Hi Stewart,

Did I see you walking along the Royal Shenandoah Greenway trail last week?

Emily

Yes, you did! 

The four-and-a-half-mile Royal Shenandoah Greenway trail project, spearheaded by the Tree Stewards, was completed with Virginia Tech plans and the collaboration of Front Royal, Warren County and Shenandoah National Park officials.  Where else can you take a scenic hike through city, county, and national park land?

The map for the Greenway Trail is on the Tree Stewards website and available at the Front Royal visitors center. We began our hike at Eastham Park (a good place to park) and walked south, under the railroad tracks and up the path towards route 340.  At the intersection with route 340 is a Greenway sign which points up 340 towards Criser Road (the fully paved route) and also points across route 340 towards Dickey Ridge.  The National Park portion of the trail is over rough ground and is a little tricky to follow on the map.  After you cross route 340 (carefully using the crosswalk buttons), you continue up Browntown Road for about 50 yards, and you will see a concrete National Park signpost directing you to turn left for the Greenway trail.  When you reach Skyline Drive Road, the trail continues on the other side about 100 yards up the road on your right. From there the trail takes you back to route 340 just before Criser Road.  Once on Criser you walk up the road to the Happy Creek trail on your left. From there the map is easy to follow down Main Street, past the Visitors Center (stop in and say Hi), onward to Luray Avenue, and finally completing the nearly 5-mile loop back to Eastham Park. 

Many organizations (public and private) over many years contributed time and money to create the Royal Shenandoah Greenway trail. It is a living, vibrant confirmation of the spirit that makes our community such a wonderful place to live.

Your Pal in the Trees,

Stewart

The Front Royal/Warren County Tree Steward program began in 1997 with volunteers dedicated to improving the health of trees by providing educational programs, tree planting and care demonstrations, and tree maintenance throughout the community. The group now consists of over 30 active members with several interns working toward becoming certified tree stewards from our annual “All About Trees Class”. Each month Stewart will answer a question from our readers. Please forward it to “Stewart” in care of: [email protected] and we may publish it in a future issue. Please visit our website at: www.treesfrontroyal.org