Swamp Rabbit Trail expands north



The newest extension to the Swamp Rabbit Trail opened to the public on July 22nd with a ceremony and media coverage by WSPA, TR Tribune, among others. This new extension runs from the parking area near Grandview Memorial Gardens to Tate Road as shown here on this map:


I took advantage of the abnormally cool and pleasant weather to explore this new section yesterday. With a paved trail and no sharp rises or falls, I was able to walk the distance rather quickly. I only saw a few bikers and no hikers today. I took in sights I normally can't when driving up U.S. 276, just a few feet away.

The trail turns away from U.S. 276 near Rock Quarry Road, closely matching the old railroad right-of-way.

The trail then passes over a small creek.

A short distance later the trail ends at Tate Road.

The "for now..." on the sign means more expansion toward Slater-Marietta is being planned for an undetermined future time.
The old railroad right-of-way continues on behind and to the right of the stop sign.

The right-of-way exits from the woods at the intersection of White Horse Road and Lindsay Lake Road.

From there, the old right-of-way bi-sects an existing business.

How exactly the trail will be routed around this business has not been revealed (or settled probably).

Below is my map of the old Swamp Rabbit Railroad path, created from Google's satellite view, historical maps, online deeds, online plats, and good ole ground truth. The trail will likely closely follow this path northwest from Tate Road to Slater-Marietta.



I've uploaded my photos to an album on Flickr and an album on Google+.

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