Leonard Adkins is our longest running contributor here at RichmondOutside.com, having written for us for over two years. (He recently wrote a great piece on discovering Richmond’s Larus Park.) And he’s also the author of 17 books about the outdoors and travel.

We always like to spread when the word when Adkins comes out with a new book, especially one as indispensable as his most recent effort. In Hiking and Traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway, the veteran hiker includes information on every trail that comes in contact with the parkway, including the Appalachian Trail, the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, and other public pathways on national park, state park, national forest, municipal, and private lands. There are GPS coordinates for official parkway trailheads, along with maps and photographs. Adkins notes each trail’s length, difficulty, points of interest, handicap accessibility, and features. More than just a guide to the trails, the book also provides information about what to expect at overlooks, where to find a restroom, and suggests worthy side trips. There are also elevation change charts for bicyclists, minimum tunnel heights for RVs, camping recommendations, roadside bloom calendars, and sightseeing information for nearby towns.

In preparation for the book, and to insure accuracy of description and length, he walked every one of the parkway’s more than 130 official trails with a surveyor’s measuring wheel. How’s that for thorough!

Adkins will be at the Short Pump REI on Thursday, May 1, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. to give a talk on his Blue Ridge Parkway experiences. If you’ve ever traveled the parkway or maybe plan to, this is one talk worth checking out.

Profiled by Backpacker magazine, and referred to as “The Habitual Hiker,” Adkins has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail five times, walked 19,000 miles exploring the backcountry areas of North America, Europe, and the Caribbean, and is the author of 17 books about the outdoors and travel. Among others, his photographs and articles have appeared in Islands, Backpacker, and Caribbean Travel and Life. His book, The Appalachian Trail: A Visitor’s Companion, was presented the Lowell Thomas Journalism Award. Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail won the National Outdoor Book Award, ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year, and a Virginia Literary Award nomination. He is currently The Hike writer for Blue Ridge Country, and the Richmond Walks and Hikes blogger for Richmondoutside.com.

Larus Park boasts a couple of unnamed streams. Credit: Leonard Adkins

I probably owe you an apology, dear reader. When Andy and I first discussed my writing for Richmondoutside.com, Laurie and I were relative newcomers to the Richmond area, having lived here for little more than a year. The idea was that I was to write about places to walk and hike as I gradually discovered them as a newbie. Well, I’ve been here more than five years now and there’s a place that I’ve been going to quite regularly for the past four years that I’ve yet to tell you about it.

It’s probably due to a bit of selfishness, I guess. You see, every time — but one — that I’ve walked in Lewis G. Larus Park, I’ve encountered only one other person. That doesn’t necessarily mean that no one else was on the park’s 106 acres, but it is definitely an indicator of how little the park is used. Sure, you can hear traffic from Chippenham Parkway on the eastern edge of the park, and there are houses visible along the western boundary, but it is this lack of human encounters and sense of solitude so close to downtown Richmond that has selfishly kept me from telling anyone about it.

The place kind of has the feel of being the poor relations in the city’s park system. Richmond has owned the land since the late 1970s, but it wasn’t until 2006 that there was a sign identifying it as public property. There’s no real parking lot at the main entrance, just a place to pull off the pavement so that you don’t black the back entrance to Fire Station #25 on Huguenot Road. Larus doesn’t have a “Friends of” organization like many other Richmond parks do, such as Monroe, Bryan, and Libby Hill. Finally, whereas Battery, Byrd, Gillies Creek, and other parks have their own web pages on the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities website that describe their many attributes, Larus is lumped together on a single page with every other park and is identified as having only one amenity, an exercise trail.

A boardwalk in Larus Park. Credit: Leonard Adkins

The city may consider it just an exercise trail, and it could be used for a light cardiovascular workout, as the main route does lose and gain a couple of hundred feet in elevation as it goes in and out of a small creek valley and some of the side trails have some short ascents along them. However, the trail system has no circuit routes and it’s not very extensive. Unless you’ll be shuttling with your car to hike from one park entrance to another (other trailheads are next to the Sabot at Stony Point School, the Virginia Urology building near Stony Point Fashion Park, and Old Holly Road near the James River), you’ll have to do some backtracking. You would probably walk a little more than three miles if you were to do all of the trails with as little backtracking as possible.

However, as I said, I come here primarily for the solitude — and the appreciation of a bit a green space within a large population center. From the Huguenot Road parking area, the trail enters an evergreen plantation and goes beside a carpet of running cedar, a plant that has always intrigued me. It resembles tiny hemlock or pine trees and, in fact, the small, evergreen club moss can trace its origins back more than 300 million years to when its ancestors grew to be over 100 feet tall. Sadly, the plant is becoming increasingly rare as poachers gather it to use as greenery in Christmas decorations.

The trees that tower above are loblolly pines, adapted well to poorly drained and heavy soils. Growing straight and tall, with scales that become larger and smoother as the tree ages, the loblolly can be identified by its deep green needles that grow in bunches of three. Pitch pine needles also grow in bunches of three but are more of a yellow-green. The needles of the Virginia pine are in bundles of two.

Later this summer, there will be two trailside treats growing in the park — blueberries and pawpaws. Many people use the names huckleberry and blueberry interchangeably, but they are two distinct plants. The branches of blueberries always have small warts and each berry will have more than 100 seeds. A huckleberry contains fewer than a dozen seeds and its twigs are wart-free. Usually growing in moister soils, the pawpaw tree can grow to 40 feet tall. The best way to enjoy the pawpaw’s fruit is fresh off the tree. Cut it open, scoop out the flesh, and be sure to discard the seeds, which are poisonous. Some people say the creamy white-to-orange flesh has the consistency of custard or yogurt and tastes like a very ripe banana with hints of mango and pineapple. Enjoy, and eat away. Pawpaws contain three times as much vitamin C as an apple, twice as much riboflavin as an orange, about the same amount of potassium as a banana, and lots of amino acids.

I’ve unburdened my guilt; take advantage of my apology and go visit the solitude of Lewis G. Larus Park. Just be sure to go during the middle of the week, because — that single instance when I saw more than one person? It was on a Saturday during New Year’s week and I encountered more than two dozen people, most of them walking their dogs.

As we reported on Twitter last week, the public forum on the Riverfront Plan that was snowed out last month has been rescheduled to February 18 at 7 p.m. at the Virginia War Memorial.

From the city flyer:

The current Vepco Levy Bridge, will be reborn as the Brown’s Island Dam Walk. Credit: Phil Riggan

As a first step in the implementation of the Richmond Riverfront Plan, the Brown’s Island Dam Walk will transform an industrial era structure into a key connection between both banks of the James River at the center of Richmond’s Riverfront. The BIDW will expand the Riverfront circulation networks — a series of connections providing access along, across, and around the river — to serve a diverse group of users — including persons with disabilities, cyclists, pedestrians, and runners — in their pursuit of alternative transportation, fitness, and the spectacular natural beauty of the Riverfront. The project models ecologically-sensitive and sustainable trail development by minimizing runoff, removing invasive species, and extensively re-planting slopes with native species to result in a diverse array of new or enhanced habitats for the rich flora and fauna of the Riverfront.

This here is Post No. 2 in our new weekly trail update series. Every Monday we’ll report on a local trail project –past, present, or upcoming. Considering how many people use the trails in our fair city — dog walkers, runners, birders, mountain bikers, etc — we think there’s an appetite out there for trail knowledge.

The new bridge will span a drainage like this one.

This past week I spoke with a Richmond city employee who said the trail crew is waiting on the funding to come through for a new bridge in Powhite Park. (Some weeks its easier than others to get permission from the city parks department to quote their employees on the record. This was not an easy week. You’ll have to trust me that this source is qualified to comment on this. He’ll just have to remain nameless for this week.)

The area in question is where the trail runs through the northwest corner of the park, along the beaver-dammed, swampy section of Powhite Creek. It’s constantly muddy and has entrances and exits that don’t lend themselves to good.

The park employee said they’ll re-route the trail up the slope of the hill just a few feet, but that will mean putting it across a small drainage — thus the need for the bridge. He said thinks it’ll cost around $750 and hopes to have it done by the end of February.

Typical Powhite Park trail.

If you’ve been out to Powhite Park in past year or two, you’ve probably seen that some significant trail work has already taken place in the park. But it’s a big place — around 100 acres — so plenty more could  — and will — be done in the future.

Next Monday: A roundup of upgrades made to the James River Park System trails this winter.

Big news for Richmond and off-road triathletes nationwide came out of U.S.A. Triathlon today. The sport’s governing body in America announced that the Richmond XTERRA East Championships off-road triathlon will double as the USAT’s Off-Road Nationals as well.

Conrad Stoltz runs the “dry way” during XTERRA Richmond. Credit: Conrad Stoltz

“That means racers who win their division (in Richmond) will be named USAT Off-Road National Champ, XTERRA East Champ, and earn qualifying spots to both the 2014 XTERRA World Championship AND the 2015 ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship,” said Trey Garman, XTERRA’s vice president for marketing and media relations. “Big Haul! Expect a strong field in Richmond this year!”

According to the press release from the USAT: Off-Road Nationals will be held at XTERRA Richmond on June 15. The course has been part of the XTERRA circuit since 1998, and the River City is a premier destination for off-road racing adventures. Beginning at James River, the 1000-meter swim, 32-kilometer mountain bike, 10-kilometer trail run event also serves as the XTERRA East Championship.

In addition to chasing national titles in Richmond, athletes also will be competing for prized spots on Team USA for the 2015 International Triathlon Union (ITU) Cross Triathlon World Championships, the date and location of which will be announced later this year by ITU. The top 18 finishers (rolling down to 25th place) in each age group will qualify for a Team USA slot. Team USA is composed of amateur athletes who represent the U.S. at each ITU World Championship event.

Registration for 2014 USA Triathlon Off-Road Nationals is currently open, and an early-bird rate of $75 is available until Feb. 15. Click here to register for this event, and visit usatriathlon.org/offroadnationals for more information.

Richmond’s downtown trail system is one of the features that sets the city apart as an outdoors destination. I’d put it right up there with the rapids in the Falls of the James. They’re an amenity that very few cities have. So, with that in mind, we’re launching a weekly trail update on our news blog here.

Every Monday, we’ll bring you news from the trail: What’s being worked on? Where are re-routes planned? What park needs a trail makeover? What volunteer events are coming up? Etc. Whether you’re a hiker, mountain biker, birder, trail runner, dog walker, geocacher or just general trail lover, if you use Richmond’s trails, this will be the place and time to find out what’s going on.

The gravel piled up waiting to be spread. Credit: Enrichmond Foundation

This week I spoke with Mike Burton, Trails Manager for the city. I was out riding the mountain bike on Saturday and saw him loading gravel into a truck below the Manchester Bridge on the Floodwall. He said he was preparing for today’s volunteer event organized by the Enrichmond Foundation. Twenty-five volunteers from HandsOn Greater Richmond arrived to help spread the gravel that Burton was piling up over the weekend.

“As you get further down toward the Floodwall tower,” Burton said, “that always gets really muddy, so we’re adding more gravel and grading it out.”

It was all part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, and the work looks great. If you’ve never been to the Floodwall, go check out one of the coolest views of downtown in the city.

Volunteers hard at work. Credit: Phil Riggan

Next week’s trail update:  A new bridge is in the works for Powhite Park. Where’s it going in, and when can we expect to see it?

This is a bit short notice, but if you’re a user of Richmond’s urban trail system and you want to get your hands dirty this weekend, here’s a good opportunity to give back.

This Saturday, October 19th, trail work will continue on the muddy section on Buttermilk Trail between 22nd St. and Reedy Creek.  We will meet at the 22nd St. parking lot at 9am and walk west from there to the work site.

Debris has been cleared out, so now work can start on armoring the section of trail to keep it from staying muddy long after the rest of the trail has dried out.  The city trail-care crew has been staging rock there this week. The armoring should take two weeks to complete, so if you can’t come out this week,  there will likely be a work opportunity on the 26th as well.

When: 9am Saturday, October 19th

Where: 22nd St. Parking Lot off of Riverside Drive. Walk west on Buttermilk from there.

Bring: Water, Snack, Gloves

On October 15 at 2 p.m. the public is invited to the official opening of the new and improved Great Shiplock Park. (If you’re not familiar with what’s been going on at this James River Park System parcel on the north side of the river, click here and here.) In her most recent email newsletter, Beth Weisbrod, executive director of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation, gives us a thumbnail history of how the park went from overlooked JRPS parcel to ($550,000 later) the Richmond trailhead for the Virginia Capital Trail:

About 18 months ago, as we were preparing for the city approval process of our trailhead design, we were challenged by Meg Turner of Capital Trees to think bigger. She introduced us to Jay Hugo and Jill Nolt of the architecture firm 3North, who showed us in drawings what she meant — how the whole park could call out to trail users to sit, enjoy the views of the Kanawha Canal and James River, and take in the beauty and history. Lucky for us, Richmond has several corporate citizens, private foundations, other nonprofits, and individuals who also like to think big and share a passion to make Richmond a better place. What we’ll be cutting the ribbon on next week is the result of a successful mix of partners, collaborators, and generous supporters, to the huge benefit of anyone passing through downtown Richmond along Dock Street or the Virginia Capital Trail. 

Ramps now take users across the James River and Kanawha Canal from the park to Chapel Island.

Just across the entrance to the park, trailhead amenities like benches, shade structures, and bike racks encourage people to stop. The views, history, and other nearby attractions will encourage them to linger. We built ramps on either side of the Kanawha Canal locks so that wheels can easily cross them and people can enjoy the new trails on Chapel Island. We added light poles to make it safer at night, and bright LED lights along the Trail that run off of solar panels. On the western edge of the park, our friends at Capital Trees designed a biofilter to cleanse rainwater before it goes into the river. They also added landscaping, not just to make the park pretty, but to further manage stormwater in an environmentally friendly way. 

I met up with Weisbrod last week to hear about the project, and she said she’d love to see as many Richmonders as possible flood the park for the October 15th ribbon cutting. The mayor will be there, as will other civic leaders, and they need to know that while this trailhead is now complete, there is much work to do to finish Richmond’s portion of the trail.

I interviewed Mike Burton, the city’s new trails manager, for my Outdoors column in today’s Times-Dispatch. It was big deal five years ago when the city made a commitment to trails by hiring Nathan Burrell as its first trails manager. And it’s no less a deal now, after Burrell has moved on to become superintendent of the James River Park system, that they’ve filled the position. There were some in the outdoor community — count me among them —  who worried that in these budget-strained times, the position would be eliminated or go unfilled for many months.

Credit: Phil Riggan

Check out what Burton has to say about trail building and maintenance and Richmond’s future as a trail Mecca.

For those of you who know the trails well, one thing I didn’t have the space to add in my column was Burton describing which sections of Forest Hill Park, which has taken a beating from all the summer rain, he hopes to tackle first this fall. The top two priorities, he said, are: 1) The old dirt road that runs from just downstream of the base of the waterfall to up and out of the park at 32nd Street. And 2) The area just below the cobblestone walkway that comes down from 34th Street. “They’re really rutted out, really bad erosion problems right now, and we’re going to reroute both of them.”