Over Memorial Day weekend, my sweet in-laws watched the girls while Bill and I enjoyed a biking and beers day date. Wanting to explore a new (to us) portion of the greenway, we headed to the southern portion of the Neuse River Trail near the Wake/Johnston County border. In all, we biked 15-miles (out and back total), crossed two counties, followed a river, detoured around an unpassable bridge, passed a historic bridge, and saw some art before grabbing beers at Deep River Brewing – a pretty awesome afternoon!
We parked in the greenway access parking lot at 6008 Mial Plantation Rd and turned left heading south toward Johnston County. We immediately crossed under Mial Plantation Rd bridge and passed the MP 26.25 sign. The trail is mostly flat with beautiful views of the rural fields separated by white split-rail fence. Shortly after, we biked past the Wake/Johnston Co line at MP 27.5, creating a fun selfie spot. The Town of Clayton maintains the greenway past the Wake County line with a portion of it affiliated with the East Coast Greenway.
Clayton River Walk on the Neuse
Continuing on Clayton’s greenway (technically called Clayton River Walk on the Neuse), we arrived at the Riverwood neighborhood where we found the bridge damaged and unpassable. At the time we didn’t see signage showing a detour route so I jumped onto the Town of Clayton website. I learned that last fall’s Hurricane Matthew caused near record flood levels for the Neuse River and took out the bridge. The town’s website shows a detour route through the Riverwood neighborhood that adds an extra five minutes via biking. The Town of Clayton is currently working with FEMA to replace the bridge, and there is no estimated completion timeframe.
After biking the hilly detour through the neighborhood we met up with the trail and continued south. The trail remains mostly flat and sunny with clear views of the river. We passed a large sandy access spot for the river, complete with benches. Then, we biked under Covered Bridge Rd with a history that dates back to 1863 when it was first commissioned as a ferry replacement. Historians believe the bridge was covered around 1883 and most recently replaced in its current concrete form in 1980.
Shortly after passing Covered Bridge Rd, we passed MP 31 and crossed a large pedestrian bridge over the Neuse River. We enjoyed seeing so many benches and picnic tables donated by the Rotary Club of Clayton. About 1/2 mile later, we made a sharp right turn through a construction zone to stay on Clayton’s greenway, officially called Sam’s Branch Greenway at this point.
Sam’s Branch Greenway
After safely maneuvering through the sand and dirt construction zone, the 1.25-mile paved trail leads away from the river towards North O’Neil St. Along the way we passed beautiful community art displays of hand-painted wooden fish. Then we biked by a public art garden featuring butterfly-shaped bike racks, benches, totem pole and a little free library. The trail also showcases information signs about forest animals in the area before passing a developing neighborhood and ending at a large greenway access parking lot at 1358 N O’Neil St.
Even though N O’Neil St is one of the main arteries leading to downtown Clayton (and Deep River Brewing) we aren’t adventurous enough to bike on main roads yet. So, we turned around and biked the 7.5 mile return trip to Mial Plantation Rd. We noticed better detour signage around the damaged bridge on our way home.
Despite the detour and construction we passed, it’s pretty amazing you can bike nearly 33 miles one-way from Falls Lake Dam to Sam’s Branch Greenway trailhead. With greenway connections to the Town of Knightdale (via Mingo Creek Trail) and future connections to the Town of Wake Forest greenways, people all over the area have so much access to outdoor adventures.
Helpful References
- Town of Clayton Greenways
- Riverwood neighborhood detour
- Neuse River Trail map
Milepost Points of Reference
- Falls Lake Dam – MP 0.0
- Mial Plantation Rd greenway parking – MP 26.25
- Wake/Johnston County line – MP 27.5
- Covered Bridge Rd & Clayton River Walk on the Neuse trailhead – MP 31
- Sam’s Branch Greenway trailhead – MP 32.5
Thumbs up: donated benches and picnic tables sprinkled along the way, public art displays, scenic views along river, greenway access points, jurisdictional connections
Thumbs down: detour signage coming from the north, construction zone near intersection of Clayton River Walk on the Neuse and Sam’s Branch Greenway
Looking for a fun family bike ride over the holiday weekend? Discover the 
We maneuvered through the neighborhood sidewalks and carefully crossed Hodge Rd to continue on Mingo Creek Trail. Shortly after, we biked along the half-mile causeway, which was sandwiched between marshy areas and residential homes. We stopped on the causeway to watch the turtle and duck families sunning in the water. A great heron (or egret) also caught our eye.
Last fall we headed to Richmond for a little man’s 1st birthday party. Before the big party we headed with friends and all our littles to 
Farmers Market, Trail Walking & Pond
The playground features two play structures divided by age group and swings for all ages. The younger child playground contains slides, a spiral ladder, and nearby teeter totters. The older child playground contains steeper slides, arched ladders, double “racing” slides, monkey bars and zipline. The kids loved racing each other down the slides and swinging across the monkey bars. The playground’s hardwood mulch surface lessened the monkey bar falls. The original 1840s Stone House, picnic tables and tennis courts are also just a short walk away. 
Last summer Bill and I biked by this 
It hadn’t rained recently so the beachy area was actually wider and longer than I’ve seen it at other times and the river flowed slowly.  The water was pretty warm except in the middle of the river, which was over our heads in several spots.  We didn’t bring life jackets with us and the water wasn’t very clear so the girls mostly played near the shore line looking for tadpoles, playing in the sand/mud, or splashing in the water with the other young family that was there.  While we were there a few paddle boarders passed by including a father and young daughter out for a ride (next summer’s bucket list goal).
When the weather hovered in the high-70s on Christmas Eve, my family headed to a newly opened section of greenway for some exercise before filling up on holiday libations and rich foods.  East Fork Mine Creek is a 2.5 mile north-south paved trail that runs along Mine Creek near Lynn Rd to the north side of Strickland Rd.  We drove to one of the entrances of the trail near the intersection of 
We continued north on the trail until we came to Old Deer Trail, a neighborhood street in the Summerfield subdivision.  We crossed over Old Deer Trail and followed the Capital Area Greenway signs as we winded our way through this cute, low-traffic neighborhood.  We passed a few other bikers and walkers along the way before coming to Strickland Rd.  We crossed Running Cedar Trail, heading east on Strickland Rd where we also passed West Millbrook Middle School and mile marker 2.5, the end of East Fork Mine Creek Rd.  At this point of the trail there is a well marked pedestrian crossing area designated for crossing over busy Strickland Rd.  My aunt and I opted to head back to the car while the rest of the group crossed Strickland Rd to extend their run on the connecting Honeycutt Creek Trail (more on this hilly trail in a future post).
Back in November we took advantage of my aunt visiting and went on a greenway biking day date!  We biked along Crabtree Creek Trail from milepost 0 to 4.75, completing the final segment of this greenway that we had left to explore.  We parked at Anderson Point Park and biked past the traffic circle near the park’s main entrance to the Crabtree Creek Trail greenway entrance and headed west (note: there are also signs for Neuse River Trail).
We biked until about mile marker 4.75 where we turned around at an abandoned commercial building with a gantry crane to ensure we returned to the park before sunset (note: just past this spot is 
Before summer came to an end we headed back up to VA for a final party at my mom’s house before turning it over to new owners. Â To counteract the bushel of crabs (and beers) we were going to eat that weekend, we headed into downtown Fredericksburg on Saturday morning for a run and some playground time.
The Canal Path is a paved 1.8 mile trail that parallels the canal until Princess Anne St where it then connects back with the Heritage Trail making a loop through downtown.  The Canal Path is mostly shaded, making it a great way to escape the summer heat.  We passed behind Mary Washington Hospital, ran under Route 1 again, ran by the Wetlands at Gayles Pond, and passed the 
Near the end of July we ventured to the southern section of the Neuse River Trail in hopes of finding the beautiful field of sunflowers that were in bloom (from a hot tip by 
We continued south along the greenway and caught a closer glimpse of a few sunflowers still in bloom. We turned around when we reached mile post 23.75 near the 
2016 Update:
On the heels of family visiting at the end of May, my aunt offered to watch the girls while Bill and I headed out for a date night. Â Instead of gorging ourselves at a new restaurant, we decided to dust off our bikes and chomp away at another segment of the Neuse River Trail between the Bedford neighborhood and US-401 (followed by beers at a new brewery, 
milepost 3.5 – look over the river to spot old gas or electricity lines running across an old steel bridge
Towards the end of March we headed out to Neuse River Trail to explore the area surrounding Horseshoe Farm Nature Preserve, in anticipation of the 
This portion of the greenway continues to be relatively flat and shady.  The areas surrounding the greenway are mostly dense forest to one side with the river to the other.  We saw quite a few fisherman on both banks of the river with most of them concentrated in spots near US-401.  Our run back to the car was much faster than the run out so we took advantage of happy little faces and retrieved a balance bike, scooter and helmets from the car and let the girls ride on the greenway.  It wasn’t a busy morning on the trail, so the girls had a carefree time riding.  Ashley biked south on the greenway all the way to milepost 9 where we crossed over a small bridge with a shallow creek below, perfect for spotting turtles.  Claire enjoyed her first scooter ride where we pushed her from behind as she cruised along.  They were troopers for such a long morning run of about 4 miles and then some bike time.
