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Print Friendly MapThe Elizabeth River Trail–Atlantic City Spur runs for 10.5 miles between Harbor Park Stadium and the Norfolk International Terminals. The trail occupies a railroad right-of-way yet incorporates a sea-faring history as it follows part of Norfolk's waterfront. Here you'll see ships and barges, navy vessels and tankers in the waters of Hampton Roads.
The Elizabeth River continues to be an important adjunct to the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic. And because of its location, you're likely to see plenty of seabirds, including cormorants, skimmers, ducks and sea gulls.
Stop by historic Fort Norfolk and see its dungeon, powder magazine and other buildings dating from the early 19th century. The fort was commissioned by George Washington in 1794, and you can still climb to the top of its earthen embankments for spectacular views of the city and surrounding river.
You can access the Elizabeth River Trail from several places, including the intersection of Langley Road and Redgate Ave.; the intersection of Claremont and Raleigh Avenues; on Boissevain Ave., on Warrington Ave. and on W. Olney Road (all near the intersection with Claremont Ave.).
The trail also connects with many streets in West Ghent. In addition, on-street parking is available all along the trail.
The trail is a mix of trail and low traffic streets. When we first started riding it, we had no trouble following the signage. The trail takes you through old Norfolk neighborhoods, through Old Dominion University, along ship yards, to the Norfolk Waterfront, and ends at Norfolk State University. Only reason not 5 Stars is it doesn’t loop.
Very stressful trail! Terrible signage, MANY street crossings, some closures, rough in many parts.
This is not an easy ride on a bike. Parked at Harbor Park the route runs along the Waterside waterfront which is nice but you have to dodge a lot of walkers, sight seeing people. Then it twists and turns and signage could be better. Once you get out of the Waterside area it’s sidewalks some rather narrow. Again dodging lots of walkers. I disliked this so much that about 3.5 miles in I turned around and left. It’s not a dedicated bike path, the city just put up some signs along sidewalks. This was no fun.
Read all the other reviews but know that the signage has been greatly improved. You can park at either end, Hermitage to the north or Harbor Park to the south. Parts of the trail are on the street but I never felt unsafe. Different routes are available so be sure to check the map. Plenty of places to stop and eat or drink along the way, Smartmouth, Orapax, Waterside and lots of choices across the street from ODU. Views of downtown, waterfront, parks, college campus. So diverse! How many mermaids can you find along the way?
As a resident in a neighborhood along the Elizabeth River Trail, I find it extremely convenient for commuting to downtown and for pleasure riding on the weekends. The complete 10 mile trail is great if you have some time and want to explore a lot of different types of neighborhoods but if you just want to get out for a quick ride or jog it's easy to do too. There are some areas that need improvement and signage will be overhauled in the next year so I'm very hopeful it will be a real draw in the future. Overall it's a really fun and unique trail that showcases a slice of life in Norfolk - easy access to the river, historic areas, urban places, universities and a working port.
This is a great route, but I agree with others that the signs are hard to see sometimes. We parked at the Harbor Park baseball stadium, rode along Waterside, thru Ghent (then trail is closed for construction), rode on Brambleton for a few minutes, then West Ghent to ODU and back. Our total was 11 miles. It helped that we were familiar with the area!
I had a great time on this trail. It was Sunday morning, I parked at Harbor park and started cycling from there. The water front has plenty of room to ride quickly with great visibility to avoid pedestrians, not many this morning. I took the trail past the Chrysler museum then wandered a little but that is the great thing about urban riding, you kind of can see where you are by the buildings. I did not do entire trail. I rode 6 miles and then turned back.
By scavenger hunt, I mean trying to stay on the trail. The lack of signage put us in a part of town I'm not sure I wanted to be. The trial maker signs aren't in practical spots and are very small. We turned and shortly into our ride. Unfortunate.
Check out a tour of the trail I did on my bike!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49RD2TRlxBE
I live near the northern section of this trail - and have ridden it numerous times end to end. As others have said - it is not a rail trail in the classic sense. Except the original "Atlantic City" section in the Chelsea / Fort Norfolk area (used to be called Atlantic City), most of the trail is on-road or on separate right of way that was not a former railroad. However, if you're looking to see a very large swath of the City of Norfolk's greatest attributes - ride the trail from end to end.
Unfortunately, until the second "Mid-Town Tunnel" is finished in 2016 or 2017, the best "rail trail" part of the route is closed - or at least bisected. There is a detour - but it is entirely on-street and poorly marked. When the project is open, and the trail is whole again the trail will be much, much better. In the meantime - print out a map to bring with you or else you're certain to get lost. Most locals will help you find your way.
The major attractions on the route in downtown Norfolk nclude Harbor Park (minor league baseball), Towne Point Park, Nauticus and the battleship USS Wisconsin. Continuing north west outside of downtown Norfolk there are numerous interesting stopping areas. Plum Point Park is a quiet waterside nature park close to Forth Norfolk. "Chelsea" is the hip newly rejuvenated industrial area of West Ghent with Smartmouth Brewery, Tortilla West, The Birch (beer and wine tasting), Torch Bistro, and Chelsea Bakehouse. Further north are the newest parts of the trail - the connector between Mallory Country Club and Jeff Robertson Park in West Ghent. North of the Hampton Boulevard / Norfolk Southern RR underpass, the trail enters residential neighborhoods - first Lambert's Point - then Old Dominion University - and finally Larchmont and Loch Haven (after the beautiful ride over the Lafayette River bridge).
In my opinion, the worst part of the existing trail route is the railroad underpass on Hampton Blvd near 21st Street. Built in 1939 - the sidewalk is too narrow (about 6 feet), dark, and sometimes strewn with broken glass. I would greatly prefer a bike/ped bridge over the Norfolk Southern rail yard. It would be a shorter route to connect West Ghent with Lambert's Point and Larchmont neighborhoods.
Perhaps sometime this trail will also continue to other new trail connections - such as along the railroad tracks parallel to International Terminal Boulevard in the north - and east into Virginia Beach along the light rail line. One can only dream.
Trail is cut off in diff places, not fun.
This trail has parts of it closed consistently on weekends with no detours. When there are events at Town Point Park, they will install fences along the trail. Also the trail is now closed near MHI. There also is a part of the trail through the oriental garden (this is also a choke point in the trail) that is now occasionally closed for private functions. I use part of this trail for commuting over to Berkley or the ferry, but find it annoying to use on the weekends with all the closures and lack of detours. So I don't think this should really be called a trail. Also the signage for the trail could be better. Especially since the cannonball trail follows it for a bit.
Nice place
My wife and I had a great ride today through Norfolk on the Elizabeth River Trail (ERT) starting at Harbor Park and turning around just North of the Hampton Bldv bridge.
The pros:
- You see a lot, ex: downtown Norfolk, the USS Wisconsin, Freemason, the Light Rail, the Hague, Ghent, West Ghent, ODU, the Norfolk Yacht Club.
- I know Norfolk well, yet as this was my first time on the ERT I noticed buildings and details that had escaped me in the past.
- We didn't measure our ride, but it was probably about 17 miles or so.
- The route is well covered. So even though it was a hot sunny July day, it felt pretty good since there was a lot of shade.
The cons:
- The usage of "Trail" is not accurate. Out of the 8.5 or so miles we rode (out, then back), I estimate maybe 3/4 mile are dedicated asphalt paths such as what's shown in the picture on TrailLink. The 3/4 mile of dedicated paths are not in one area but chopped up along 3-4 parts of the route. The remaining parts of the route are the wide walkways of Town Point Park and a maze of neighborhood streets.
- Some sections of the route require you have to cross and ride on busy Hampton Blvd.
- Since it was our first going to on ERT, and I realized beforehand that there were a ton of turns we'd have to make, I had to bring a printed map of the route with me. I only saw a few signs for the ERT near Dominion Tower. Without signage I had to stop at least 10 times to refer to the map and ensure we were still on the path and not on some random street in the neighborhood.
- Without a printed map or GPS, you won't know how to get from one end of the ERT to the other unless you've ridden it many times before.
- Since most of the ride takes you through neighborhoods there is really no definitive end. After crossing the Hampton Blvd. bridge we were kind of bored of the ride, decided to ditch the last small section of the official ERT, and rode back using a much more direct route.
Summary:
I'd refer to this as a route through Norfolk which mostly avoids vehicular traffic. Due to the need to navigate and account for cars, it was slow going. You'll want to ride a mountain or commuter bike due to the sidewalks and sometimes rough roads. Don't ride your road bike - the skinny tires probably won't survive and there's not much opportunity to gain speed.
Overall, I'd recommend it for a leisurely ride, although I won't be a rush to go back.
The trail is a safe route through the winding Norfolk landscape that allows riders to see nature and the downtown city scape all in under 10 miles! Every weekend a group of bicyclist rides together on the Elizabeth River Trail in their community ride which meet at 1910 Colley Ave Norfolk Virginia at 8AM Saturday morning then heads to Robertson Park in Norfolk to get on the trail head. The group not only welcomed me but riders of all ages and skills level to join in. We staid together, we laughed together and enjoined each others company from the first day to every other day we have rode together since.
Interested in learning more about the trail visit 1910 Colley Ave Norfolk at 8am on any given Saturday and join in the tour!
a pleasant stroll can be had along this trail, though i wouldn't recommend this as a destination for cyclists, as you'd be finished in about 2 1/2 minutes end to end!...more creative bikers can integrate this into a longer trek through norfolk...hopefully, in the coming years, this trail could be expanded eastward along the vast expanse of waterfront
no signs advertising fort norfolk that i could see...i would have stopped in
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