Updates

Whitetop to Green Cove | This section of the trail has been cleared, but there are still some dangerous ruts and a section of the trail is washed out as it approaches Green Cove Station. Trestle #46, which doesn't appear to be damaged, has not yet been assessed by the engineering team. Once its determined to be safe and the ruts have been filled in, we expect the USFS will reopen this section of trail.

Highway 58 | Temporary passage for construction vehicles should be completed by early 2025. This will allow construction equipment to get to areas of the trail as well. The permanent road repairs are projected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Resources

The Virginia Creeper Trail Conservancy (VCTC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the maintenance and preservation of the Creeper Trail corridor. The VCTC partners with other trail stake holders to support a safe and enjoyable experience for all trail users.
Donations to support the efforts to rebuild the trail can be made on their donations page.

The US Forest Service owns the upper section of the trail and will take the lead to rebuild it. For information about trail closings, the current condition of the trail and progress being made, please visit their website.

A collection of before and after pictures of the trail showing the magnitude of the damage can be found on Richard Smith's website.

A video by Allen Street which captures the extraordinary beauty of the trail before Hurricane Helene.
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A history of floods...

1916—only a year or so after the line was completed to Elkland—a major flood caused extensive damage along the line, wiping out nearly all its tracks and bridges. But the railroad rebuilt.

1930 - The next major deluge came in 1930, halting service for six months. By this time, the Hassinger Lumber Company had closed up shop at its Konnarock mill, lumber shipments were on the decline, and the Great Depression had a callous grip on the nation’s economy. The Interstate Commerce Commission authorized the abandonment of the section of track between Elkland and West Jefferson in 1933, and the train made its final trip to Elkland in April of that year. The railroad removed the tracks, and the railroad bed became a road.

1940 - Heavy, unrelenting rains from a hurricane swept through the naked hillsides of the southern Appalachians. “They say for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction,” Ashburn said. “When that flood came, there was nothing to hold the soil in place, because all the lumber was gone. There was nothing to hold the rain back. It washed away two-thirds of the buildings here in Todd. The same thing that the railroad brought in here—it all washed away in the flood.”

-Smokey Mountain Living Magazine, April 1, 2013