The Sunrises At High Bridge Trail State Park In Virginia Are Worth Waking Up Early For
By Rachel Raimondi|Published September 22, 2022
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Rachel Raimondi
Author
Writer some days, editor other days, nerd all days. Love to travel to lesser-known spots and give them the love they deserve. Independently owned motor inns, Mom and Pop restaurants, uncrowded National Parks and trails.
In between these, spend my free time virtually adventuring through point-and-click games. Native New Yorker but can frequently be found roaming other parts of the United States.
Getting up and at ‘em early isn’t always the easiest thing to do. The idea of sleeping in for a bit when you can is sometimes too hard to pass up. But when you’ve got the opportunity to head to a gorgeous park and take in the sunrise from an extremely unique vantage point, the benefits of rolling out of bed before the sun comes up are pretty sweet. And you can do just that (and much more!) from the High Bridge Trail State Park in Farmville.
Opened to the public in 2012, High Bridge Trail State Park is 1,206 acres and features a 31-mile trail with opportunities for walking, bicycling, and horseback riding. It is listed as one of the over 1,300 National Recreation Trails in the United States.
But the pièce de resistance is the actual High Bridge itself. A former rail bed, it runs over 2,400 feet in length and sits 160 feet above the 157-mile-long Appomattox River.
It is the very longest recreational bridge in the state and in the top ten in all the US. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also a Virginia Historic Landmark.
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The park is open from dawn until dusk, making it a great spot to see both the sunrise and sunset. Just note that the River Road and Camp Paradise parking lots do not open until 8 a.m.
The original high bridge was built in 1854 and served as a connector over the river from Petersburg to Lynchburg. It even played a role in the Civil War, with an attempt to destroy it made by Confederate soldiers who had Union troops in pursuit in 1865. Much of it was destroyed during the Battle of High Bridge, but it was quickly rebuilt.
While the views from High Bridge are the focal point, you’ll also find mile markers, telegraph poles from the 1900s, grand oak trees, and even some leftover railroad relics.
Aside from the bridge itself, which is made of wood planks, the rest of the trails are wide, mostly flat, and made of finely crushed limestone, making it an easy trek for most anyone. You can access three connector trails from the bridge: Smyth, Camp Paradise, and Spur Line.
