Trip report
North Bank Trail and Belle Island Trail
Hiking/Walk DATE: 05/15/2016 - 05/15/2016
Trip/Event Location: Richmond, VA
US
Trip Leader(s): TrailGuyEric
Max # People: 10
Trip Guiding / Event Fee: No, I will not be asking participants for money
Difficulty Level: Easy to Moderate
THIS IS THE MAY 8TH HIKE RESCHEDULED TO THE 15TH
The route will take us along Maymont Park, Kansas Ave, Texas Ave, then by Hollywood Cemetery, Tredegar Iron Works and out to Belle Island before
...Sunday 9 a.m., meet at Trail head off Pump House Drive, Richmond VA. It is the FIRST gravel parking lot on your left when you get at the bottom of the hill, on Pump House Drive (approximately 0.2 mi from Park Drive) See Trail Head map.
We'll have breakfast at McLean's Restaurant, West Broad, around 8 a.m. if you want to join us for that first.
Trip Report/Photos
We started off at the Pump House Road trailhead and headed downstream, underneath the nickel bridge, also known as Boulevard Bridge, and then along a fence line that separates the North Bank Trail from Maymont Park, crossed a bridge and travelled along the old Kanawha Canal (canal project was begun in 1785, and half completed by 1851). We spotted turtles and Canada geese. At the end of the border with Maymont Park, we climbed up the steep hill to the top and arrived at a temporary break in the trail, travelled along Kansas Ave for 4 blocks to Texas Ave, and back on to the North Bank Trail which is the resumption point for the trail. We travelled across many streams and bridges and rejoined the Kanawha canal for a while before the trail headed back up to a ridge by Riverview Cemetery before dropping back down to the canal just below Hollywood Cemetery.
We stopped for a rest on Bubba’s Bench and enjoyed the sounds of the rapids and cool breezes, and then we moved on towards the end of the North Bank Trail. Just before the end, we spotted birds flying around a tree from one limb to another and stopped to look up and spotted a pair of bright orange male Baltimore Orioles, one female Oriole, and a half dozen Cedar Waxwings all gobbling up ripe mulberries.
We moved on another 100’ and the trail ended so we walked around to the suspension footbridge that takes you over to Belle Island, hiked around the island and came back and were greeted by a freight train on the tracks by the trail and watched the trail on the old elevated tracks while we rested.
We rejoined the North Bank Trail and headed back to our start point, halfway back we spotted a Blackburnian Warbler up in the trees, which was a very nice way to end our 7 mile hike. We got back to the car about 3-1/2 hours after we started, but that was due to many stops along the way to identify birds, flora, and other animals as well as enjoy the scenery. Another enjoyable GO trip.
There are 6 photos in Album (Note: Move mouse pointer over larger pic and click on NEXT for better viewing)
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