The singletrack through the woods is taking shape.

I took a stroll on Chapel Island yesterday, checking out the progress the city’s trails crew has made since beginning work a few weeks back on a trail system and non-motorized boat put-in. I wrote about the changes coming to Chapel Island in a recent Times-Dispatch column. Changes are also in the works for Great Shiplock Park, just across the canal from Chapel Island. A fancy new trailhead for the Virginia Capital Trail is to be installed there. VCT Executive Director Beth Weisbrod said they should get the final permits from the city this week and that construction will begin around March 1. She also said that an anonymous $100,000 donation came in recently that helped get them across the goalline on the project. Cool stuff in the works.

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Here along the river, it’s in a rougher state.

The boat put-in.

The outflow from the canal in the background.