Curious if any Slowtwichers have been on the Bermuda railway trail? How much is paved vs. unpaved? I’m looking for the best views and sections for trail running. I’m staying in Southampton.
I was in Bermuda two years ago. We stayed in St. George and my wife and I rented bikes and rode on the rail trail from Hamilton out to Somerset Village. There’s one real bike store in downtown Hamilton along the water. If you do rent bikes, just remember to ride on the ‘other’ side of the road! The rail trail goes back and forth from being paved to being hard packed dirt. There are lots of barriers to keep cars (and motorized bikes) off the trail. Being in Southampton, another nice place to run could be Horseshoe Bay. One thing that struck me is that Bermuda is quite hilly - I wasn’t really expecting that!
Most of it is unpaved, but I recall that there are some paved sections in the southhampton area. If you follow it east then it would be mostly unpaved.
Bear in mind that a significant porton of the trail does not have views of the ocean. Try running along the south shore road in southhampton and Warwick, that is where most of the beaches are, and there are a lot of sections with a grass shoulder. Harbour road hasa nice view of Hamilton, but it isn’t as good for running as the road is very narrow with no shoulder to speak of.
Bermuda isn’t very big, so you’ll probably get a good idea of where to run n the drive from the airport to wherever you are staying.
There are at least a couple of shops there now. Winners edge on front st, whom I used to ride for, and Bicycle Works, which is newer and is run by another good friend of mine.
It’s been a long time since I was there but thinking about it makes me want to go back . I remember the railway trail starting and stopping and even having concrete stairs along what I think is the western shore in Hamilton. It was absolutely beautiful, everywhere you go in Bermuda in absolutely beautiful. Bring a wetsuit and swim in Harrington Sound; my favorite open water swims ever!
Now I’ve got to go over to VRBO and start planning another trip.
I went there last year and ran some sections - well ran as well as I could given the humidity at the time!
The bits I ran on were mostly flat trail but there are some sections which merge with newer roads which made it marginally tricky at times occasionally work out where I was going. Every few miles or so there are drops down steep stairs where the railway would have gone over a bridge down onto the existing path or road. Most of the time I ran the section from around Southampton and the lighthouse to around the Elbow Beach area.
It was a good place to run on the Island - most of the roads are narrow and there was were no pedestrian pathways around where we stayed so it was a matter of getting to the railway by the shortest route and sticking to it. Bermuda is very hilly - lots of short, very steep sections - especially the ‘Tribe roads’ which cross the Islands at regular intervals the short way and the railway was the best place I found for a run.
There as some great views of the Island and seas but as mentioned it does essentially run through the middle of the Island and for the most part (from what I ran) you can’t see the seas.
Has to be said though, I’ve run in worse places!!
We visited Bermuda back in '06 so I don’t exactly remember the route I ran…but I’m pretty sure parts of it are the railway trail. Look familiar to anyone else?
Hi Dave, A527G’s photos are indeed of the trail. I ran some of it last summer. It was nice, but I ended up losing it at one point, and running along a road with no shoulder for a while until I found a way back on. This was around one of the bridges that no longer exists - I found part of the trail around, but missed the path back to the trail on the other side of the bridge. I think if you know in advance that extra trail-finding care must be taken, it’s a great running trail. I started in Cambridge Beaches and headed north from there. Not a lot of ocean views, but I do not think there is really a place you could run and get consistent ocean views. I think most of what I ran on was paved, but some of it was pretty rough and unpaved.
Thanks. I’ve read online that the section between Shelly Beach and Coney Island is great for trail running and offers spectacular views - anyone run that section (north of Harrington Sound)?
That eastern section of the Railway Trail alongside the Shelly Bay area is really nice. My wife runs it all the time.
In the west end, the section from the Trimingham Hill roundabout to the Southampton Princess Hotel is all inland and the views are limited. The surface is primarily dirt apart from some very short paved sections. It’s mostly shielded by trees and other vegetation on both sides. There is a short section west from the S Princess to the Barnes Corner area where the Trail is sandy and is elevated and you get some great views out over the harbor. From Barnes Cnr westward (it actually curves around and starts heading NE but you are journeying further up to the West End, as we call it) the views are limited until you get beyond Somerset Bridge. Beyond Som Bridge to the terminus at Somerset Village, the trail is paved and you get some views out over the Harbor again. There is some very limited traffic on this section - mostly the occasional tourists on mopeds and cyclists like me. This section is littered with speed bumps, so you won’t have to worry about anything at any great speed.
Geoff in Bda.