Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Virginia, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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Busy with bikers and walkers. Lots of roots creating a bumping ride in some places but overall a nice ride. Parking at Belle Haven Park is a perfect location for riding into DC. I would recommend this trail.
I would not recommend inline skating on this trail further South than Alexandria, other than to advanced skaters, because the trail is better suited for bicycles or pedestrians. The first 5 miles going North from Mount Vernon are hilly with a few sharp curves and tend to have wet areas with leaves on the trail. There are several wooden bridges that would be slippery if wet and parts of the trail have tree root damage or rough patches. The trail merges onto the street in old town Alexandria that can be busy with traffic, other trail users, and visitors crossing the street. The trail is scenic for the Washington, DC area and has lots of other uses on the weekends.
The W&OD is a great bike trail throughout, obviously. But the western part, generally from Herndon to Purcellville, is far nicer and less busy than the eastern part in the northern VA suburbs. The eastern part is my home trail and nice for a quick workout ride, but it is super busy with walkers, talkers, dog on long leashes and obnoxious dudes who think they are in the Tour de France. I like a nice fast ride as much as anyone, but the western portion is not choked with users, much more greenery in a rural-exurban setting, far more beautiful and one that evokes the railroad of yore more, too. Leesburg and Purcellville offer nice rest/eat/drink/chill options if you desire that. Bike from Herndon to Purcellville, the trip back is somewhat more downhill and makes it *slightly* more uphill west and downhill on the return, a nice recipe. It's about 13 miles in that stretch, 26 RT. 4 stars for the eastern bit (after all, a nicely maintained road bike path), 5 stars for western section (as nice as any road bike rail trail, and well paved).
Great trail for families as it is very flat, has pretty scenery plus a covered bridge and an old railcar at the start. Decent parking at the beginning of trail. Trail seemed well maintained.
We rode the entire trail starting at the Intervale Trailhead on a Tuesday in early July 2021. The trail is very well maintained...this is one of the best rail trails we have ridden on...well worth the 4 hour drive to get there. The trail is relatively flat and very smooth. The weather was around 90 degrees, but most of the trail is shaded so not a problem. The scenery along the river and along side the cliffs is spectacular. Since we went in the middle of the week there were very few people on the trail...we did not come across anyone else on the trail north of the Smith Bridge trailhead.
Additionally...AlleghanyOutdoors.com is located at the Intervale Trailhead where you can rent bikes...we used our own bikes, but we came back the next day and rented kayaks and enjoyed a nice easy float down the river...The staff at AlleghanyOutdoors.com were very friendly and helpful. I would recommend both the bike ride and kayaking/tubing. This is a hidden gem.
We were expecting a great ride on this trail only to find closure signs and some local neighborhood detour signs. The trail was severely damaged a couple years ago by flooding and we were really disappointed to find it’s still partially closed with barriers. The closure is from about N. Ripley St. to Dora Kelly Park.
Last July I walked the north half of this trail (top 20 miles) and today I walked the bottom half (bottom 20 miles). Both halves were beautiful, though I think I’d give a slight edge to the northern half in terms of beauty and general enjoyment. When I walked the northern half last year, I relied solely on the maps provided by fairfax county, which are black and white and not particularly detailed. Since I made it through the hike, they obviously got the job done, but not without a lot of backtracking and hunting for trail markers. The southern half would have been just as bad, if not worse, if I hadn’t found this app last night before I left this morning. For any others considering traversing the entire county by foot-whether in two trips or more-this app will save you from a huge amount of backtracking and stress thinking you have left the trail. Overall, it was a great hike though!
I visited the trail with friends and families and I love it so much. If you enjoy walking or jogging or biking, this is the perfect place.
I cycle on this trail 2-3 times a week and the path itself is great; some of the other people who use it aren’t very courteous—they don’t share the path even though it’s a multi-use path—so if you’re cycling be mindful that you may have to go in the grass. My only complaint is the lights don’t come on in the darkest part of the path after dark. As to the complaint about road noise, well, it’s beside the road…Where there’s road noise. ¿¿¿¿¿
We set out on our gravel bikes from Abington and rode to Whitetop and back. We are avid road cyclists and I’ve got to admit that the stretch from Damascus to Whitetop was no joke. It was a slow, steady grind to Whitetop. We should have brought more fluid. Each of us brought two bottles and we burned through those quickly. We were able to stop for Gatorade and cold water on the way back at the Bike Exchange in Damascus. There was nothing open in Whitetop on the day we rode.
We rode near Gales and Fries and fossil Falls and the trail was great. Don’t know where The other reviewer rode.
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