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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Nice nearly flat trail along the Piney River. Simple out and back for those that want an easy workout or have children and don't want to deal with crowds. Secluded and easy to navigate. I recommend for those that are nearby.
I drove here from Culpeper VA. Not sure I would go this distance for this ride again, but it was a good day for the wife and I to get some miles in the legs early in the season.
It was a little hard to find the actual road to the mouth of the trail and parking is limited. However, the actual hike was great, you do have to cross the creek several times (no problem for us), the trail is well marked (yellow paint on the trees), and so worth the hike. The water stays super cold even in the heat of summer and is so unbelievably clear. It's absolutely gorgeous! You won't regret the hiking adventure to get there.
I wish I read the reviews before taking my road bike on this trail. I started at the Lorton entrance and the trail quickly became mud and gravel. My road slick tires were definitely ill equipped for this segment of the trail. Better for cyclocross and mountain bikes.
This trail is very nice and honestly i don't understand why everyone is complaining. The cows don't care about you for the most part and even if they do they are just being curious. The Chessie trail doesn't own that farm and has no say as to what the farmer cares to keep in his field. The trail has also been made more bike accessible with small, person and bike sized gates so you don't have to lift bikes anymore.
As a resident in a neighborhood along the Elizabeth River Trail, I find it extremely convenient for commuting to downtown and for pleasure riding on the weekends. The complete 10 mile trail is great if you have some time and want to explore a lot of different types of neighborhoods but if you just want to get out for a quick ride or jog it's easy to do too. There are some areas that need improvement and signage will be overhauled in the next year so I'm very hopeful it will be a real draw in the future. Overall it's a really fun and unique trail that showcases a slice of life in Norfolk - easy access to the river, historic areas, urban places, universities and a working port.
If you are anywhere close to this trail, I suggest you plan a day trip here. Road the VA Creeper Trail 11/1/17. Wonderful fall colors, scenic streams and rapids to see and hear. Many scenic bridges too. Stopped for a good lunch in Damascus. Look forward to my next visit in the spring or summer.
I rode this short trail on a mild Saturday morning in January 2018. The setting is beautiful, and the condition of the trail is wonderful. On the day I visited, the short existing segment was heavily used by the lucky neighborhood residents living near the trail for walking, bike riding, and in-line skating. Friendly people, serene country setting - and great facilities for such a short trail.
As mentioned in the description, the trail is set to one day become part of a multi-city trail, that will eventually stretch from downtown Suffolk to the Virginia Beach oceanfront (40+miles with a few on-road segments, and a ferry crossing between Portsmouth and Norfolk). The City of Suffolk will greatly benefit its residents by expanding the trail to the west (downtown Suffolk), while all of south-side Hampton Roads will benefit when Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Norfolk and Virginia Beach complete their segments, signage and marketing of the trail.
I walk this trail often - it's very pretty, and the scenery varies, but most of it runs alongside Wolf Creek. It goes through sylvan areas, past some homes, crosses a couple of residential streets, passes a farm with animals grazing; the variation makes this fun. It's mostly level. Tall walkers will have to stoop in the tunnel that runs under a major roadway, though!
Ran trail in October on a wonderful fall day.Started at park at north end of airport runway and headed north.Views of DC were fantastic.Trail crowded as usual.Lived in DC in 1970s and ran this trail often.Enjoyed my recent run after not running trail for about 15 years.
For a couple of years now the Friends Of The Chessie Trail have been installing pedestrian/bike gates next to the large farm gates that were often difficult or impossible to open. The last pedestrian gate was recently installed on the Buena Vista end of the trail, and now you can bike from one end to the other without having to lift your bike over a gate.
There are still a couple of places where you will have to exercise care or dismount to go around one of the large gates. Those gates are at the Buena Vista trailhead and and at the South River. VMI has plans to replace those gates with bollards which will allow easy passage by pedestrians and cyclists. Hopefully we'll see action on this soon.
Very nice trail parking at Commerce Ave. Saw one other user my day visiting the trail. Smooth surface, very scenic with long vistas across valley of distant mountains plus section paralleling Craigs creek. Would love to see rest of the right of way developed into a trail.
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