High Bridge Trail

High Bridge Trail is the rail-to-trail corridor in Southside Virginia built around the historic High Bridge over the Appomattox River. The trail is a wide, level, generally flat route surfaced with finely crushed limestone, and it runs as a long linear connection through towns on the corridor, including Downtown Farmville. The centerpiece crossing is a 2,400-foot-long bridge that rises about 125 feet above the river valley.

Expect an easy walking profile for the whole long-distance route: the corridor follows an old rail grade (reported as retaining about a 0.3% grade), so the sustained effort is mostly distance rather than steepness. The long-distance mapping for this route is about 51.99 km (computed).

The High Bridge crossing anchors most itineraries, but you can also break the trip up using multiple access points along the rail-trail. The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation manages the state park unit and provides designated parking/entry locations along the corridor, with a major access at High Bridge Station (Camp Paradise Road, Rice).

For practical planning: bring drinking water—none is available on the trail. The park is open day-use sunrise to dusk, and the High Bridge Station Visitor Center/restroom facilities operate on a set daily schedule during the day.

If you want to experience the bridge from under it, there’s a short spur called the Reusch-Sanford Trail: about 0.5 miles, flat, and routed to put you underneath the High Bridge when you reach its trailhead near the Camp Paradise Road/High Bridge Station area.

Historically, the High Bridge is a former railroad bridge built in the 1850s and rebuilt in 1914; the corridor later became a trail after Norfolk Southern donated the abandoned rail corridor to the state for conversion into High Bridge Trail State Park. The restored bridge opened to the public on April 6, 2012, and the project is also tied to the National Register of Historic Places listing for High Bridge (Appomattox River).

More information: Wikipedia, Wikipedia, High Bridge Trail State Park - DCR.Virginia.gov