both of us, this was the first in depth visit. We headed out Saturday after the long planned downtime work completed at my Office. Unfortunately, we were still in PA near Harrisburg when the much talked about impending snowstorm arrived. We drove from where the PA turnpike crosses 81 all the way to Harrisonburg before conditions started to get better. It was one of the longest constantly snowing storm drives I've been on (about 160 miles) but amazingly we only say maybe 4 vehicles in snow related distress during the whole trip and traffic was light. We were both a little stiff and stressed after so long being hyper alert and for me (who drove) trying to constantly keep as much room around us at all times. I obsessively work to avoid getting in a clump or convoy if at all possible because my belief has always been that sliding off the road into a snowy ditch makes for a very bad day but colliding with other 3000 pound moving projectiles is even worse.
The next day (Sunday) was originally going to be an hour or so on the Blue Ridge Parkway then one 4 mile hike then some more Blue Ridge Parkway and a 2 mile hike with a waterfall. Wellllllllll, even though there was absolutely no snow or ice in the morning at Lexington VA, the parkway was closed when we arrived. Thankfully, Brian spotted signs for Natural Bridge State park which wasn't very far away so we headed there instead.
Natural Bridge is a wonderful place to visit. Not a very secret or wild place but on a February morning it was quiet enough to be peaceful. Beyond just the enormity of the geology, it is insane that US-11 runs across the top of the natural bridge. Even harder to imagine, the VADOT website makes it sound like there was little to no formal engineering done of the structure until just a few years ago. Thankfully, the natural bridge is apparently very stout and US-11 is not really seen or heard from the trail below. Here are the pics from the visitors center and the creek trail.
We are now in Charlotte NC and headed out this morning for another walk. More to come soon.
The Day:
As you can probably guess from our location in Virginia, we are on a road trip! This week plus long trip is centered on a Charlotte NC visit of Brian's family but we actually are spending most of our time in Virginia. Both Brian and I have been to Virginia a few times but I know for me it was either that corner of the DC area or that 10 miles I looped though after coming North out of TN on a weekend jaunt. For both of us, this was the first in depth visit. We headed out Saturday after the long planned downtime work completed at my Office. Unfortunately, we were still in PA near Harrisburg when the much talked about impending snowstorm arrived. We drove from where the PA turnpike crosses 81 all the way to Harrisonburg before conditions started to get better. It was one of the longest constantly snowing storm drives I've been on (about 160 miles) but amazingly we only say maybe 4 vehicles in snow related distress during the whole trip and traffic was light. We were both a little stiff and stressed after so long being hyper alert and for me (who drove) trying to constantly keep as much room around us at all times. I obsessively work to avoid getting in a clump or convoy if at all possible because my belief has always been that sliding off the road into a snowy ditch makes for a very bad day but colliding with other 3000 pound moving projectiles is even worse.
The next day (Sunday) was originally going to be an hour or so on the Blue Ridge Parkway then one 4 mile hike then some more Blue Ridge Parkway and a 2 mile hike with a waterfall. Wellllllllll, even though there was absolutely no snow or ice in the morning at Lexington VA, the parkway was closed when we arrived. Thankfully, Brian spotted signs for Natural Bridge State park which wasn't very far away so we headed there instead.
Natural Bridge is a wonderful place to visit. Not a very secret or wild place but on a February morning it was quiet enough to be peaceful. Beyond just the enormity of the geology, it is insane that US-11 runs across the top of the natural bridge. Even harder to imagine, the VADOT website makes it sound like there was little to no formal engineering done of the structure until just a few years ago. Thankfully, the natural bridge is apparently very stout and US-11 is not really seen or heard from the trail below. Here are the pics from the visitors center and the creek trail.
After the Creek trail, which was amazing, we wanted some more distance and challenge. There are two longer and less developed trails just half a mile from the Bridge. We got some good advice from a friendly park ranger who was walking the Creek trail and headed up 11 to the other parking area. As predicted by the visitors center staff, we were the only people on the trail. The best thing about the Monacan trail was the weather. It was warming up and bright and sunny. We both got just enough sun to be a little rosy looking that evening. A rare treat in February. Here are a few pics from this enjoyable but unremarkable trail...
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