Abingdon Celebrates Opening Day for Trails March 28th
Abingdon, Virginia (PRWEB) March 17, 2015 -- The local celebration of "Opening Day for Trails" is part of a national initiative to encourage people to get outside and enjoy a trail on that day. In Abingdon, visitors can join a guided walk on the Virginia Creeper Trail, take a shuttle service to Whitetop Station and bike the trail, or enjoy complimentary refreshments at the new Creeper Trail Welcome Center in Abingdon.
Over 150,000 people use the Virginia Creeper Trail each year, many of them traveling to Abingdon just to bike the nationally recognized trail. A former railroad bed, the trail runs 34 miles from Abingdon through Damascus to Whitetop Station near the North Carolina border. In 2014, the trail was inducted in to the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame by the national Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. Although the multi-use trail is open year-round, the peak season begins in March and runs through November.
Abingdon is joining hundreds of other trail communities across the country to celebrate Opening Day for Trails, a project of the national Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC). This year marks RTC’s third-annual Opening Day for Trails. On Saturday, March 28, people across the nation will officially kick off the spring trail season by hitting their favorite trails. The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is also holding a national sweepstakes to give away a Fuji bike, Yakima rack, or Camelbak hydration pack. To enter, just visit http://www.railstotrails.org/openingday and pledge to get out on the trail on Opening Day.
To mark the occasion, The Virginia Creeper Trail Club, an all-volunteer non-profit organization, will lead a group hike from the Abingdon trailhead to the Watauga parking lot. Club members will lead the guided walk, highlighting points of interest along the Abingdon section of the trail. No RSVP is needed, walkers will meet at the Abingdon trailhead at 9:30am Saturday, and wrap up around lunch time, and shuttles provided by the Virginia Creeper Trail Bike Shop will be available to return hikers to the trailhead.
Visitors can also get a sneak peek at the new Virginia Creeper Trail Welcome Center in Abingdon. The Welcome Center will be open from 9:00am to 2:00pm Saturday, providing refreshments, trail information, and Creeper Trail Club merchandise. The Welcome Center is scheduled to open permanently later this year.
Most area outfitters will be open for business on the 28th, including the Virginia Creeper Trail Bike Shop in Abingdon, and multiple outfitters in Damascus. Outfitters offer bike rentals, bike repair, and shuttle services to Whitetop Station. For more information on bike rentals, visit http://www.vacreepertrail.org.
For more information on Opening Day activities, visit http://www.visitabingdonvirginia.com or call the Abingdon Convention and Visitors Bureau at (276) 676-2282. For more information on the Virginia Creeper Trail and the Creeper Trail Club, visit http://www.vacreepertrail.org.
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Amanda Leslie Livingston, Abingdon Convention and Visitor's Bureau, http://visitabingdonvirginia.com/, 1-800-435-3440, [email protected]
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