About two miles north of Davenport, Route 76 crosses Russell Fork, a mountain creek that winds along the side of the road for nearly thirty miles close to the Kentucky border. Or, to be more historically accurate, the road winds along the path of the river, as the waterway existed in this land long before these routes were established by people walking, riding on horseback, traveling in wagons, driving cars, or riding bicycles. Across Virginia, Route 76 is inseparably connected to waterways. Over and over again, cyclists cross rivers and streams on bridges. Even more commonly, as in the case of Russell Fork near Davenport, cyclists spend considerable time riding alongside the river before they actually cross over the water. It may not be obvious to a cyclist in the mountains of southwest Virginia, but every stream is connected to a broader waterway that shapes the contours of the entire country. In fact, Russell Fork near Davenport is part of the same Mississippi drainage system as the entire length of Route 76 across Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, and the eastern part of Colorado. All of the waterways crossed along this route ultimately drain into the Mississippi River and then the Gulf of Mexico. An exploration of how Route 76 is connected to Virginia’s waterways thus provides a basis for thinking about how lands and people are connected by water in ways that can be observed as well as experienced.
Welcome to episode 29 of the Virginia Bikecentennial Route 76 Podcast. This episode is connected to the community of Davenport, located just over 530 miles from Yorktown, the starting point for the westbound route, and about twenty miles from the Kentucky border, where eastbound riders enter Virginia. This podcast is a production of Virginia Tech, a public land grant university located in Blacksburg, just three miles from Route 76 in southwest Virginia. I am your host, Tom Ewing, and this podcast is produced by the digital humanities program in Virginia Tech University Libraries, under the direction of media manager Joe Forte.
Virginia has more rivers, creeks, and other waterways than can be measured accurately. Some estimates count as many as 100,000 miles of waterways in the state, far exceeding the miles of highways. More than four hundred of these waterways are rivers, streams, creeks, runs, or forks with designated names.
Virginia’s rivers and streams are often divided into drainage basins, indicating how water flowing into major rivers eventually reaches the ocean. Route 76 crosses through many of the distinct drainage basins in the state:
the York river, which includes Yorktown, the starting (or ending) point for Route 76;
the James River, which includes the route from Williamsburg through Richmond and Charlottesville all the way south to Troutville;
the Roanoke river, including the section south of Roanoke towards Christiansburg;
the New River, which includes the entire section from Radford south to Mount Rogers and then north through Abingdon, and
the Big Sandy River, which includes the route closest to the Kentucky border, including Russell Fork near Davenport.
These drainage basins are shaped by the contours of the land, yet in some cases they include routes on either side of ridgelines. The James River drainage basin, for example, includes waterways on either side of the Blue Ridge mountains, as the James river passes through this ridge at a low point north of Roanoke.
The eastern continental divide, which separates rivers draining into the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean, intersects numerous times with Route 76 between Charlottesville and Breaks Interstate Park. Generally speaking, the Roanoke and James River drainage basins are on the Atlantic side of the eastern continental divide. The Roanoke river has two forks in southwest Virginia which flows south into North Carolina and then into the Atlantic. The James River, which originates on the western side of the Blue Ridge, flows across central Virginia, through downtown Richmond, and into the Chesapeake Bay. Rivers on the other side of the eastern continental divide, including the New River, flow north and eventually into the Ohio River, the Mississippi River, and then the Gulf of Mexico.
Because of the topography of the land, the historical development of roads, and the original route of the Bikecentennial, cyclists may cross or at least pass by the same waterway multiple times. Route 76 begins in Yorktown, where the York river enters into the Chesapeake Bay. From Yorktown, Route 76 crosses the peninsula and parallels the James River, at some distance, for nearly eighty miles, where the James River passes through downtown Richmond and Route 76 passes by the city to the north. Even as both Route 76 and the James River follow a path to the north and west, it is not until the town of Buchanan, 300 miles from the starting point in Yorktown, that Route 76 actually crosses the James River. All of the creeks and tributaries along the route, however, drain into the James River and eventually to the Chesapeake Bay.
Fifty miles south of Buchanan, Route 76 runs almost parallel to the North Fork of the Roanoke River for about six miles north of Christiansburg. At places, the river is right next to the road and easily visible, yet route 76 never crosses the Roanoke river, as the river turns east, eventually winding through North Carolina to the Atlantic Ocean, while the trail turns to the south and west, crossing the continental divide and entering the drainage basin of the New River.
In southwest Virginia, cyclists cross the New River in downtown Radford, one of many Virginia cities and towns built along rivers to take advantage of the resources of the water. Almost twenty miles to the south, cyclists pass within a few miles of the New River in the community of Draper, near where the New River Trail allows cyclists, walkers, and runners to travel a rails-to-trails park for more than fifty miles. Even though both Route 76 and the New River continue to the south and west, their routes increasingly diverge and do not intersect again.
Waterways have always been part of Virginia’s history. Native American populations settled along rivers and streams which provided a source of food and a means of transportation. European settlement began where the James river entered into the Chesapeake bay, and gradually expanded along waterways further inland. The fall line, where rivers flowing west to east drop considerably in elevation, creating rapids that make passage difficult in either direction, became a boundary for early European settlers. Virginia’s capital city, Richmond, is located on the fall line, as evidenced by the rapids on the James River running through downtown.
In the late eighteenth century, the eastern continental divide became another dividing line, the so-called Proclamation Line of 1763, issued by the British Parliament at the direction of King George III. This decree prohibited white Europeans from settling beyond the line which coincided with the eastern continental divide, including most of southwestern Virginia. This proclamation created a buffer inhabited by Native Americas between the English and French colonies, to prevent the outbreak of another costly conflict such as the seven years war which had just concluded. This act generated considerable opposition among the Virginia elite, including Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, who were speculating on westward expansion by claiming lands beyond the proclamation line. In violation of this proclamation, many white settlers continued to claim lands west of this line, while leading families profited by claiming title to lands which were then resold for settlement. The Proclamation of 1763 contributed to growing discontent with rule by the British crown, as confirmed by the charge in the Declaration of Independence that the King was obstructing the “new Appropriation of Lands.”
By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, waterways had taken on a different, and ultimately more harmful, purpose of serving as the conduit for industrial discharge. In the nineteenth century, the growth of industrial production and the absence of regulations meant that many factories and mills dumped waste directly into rivers and streams. As cities expanded, waste from homes was also dumped directly into waterways. Major cities gradually introduced sewer systems that diverted waste into treatment plants. Federal and state regulations, such as the Clean Water Act in 1972, contributed to major improvements in water quality. Cyclists along Route 76 now will encounter many rivers and streams with recreational uses, including swimming, that would have been considered dangerous in the 1970s when the Bikecentennial riders crossed the state.
In the early twenty-first century, Virginia’s waterways are both a challenge and an opportunity reflective of the connections between natural geography, changing environmental conditions, and adjustments in community priorities.
The greatest challenge presented by Virginia waterways is the potential for catastrophic flooding due to a combination of environmental destruction, impoverished populations, resource constraints, and global warming. Floods have always posed a considerable danger in Virginia. In 1969, for example, Hurricane Camille brought devastating floods as a result of intense rain in central and western Virginia. Over 100 people died, and roadways, homes, and bridges were washed away. In 1977, extensive rains in the Big Sandy river brought catastrophic flooding to western Virginia as well as Kentucky and West Virginia.
More recently, however, the dangers of flooding have become especially acute in the more mountainous regions of Appalachia, including western Virginia as well as adjoining states of North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Decades of environmental destruction associated with resource extraction, including coal mining, particularly mountain top removal, as well as clear cutting forests, have left land surfaces exposed in ways that generate sudden and intense run off during heavy rains. Impoverished populations are often settled in communities along creeks and rivers with limited flood control options. Social services are limited, which means that communities are left vulnerable until a catastrophic event prompts federal or state assistance in the form of emergency measures. Finally, the long-term effects of global warming and climate change appear to produce more intense storms, which result in flood-producing rains more frequently and more extensively than in the previous decades. As cyclists know well from riding along rivers and streams, particularly in the Appalachian region, steep hillsides ensure that all the rain dumped in a valley will cause rising waters that could quickly overrun the banks and flood homes, businesses, churches, and other buildings along the roads.
The term “global warming,” which was first published in 1975, just a year before the Bikecentennial, is now having undeniable effects on Virginia’s waterways in ways that are increasingly evident to local populations as well as visitors.
The Clean Water Act of 1972, which also just celebrated a fiftieth anniversary, has had a positive impact across Virginia in ways evident along Route 76. By mandating efforts to clean up Virginia’s rivers and streams by limiting discharges and requiring mediation efforts, this regulation has contributed to the growth of recreational water activities across the state. In the east, the Chesapeake Bay, just beyond Yorktown, is internationally recognized as a location for boating and fishing. All of Virginia’s rivers are destination sites for paddling, including opportunities for boating in river cities such as Richmond and Radford. In the previous fifty years, Richmond has developed from a city with a river unsafe for any human use to recognition as one of the leading river recreation cities in the country. Many towns and regions along route 76 offer opportunities for kayaking, canoeing, and paddle-boarding on nearby rivers. In Buchanan, paddlers can begin a journal along the James River that takes them from the Blue Ridge mountains to the Chesapeake Bay. Streams, creeks, runs, and forks provide opportunities for fishing as well as destinations for hiking and swimming.
Russell Fork, which runs along Route 76 near Davenport, offers challenging white water paddling in Breaks Interstate Park, on the border between Virginia and Kentucky. The “Lord of the Forks” race, held annually for several decades, attracts competitors from around the world. A guide to accessing this white water destination for paddlers or to watch the race recommends walking along a railroad track, across a trestle bridge, and through a lengthy tunnel, with warnings to bring a flashlight and move quickly to avoid coal trains. The guide includes this warning: “Getting to the Russell Fork can be almost as challenging as running it.” This suggestion exemplifies the extensive and complicated relationship between Route 76 and Virginia’s waterways, from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in Yorktown to the rivers, streams, and creeks of Appalachia.
You have been listening to episode 29 of the Virginia Bikecentennial Route 76 Podcast. This episode is connected to the community of Davenport, located just over 530 miles from Yorktown, the starting point for the westbound route, and about 20 miles from the Kentucky border, where eastbound riders enter Virginia. This podcast is a production of Virginia Tech, a public land grant university located in Blacksburg, just three miles from Route 76 in southwest Virginia. I am your host, Tom Ewing, and this podcast is produced by the digital humanities program in Virginia Tech University Libraries, under the direction of media manager Joe Forte. To learn more about the stories in this episode, visit our website or follow us on social media, all accessible from the homepage for this podcast.
