Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 20, 1994 TAG: 9403210168
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By STEVE KARK CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Long
"I woke . . . to see a beautiful river carrying rich freights of the morning sunlight by my window . . . . It should be the pride of Virginia, as the Rhine is of Germany.''
Though these musings came from a 19th-century traveler, those same unspoiled scenes still delight visitors today.
In hopes of protecting Giles' 37 miles of river, the National Committee for the New River has completed preliminary plans for the Giles County Greenway Project.
Funded by a $32,500 state grant, the committee has created a plan for a greenway designed to increase outdoor recreation opportunities and tourism, while accommodating low-impact residential and industrial development. The plan would enhance both the county's environment and its economic development, committee members say.
A gateway park on the New River near the county's border with West Virginia, a string of smaller pocket parks with access to the river and hiking and biking trails would all be part of a greenway stretching from Glen Lyn east to Pembroke.
Turning the plan into reality will cost around $450,000, planners for the three-state river advocacy group estimate.
The greenway will be seeking state funding but will also need local funds from county and town governments, industries and civic groups, according to the New River committee, which will be working to raise these matching funds.
The plans for the greenway now include:
The Gateway Park
At the western end of the county at Glen Lyn, the Gateway Park would serve as the hub from which all other greenway components would radiate. Several smaller, pocket parks would be built upstream along the New River. Additionally, bike trails on either side of the river - one from Narrows and another from Rich Creek - would converge at the park.
The Gateway Park would be developed on the site of Glen Lyn's existing public park across the river from the Appalachian Power Co. plant as an important river access for boaters.
This would be the last takeout point for boaters traveling downstream in Virginia and an ideal entry point for boaters following the river into West Virginia. The site provides the best public access to a 20-mile stretch of the New River destined for federal protection as a Wild & Scenic River in West Virginia. A bill granting this designation has passed in the House and is before the Senate.
Because the site is conveniently located for travelers on U.S. 460, a visitors center with information on the New River and the Greenway Parks is also planned for the park. This would include interpretive displays focusing on the region's natural environment and on its historical background, including early settlements and the Mary Draper Ingles saga.
Other planned improvements to the park include developing a hiking trail along its .8 mile of river frontage and improvements to picnic, parking and camping sites.
Mary Draper Ingles Bikeway
On the New River's western bank, the Mary Draper Ingles Bikeway would link the Gateway Park at Glen Lyn to Wolf Creek Park in Narrows. The bikeway would follow Virginia 649 between the two parks.
Because the road is paved but lightly traveled, project planners say it would be ideal for the six-mile bikeway, safely handling both both bicyclists and local traffic.
The entire length of the bikeway would offer scenic views of the New River. Planners are also proposing additional picnic tables and improved river access at the old wayside park near the historic ``narrows'' of the New River. This location, where the river narrows between two mountains, is considered the most geologically significant site along the entire river and would make a pleasant stop for cyclists.
Manual's Hollow Overlook Trail
On the New River's eastern bank, a combined pedestrian trail and bikeway would follow the path of old U.S. 460 between Glen Lyn and the town of Rich Creek.
The abandoned two-lane road hugs the cliff face a couple hundred feet above the westbound lane of U.S. 460 and affords a panoramic view of the river and its narrows to the south.
Before the old road was closed, the Manual's Hollow Overlook was a popular stop for travelers. Rich Creek Mayor Gary Eaton remembers people often stopped to picnic at the old site. The view of the river from that spot is so good, he says, that many of the old photographs of the ``narrows'' were taken from that location.
Today, the two-mile stretch of old asphalt road, once the primary route through the county, lies unused and barricaded. Weeds poke through cracks in places; a small section lies buried beneath debris from the cliff face.
Pocket Parks
Project planners are also looking into the possibility of developing several smaller, pocket parks at points along the river's course. While the parks are being designed to improve public access to the river, most will also provide sites for picnics and hiking.
Locations under consideration include sites at Bluff City, Pembroke and the Walker Creek junction with the New River. Narrows is also under consideration for a pocket park contingent on approval by town officials.
A park at Bluff City, near an access point already used by boaters under the U.S. 460 bridge, would offer improved river access and picnic facilities.
Plans for a Pembroke park adjacent to the new bridge over the river are under way. The design of the two-acre park was completed last year as part of a Virginia Environmental Endowment land trust project. The Virginia Transportation Department has agreed to incorporate the plan into its design of the new bridge, which should begin construction later this year.
The park would also provide public access to the river and picnic facilities. Additionally, the plan calls for an engineering study of the old steel-truss bridge, which will be closed to vehicular traffic when the new bridge is completed. The study would determine whether the old bridge should remain as a possible pedestrian path and bikeway, or whether it could be dismantled for use in another location.
The pocket parks would provide convenient river access and picnic facilities, but planners are also considering another which might offer hiking and horseback trails as well.
Where Walker Creek meets the New River, a proposed 75-acre park would include two miles of frontage along Walker Creek and one mile along the New River offering views of rhododendron thickets and limestone bluffs. Planners also suggest that a 25-acre upland meadow, offering broad views of the river extending eastward, could be used as a location for an equestrian center and a lodge/restaurant.
Finally, planners recommend creating a Giles County Regional Park Authority to oversee maintenance and management of the greenway and coordinate law enforcement among existing departments.
This authority would comprise representatives from the county government, from each of the county's five towns, and from the National Committee for the New River.
County and town governments would share costs for the parks supplemented by state and federal grants, according to the proposal.
by CNB