This came up once before but it was mentioned in the the Fall issue of Rails to Trails so I thought I'd mention it again. Here's the article and my summary below.
David Brickley acquired the rights to the DRHT in Virginia's King George County. It's a 15.7 mile railbed starting in Sealston, VA and running north. He first saw the railbed in 1999 when working with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. When he couldn't convince the County to make it into a trail, he bought the rights. He then started negotiations with two opposed groups - a church whose land the railroad bisected and a gun club whose shooting range is near by. With the institution of a couple of detours and some safety measures by the gun club he still hopes to work out a deal with both. Volunteers have already started clearing the area and removing railroad ties to prepare the trail.
They have a wonderful website. Really - a lot of trails in the area don't even have one - and this trail isn't even official yet. Right now the trail is private property, but by visiting the Friends of the Dahlgren Heritage Trail Web site, anyone can apply for a user permit.
In the same issue of RTC, there was a blurb on the opening of the Big Savage Tunnel which officially opened on May 26th - though one lucky bidder was able to ride through on April 8th. (I happened to be up there last fall and rode through it - so I don't know why the official opening was so late. BTW it's really cool. On the trail to it I saw a baby bear, so you're really away from the city. On the way you go through one tunnel and, if your used to the Daleacarlia on the CCT, it seems long. Then you get to Big Savage and it takes forever to bike through it. The far side is just a tiny dot of light when you start - it's a bit unnerving).
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