When a railroad bed is converted to a hiking trail, people in average physical condition gain access to beautiful countryside, pristine mountain streams, and exciting mountain passes. Between 1800 and 1916, the federal government laid more than 300,000 miles of track. By the 1970s, many railroads were abandoned for other forms of transportation. Anyone who wants to hike, bike, jog, ride a horse, fish a stream, or watch a bird along green corridors that lead through our country's towns, prairies, pasture lands, river valleys, and mountains. The trail is wide, smooth, and well kept.
Signs are clear and easy to locate at access points.
The west half of the trail, from Abingdon to Damascus, is level and mostly open or it skirts the edge of fields and pastures. Signs along the first 1.5 miles provide a guided nature walk. At mile 7.2, the Middle and South forks of the Holston River converge at a trestle. The elevation is 1,900 feet, the lowest on the trail. Because the railroad grade was never more than 5 percent, even going uphill is not difficult.