“This was the route of a Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad line that ran from the late 1800s to the 1960s and brought people from Covington to the Homestead Resort. After that, there was a company that ran scenic rail excursions for close to eight years.”
Leonard & Laurie Adkins
Smith Bridge is near the southern end of the 14.3-mile, rail-to-trail Jackson River Trail.
Chad Williams is telling us about the Jackson River Scenic Trail, a basically flat multi-use pathway that runs for 14.4 miles (and probably more by the time you read this) from near Lake Moomaw to close to downtown Covington. We met him on a chilly and foggy early fall morning after having spent the night at Cliff View Golf and Fly Fish Inn. The inn is on the opposite side of the river, but it was a simple matter of walking a few hundred yards to cross the stream on Smith Bridge, a former roadway span now open to pedestrians.
According to Teresa Hammond, executive director of Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, Williams, who is director of Alleghany County Parks and Recreation, is the driving force behind the trail: “He has procured an abundance of grants, physically worked on the trail, developed a loyal following of trail enthusiasts, and continues to come up with new and creative ideas to push the project forward.”
The trail meanders away from the river for a few miles upstream, but the five-mile section we were walking downstream remained in sight of the renowned trout fishing waters the entire time. A small brook flowed from the hillside into the river and picnic tables conveniently appeared just about the time I was thinking of taking a rest break.
There were certainly long stretches through thick woodlands, but when my mind wanders back to this day, the image that comes to mind is of a pastoral and rural landscape where cattle graze in sprawling open meadows as crows caw overhead. The few houses located in an area Williams called Dunbrack Circle were so serenely emitting fireplace smoke from their chimneys that I envisioned I was walking through The Shire in Tolkein’s “Lord of the Rings” (although there were no hobbit holes).
Hill Crest Mansion Inn
At Clifton Forge’s Hill Crest Mansion Inn, Leonard and Laurie Adkins awoke to the “performance breakfast,” with five courses presented by a tuxedo-clad server.
The trail passes within a few yards of the Petticoat Junction Gas & Grill, and its back porch overlooking the river seemed the perfect place to end the walk as we sipped hot cups of coffee.
To celebrate the successful conclusion of our river walks quest we spent our last evening in Clifton Forge, enjoying the French-inspired cuisine of Café Michel before checking into the opulent luxury of the 1911 Hill Crest Mansion Inn. Before sending us home the next morning, innkeeper Martha Crawford wowed us with what Hammond had described as a “performance breakfast.” Each of the five courses was announced with a hand bell and described by our tuxedo-clad server. And what courses they were—fruit compote, scones, French herb baked eggs, pigs in a twist (bacon wrapped in a melt-in-your-mouth pastry shell) and a five-layered cake with caramel sauce.