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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basically a sidewalk trail but the path is shaded and much safer than the road
I rode the Virginia Capital Trail from Richmond, VA to Jamestown, VA over to Williamsburg, VA to stay the night and back to Richmond. I did it on my Trek Dual Sport + (E-bike) on the lowest assistance (1% assist). First I was really impressed I got over 60 miles on the charge with the extra battery so I made it both ways with an overnight charge.
The trail was nice with some rolling hills, nothing unbearable to climb. However the heat was bad. Yesterday the heat index was 110 degrees. I did have plenty of water and gatorade with me. On Monday the heat index, I think, was around 105 degrees. Majority of the trail is not shaded! And if you are looking for a bench to take a break, well most of the benches (not that there is a lot to choose from) are in the sun. There are places to stop along the way to replenish drinks but there is also about a 15 mile run where there really isn't any convenient place to get food or water. The cool thing with this ride is the American history and history markers along the route. There are many plantations along the way that you can stop. I didn't read most of the markers or stop at any plantations. Once I got to Jamestown I did stop at the visitors center for food and more water before heading to Williamsburg. I found out that part of the Colonial Parkway was closed which sucked since I had to take a little detour through Colonial Williamsburg in order to get to my hotel. This added about 3 extra miles in the heat.
On the way back it was brutal in the heat. On top of the heat I had 9 mph SW winds which meant I was riding into the wind. 9 mph isn't much but on a bike you feel it. It only took me 4 hours to ride from Richmond to Jamestown but 6 hours back. I did enjoy the ride to Jamestown from Richmond better than coming back but I think that was also because of the wind. I really loved the downhill as I got closer to Richmond.
Overall I am really glad I did the trail but I don't need to do it again. There are many other trails I want to do; I am really glad I did this one at least once. I feel very accomplished. This was my longest ride I have done as an overnight trip.
NRT is my heart trail, have been on many others in va but this is my favorite and most scenic!!!
Mill mt is a great e bike trail due to big climb, I like to come back down the road due to downhill speed and roughness of the old paved road that makes the trail surface, makes a nice loop and can be extended out to the parkway and around the roanoke mt loop that is closed to vehicle traffice which has beautiful overlooks.
We rode from Mendota to about mile marker 4 and back on July 4th. Thoroughly enjoyed the trail! Beautiful beginning from Mendota but the surface was rough for about the first mile. Better after that. Beautiful the whole way. I felt like I had stepped back in time. I wish I had worn my swimsuit to swim in the river. Nice swinging bridge at the beginning too. Highly recommend.
Rode the trail from Jones Point Park to Mount Vernon last week. Most all of the wooden bridges are newer and add to the ambience, but don't provide a good riding surface for my MTB with Schwalbe Silento 26x1.75 tires. As others have noted, the pushed up roots have been ground down somewhat, but not smooth, until about a 1/2 mile from Mount Vernon where the pushed up roots are simply marked and the trail becomes unrideable. On the return, I rode on the George Washington Parkway to get past the badly pushed up roots section. Then, I rode as far as I could on lightly travelled neighborhood streets running parallel to the trail, which were substantially smoother. Then proceeded back on the trail to Jones Point Park. Overall, it wasn't a very enjoyable ride and likely won't seek to do it again.
Paul and I are continuing our RV travels and crossing off bike trails from our bucket list along the way. Today we rode the VA Blue Ridge trail. Beautiful, natural trail with crushed stone path (I would have preferred asphalt), but it wasn't bad. I just had to be careful and watch for rocks and kept praying I didn't pop a tire. Off road or hybrid bikes do fine. I ride a Lectric Trike with wider tires and husband rides a hybrid type bike and did fine. It is nicely shaded about 95% of the way. No road noise. Two rivers parallel the path making nice scenery. Some ladies ahead of us spotted a beautiful black bear walking along the shore of the river and got a great video clip. We had a deer cross in front of us. Benches are scattered along the trail. The only thing I would change would be asphalt instead of crushed stone but otherwise a great trail to ride!
Being a native plant enthusiast, walking this trail is disturbing to me because of all the invasive plants that edge the path. Instead of enjoying the greenery, I have to look away from it to have pleasure on this walk.
While this trail largely follows Garden City Blvd SE, there are some spots on it that are scenic and away from traffic. It mostly consists of a steady climb to the end of the trail, but the first three quarters of a mile is relatively flat with one climb at the quarter mile marker. The trail is plenty wide enough for passing and is paved in its entirety. There is a small park on the trail and park just off of the trail behind the elementary school. Because it is an off shoot from Roanoke River Greenway traffic is lighter than the main greenway. There is shade on about half of the trail. The biggest concern is on Wednesday’s it’s garbage day so there is usually garbage cans and other refuse waiting to be collected.
The surface of the New River Trail should not be described as “crushed stone.” This is factually incorrect. I rode the entire trail from end-to-end and back again over three days in mid-June 2024. The first 20 or so miles from Dora Junction (Pulaski) toward Lone Ash consist mostly of a wide grassy median with a narrow dirt track on either side. This is fine for bicycles in dry weather but those of us who ride recumbent tricycles are forced to ride with at least one wheel on the grass, which makes for a tortuous slow and bumpy ride. Some sections are indeed smooth crushed stone, such as the 5.5 mile spur from Fries Junction to the town of Fries which is the best maintained section of the trail, perhaps because Fries attracts tourists and more cyclists than other parts of the trail. The first part of the 12 miles from Fries Junction up to Galax is very rough and rocky but the trail improves toward the end. Nonetheless most of this section would best be described as coarse gravel, not crushed stone, and the gravel is quite soft in places. Parts of the trail from Foster Falls to Ivanhoe and from Ivanhoe to Fries Junction also have a grass median, but other parts are gravel or crushed stone. The surface for the first few miles on either side of Foster Falls is well maintained but deteriorates the further one rides away from the park headquarters. Cyclists would benefit from a more accurate description of trail surface conditions.
We road this trail with some friends today. Ages ranged from 47-71. It was a nice, cool, refreshing bike ride. Nice and straight with no hills. Favorite part was the old fort and the history we learned while there. One thing is that the map on this app is wrong as to where it begins and ends. We actually parked at the visitor center to the fort and road the trail because where the map shows it was not correct.
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