The road less traveled often leads to the most unforgettable adventures — and that’s what we found in Clayton, North Carolina, although that road is paved and is framed by breathtaking views of the Neuse River and rolling hills of the Triangle.
Pair that with fresh air and an effortless e-bike to assist you, and you have a scenic adventure that lets you glide through nature without breaking a sweat.
We took a scenic tour with Triangle Adventures who offer e-bike tours in Raleigh and Johnston County. The tour we took was named Burgers, Brews and History Tour – sounds like a winning combo, right?
The tour we took traversed through North Carolina’s picturesque landscapes along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, which passes rolling hills, lush forests, and tranquil rivers.
In this guide, we share our honest review of the experience, and details about how you can enjoy this unique experience in JoCo. So strap on your helmet, charge up your battery, and get ready to explore!
Disclaimer: We joined the tour as guests of Triangle Adventures, but all thoughts, ideas, and opinions in this guide are our own!
About Triangle Adventures
Triangle Adventures are the only ebike tour company in the Triangle, which offers residents and visitors the chance to experience our Triangle region in a fun and off-the-beaten path kind of way! This tour company was created by recently married locals David and Marlo.
It was while riding back and forth from their Clayton home to downtown Raleigh and along the Neuse River Greenway, that they thought of how fun it would be to start a touring company to help locals get to know their communities better in a fun way.
About the Burgers, Brews and History Tour
As avid explorers seeking the road less traveled, we joined Triangle Adventures’ Burgers, Brews, and History tour, a delightful excursion that promised a perfect blend of scenic beauty, culinary delights, and fascinating local history.
It combined many things we love: bike riding, learning local history, hanging out with cool people, soaking up beautiful weather and views, and enjoying great local food and drink.
This is their signature tour right now, which combines a scenic 3-4 hour scenic adventure along the Mountains to Sea Trail. The tours make plenty of stops for photo ops, bathroom breaks, and a rest. The Burgers, Brews and History tour comes with a delicious lunch, but their scenic tour doesn’t include food.
Most tours are about 12-14 miles in total, but since you are on an ebike, it will feel like a little bit of scenic riding rather than a workout, but some level of fitness is required. With all our greenway trails, the Triangle has infinite opportunities for fun ebike tours! I see a bright future ahead.
What is included on the ebike tour?
I was in Spring mode when we joined our tour at the end of March, so arrived in Clayton with a warm jacket for the unusually cold day we were having, BUT completely forgot about gloves.
I was so grateful to arrive and hear Dave tell us they had gloves and neck warmers for all bikes! They really came in handy. Now you won’t need them if riding during the warmer months, but Triangle Adventures provides everything else you need.
You’ll get given helmets, snacks, and bottled water. Each of the bikes had license plates with names of towns in the Triangle, which I thought was a cool feature.
First: A safety briefing
The tour begins at the meeting place at 348 East Main Street, Clayton NC. (Gravel parking lot). This is where you will receive your bike and equipment, and then go through a quick briefing.
Please arrive 15-minutes before the scheduled departure time to allow for you to go for quick orientation rides if you’ve never used an ebike before, so you can get used to the equipment.
You’ll learn how to use the state-of-the-art pedal assisted ebikes before you start your tour.
You will love how easy they are to use and how effortless they make your ride.
You can choose how much pedal power you want versus electric power. I like to get a bit of a bike work out in so I didn’t use the turbo power much, but often it was fun to use it and fly along the trail.
Other inclusions are dependent on the tour you do. For our tour, we had a burger and flight of beer to share at the first stop, and then a pint at the last brewery.
All you need to bring is yourself, comfortable clothes that you can wear in layers, closed toe shoes, sunglasses, and a bag in case you want to carry anything, the bikes do have a storage bag at the back.
Stops on the Burgers, Brews & History Tour
If you’re already digging the sound of this and want to get started, we’ve secured a 10% discount for you, exclusive to our readers. Just use the code ThisIsRaleigh when booking. Now, for those who want to learn a little more about this ebike tour in Johnston County, let’s start pedaling.
Stop 1: Clayton
After a thorough safety talk and tips on operating an ebike, we started with a tour through downtown Clayton, a rapidly growing community in Johnston County. We made several stops along the way to admire historic landmarks and hear captivating anecdotes that brought the town’s past to life.
Marlo, a history buff, regaled us with tales of Clayton’s rich history, from its humble beginnings as a North Carolina Railroad Depot (originally called Stallings Station) to its Civil War history, and its vibrant present-day culture.
We heard tales about local heroes in the Clayton Cemetary and how Clayton grew with the Clayton Spinning Mill and the Mill Village which attracted workers from all over. This historic textile plant is now being turned into unique apartments with a strong community living focus.
As traffic in Clayton is not overwhelming – at least not on the weekends, it was a cruisy bike ride through the town and its main street, which is exploding with quaint local boutique, cool restaurants (hello Scott Crawford) and bars (including one of our favorite Revivalist).
We cycled past the cool looking First Street Tavern inside a historic home with a wrap-around porch that we’ve noted down as a must come back and explore. You can learn more about Downtown Clayton in our post on date experience in Johnston County.
Stop 2: Burgers at Vinson Pub
I was happy that our biking tour stopped off for lunch at the beginning of the tour. It gave us time after to ride off the much-enjoyed calorie consumption of a delicious burger and flight of beer samples.
Plus, it gave us an opportunity to chat to our fellow bikers, which included our guides Dave and Marlo, our friends, Paula, and Cindy (who we met IRL on one of our walking meetups) and fellow Instagram influencer, Vanessa (@RaleighFoodCrush) and her husband, Adam.
Vinson’s Pub & Eatery in Downtown Clatyon is a popular burger and brew restaurant located in a 100-year-old building (we learned about its history on the tour).
As part of the tour, you get a yummy beef or bean burger, and a sampling of some of their craft beer, which comes from local NC breweries, and ranged from light lagers to hoppy IPAs.
If you’re feeling extra hungry, you’ll have time to order something else from the menu to eat as well. From classic cheeseburgers to gourmet creations, there was something to please every palate, making it the perfect pitstop for hungry adventurers.
We all enjoyed sharing delicious Trashcan Nachos topped with house smoked pulled pork, BBQ sauce, and homemade beer cheese! As I’m gluten free, I drank a tropical cider from a brewery in Charlotte instead, and as far as ciders go, it was highly memorable.
Stop 3: The NC Mountains to Sea Trail
Fueled up on burgers and brews, it was time for a scenic ride along the picturesque NC Mountains to Sea Trail, where the gentle hum of our electric bikes melded harmoniously with the rustling leaves and chirping birds.
The Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST) is a crown jewel of North Carolina’s outdoor adventure trails, stretching an impressive 1,175 miles across rugged mountain peaks, rolling piedmont hills, and pristine coastal marshes, from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks.
Although it’s not finished yet, there are several who have claimed to have biked the entire way. Only they have the secrets as to how they traversed through the incomplete sections!
We were biking the Neuse River Greenway Trail section of the Mountains to Sea, which is Johnston County’s contribution to the Mountains to Sea Trail.
The ebikes provided the perfect balance of effortless cruising and eco-friendly exploration, allowing us to soak in the natural beauty of the landscape without breaking a sweat. But, if doing this on your own on a pedal bike, the trail is flat and easy.
You will follow the Neuse River for a while, stopping at the bridge that crosses it where we learned a lot about the trail and the 275-mile river – the longest entirely in the state of North Carolina.
Warning: Don’t swim in it. If the bull sharks don’t scare you away (although too shallow in this area for them to swim up) the pollution will.
It’s an endangered river, known to be one of the polluted in the country. So sad! Hopefully, they can clean It up like they did the Thames River in London. HOWEVER, I have just learned that quite close to Falls Lake in the Neuse River there is a swimming area called Raleigh Beach.
They measure the water quality weekly and at the moment it’s up to standard. It’s a popular place to go swimming in Raleigh during the summer. But, drownings happen here, so do be careful!
On our bike back along the greenway trail, we stopped to learn about the history of the indigenous Tuscarora Indians, who occupied much of the North Carolina inner Coastal Plain at the time of the Roanoke Island colonies in the 1580s.
They were considered the most powerful and highly developed tribe in what is now eastern North Carolina. Although, thanks to white settlement, and Indian Wars, they were pretty much left with no choice but to relocate to the areas between New York and Canada.
Stop 4: Deep River Brewing Company
Our journey culminated in a fitting finale at Deep River Brewery to toast to new friendships and memorable experiences. Before finishing with our final brews at this brewery stop, we learned a little history and local fun facts on the alcohol and brew scene in North Carolina.
Since NC was late to the game – starting our prohibition era long before everyone else, then taking their time changing from dry to wet counties, and still having unusual drinking laws – we come in low on the rankings of the state that drinks the most in the USA.
New Hampshire is topping out that one, but we all agreed, that with the influx of out of staters moving to North Carolina (oh okay then, Australians as well) were sure to see our state rise on those rankings soon!
Now into Deep River we go. First hard decision: sit in the large seating area inside, or the outside beer garden!? Next choice: which beer do you choose on a menu filled with beer such as light lagers, malty stouts, fruity wheat beers and hoppy IPAS?
They also have gluten free options like cider and seltzer, and non-alcoholic brews as well. I really enjoyed my Paloma Seltzer light and refreshing and brewed by Deep River.
With the tour, you get one beer included with your tour, or you can choose non-alcoholic drinks if you prefer. Additional beverages you have to pay for separately, but we recommend you consume a limited amount of alcohol as you are riding a motorized bike and will need to cycle back. Bring your ID.
Deep River Brewing Co was Johnston County’s first legal brewery, opened in 2013 by Paul and Lynn Auclair. It’s a fun community brewery that has frequent food trucks and events.
Final thoughts
In conclusion, our ebike tour with Triangle Adventures was a fun way to spend a few hours offering a good blend of scenic beauty, culinary indulgence, and rich history.
Whether you’re a seasoned explorer or a first-time visitor, Clayton has something to offer everyone, and Triangle Adventures is your ticket to unlocking its hidden treasures.
So, grab your helmet, hop on an ebike, and get ready for the ride of a lifetime! But don’t forget your 10% discount: THISISRALEIGH Tours run on weekends!
If you’re looking for more biking adventures, check out our awesome bike ride along the American Tobacco Trail and the White Oak Greenway Trail stopping at a hidden winery in between!
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