High Bridge Trail State Park

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High Bridge Trail State Park is a planned linear state park in Central Virginia and Southside Virginia. The new rail-trail state park will be opened for hiking, bicycling and horseback riding along an old railroad bed. A significant feature of the park will be the High Bridge crossing over the Appomattox River. The park will be headed out of Farmville Virginia at the High Bridge which has been remodelled and serves as the focus of the trail. Eric Hougeland, formerly park manager at nearby Holliday Lake State Park has been assigned the Park Manager to bring the park into completion in the coming years.

The Southside rail-trail ultimately will run through Appomattox, Nottoway, Cumberland, and Prince Edward counties, and several cities, including: [1]

• Pamplin City, Virginia
• Prospect, Virginia
• Farmville, Virginia
• Rice, Virginia
• Burkeville, Virginia

According to the July 27, 2006 MASTER PLAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING minutes, [2] “The purpose of High Bridge Trail State Park is to provide a premiere non-motorized, shared-use path for pedestrians, bicyclists, and horseback riders in the Heart of Virginia; to preserve and protect the historic, natural, and recreational resources along the trail; and to interpret the trail corridor to offer an understanding of the region’s historic events and their causes, impact, and legacy to individuals, the community, and the nation in the full context of American history.”

On June 28, 2007, Norfolk Southern railways donated 31 miles of rail for the park. The High Bridge in Prince Edward County is the centerpiece of the proposed state park. [3] The new rail-trail state park will be opened for hiking, bicycling and horseback riding.

With the new deed for the rail bed in hand and a master plan, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), managers of the Virginia State Park system, have begun to erect gates and signs at rail line access points to help control unauthorized use.

v • d • e Protected Areas of Virginia Units of the National Park Service and affiliated areas Appalachian Trail • Appomattox Court House NHP • Arlington House • Assateague Island NS • Blue Ridge Parkway • Booker T. Washington NM • Captain John Smith Chesapeake NHT • Cedar Creek and Belle Grove NHP • Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network • Claude Moore Colonial Farm • Colonial NHP • Cumberland Gap NHP • Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP • George Washington Memorial Parkway • George Washington Birthplace NM • Great Falls Park • Green Spring District • Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac • Maggie L. Walker NHS • Manassas NBP • Overmountain Victory NHT • Petersburg NB • Potomac Heritage Trail • Prince William Forest Park • Richmond NBP • Shenandoah NP • Wolf Trap National cemeteries Alexandria • Arlington • Balls Bluff • City Point • Cold Harbor • Culpeper • Danville • Fort Harrison • Fredericksburg • Glendale • Hampton • Hampton VA • Poplar Grove • Quantico • Richmond • Seven Pines • Staunton • Winchester • Yorktown National Wildlife Refuges Back Bay • Chincoteague • Eastern Shore of Virginia • Mason Neck • Featherstone • Fisherman Island • Great Dismal Swamp • James River • Nansemond • Occoquan Bay • Plum Tree Island • Presquile • Rappahannock River Valley • Wallops Island National Forests and affiliated areas George Washington • Jefferson • Mount Rogers National Recreation Area • Mountain Lake Wilderness State parks Bear Creek Lake • Belle Isle • Breaks Interstate • Caledon Natural Area • Chippokes Plantation • Claytor Lake • Douthat • Fairy Stone • False Cape • First Landing • Grayson Highlands • High Bridge Trail • Holliday Lake • Hungry Mother • James River • Kiptopeke • Lake Anna • Leesylvania • Mason Neck • Natural Tunnel • New River Trail • Occoneechee • Pocahontas • Sailor's Creek Battlefield • Shot Tower • Shenandoah River • Sky Meadows • Smith Mountain Lake • Southwest Virginia Museum • Staunton River • Staunton River Battlefield • Tabb Monument • Twin Lakes • Westmoreland • Wilderness Road • York River State forests Appomattox-Buckingham • Bourassa • Browne • Channels • Chilton Woods • Conway-Robinson • Crawfords • Cumberland • Devil's Backbone • Dragon Run • Hawks • Lesesne • Matthews • Niday Place • Paul • Prince Edward-Gallion • Sandy Point • Whitney • Zoar Natural area preserves Antioch Pines • Bethel Beach • Big Spring Bog • Blackwater • Buffalo Mountain • Bull Run Mountains • Bush Mill Stream • Camp Branch Wetlands • Cape Charles Coastal Habitat • The Cedars • The Channels • Cherry Orchard Bog • Chestnut Creek Wetlands • Chestnut Ridge • Chotank Creek • Chub Sandhill • Cleveland Barrens • Clover Hollow • Cowbane Prairie • Crow's Nest • Cumberland Marsh • Dameron Marsh • Deep Run Ponds • Dendron Swamp • Difficult Creek • Elklick Woodlands • False Cape • Folly Mills Creek Fen • Goshen Pass • Grafton Ponds • Grassy Hill • Grayson Glades • Hickory Hollow • Hughlett Point • Johnsons Creek • Magothy Bay • Mark's and Jack's Island • Mount Joy Pond • Mutton Hunk Fen • Naked Mountain • New Point Comfort • New Landing River • Northwest River • Ogdens Cave • Parkers Marsh • Parramore Island • Pedlars Hill • Pinnacle • Poor Mountain • Red Rock Mountain • Savage Neck Dunes • Unthanks Cave • William B. Trower Bayshore • Wreck Island Wildlife management areas Amelia • Big Survey • Briery Creek • Chester F. Phelps • Cavalier • Chickahominy • Clinch Mountain • Crooked Creek • Dick Cross • Fairystone Farms • Featherfin • G. Richard Thompson • Game Farm Marsh • Goshen and Little North Mountain • Hardware River • Havens • Hidden Valley • Highland • Hog Island • Horsepen Lake • James River • Land's End • Mockhorn Island • Pettigrew • Powhatan • Princess Anne • Ragged Island • Rapidan • Saxis • Stewarts Creek • T. M. Gathright • Turkeycock • Weston • White Oak Mountain Registered Historic Places in Virginia Counties A-B • C • D-G • H-M • N-R • S-Z • • Bridges • • National Historic Landmarks Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation • Virginia Department of Forestry • Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries • Virginia Landmarks Register