The enhanced bike-ped trail snakes alongside the John W. Warner Parkway for 1.6 miles, from East Rio Road down to McIntire Park. It mostly lies on the route of the old Southern Railway. Points of interest along the pathway include the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial, one of the first memorials on US Soil dedicated to those who served in this war; and the native pollinator garden on Melbourne Road.
McIntire Park is a good place to park. Head west on I-64 and take exit 121 for SR 20 towards Charlottesville/ Scottsville. Get on US 250 W in Charlottesville and drive east to the intersection of US 250 and the John W. Warner Parkway.
Additional Parking can be found near the northern end of the trail at the Charlottesville-Albemarle Technical Education Center (CATEC) located at 1000 Rio Road East.
We hiked about 2.4 miles or so from CATEC to Melbourne Road. A lovely walk along an asphalt trail. This late in the day hike was a good choice for our dog who got excited seeing squirrels, rabbits, and a deer. We also passed several cyclists enjoying the same trail. A great hike for those who want to enjoy a not too long, not too short hike that is not too difficult.
Well paved, not a lot of signage. Good parking. You have have cross traffic quite a bit which wasn't great for my ride..
This is a good place for new cyclists to practice or for more experienced cyclists to connect through on a longer ride. The northern section is hilly but the southern end is more or less flat-ish.
If you live in Cville and want to go for a nice short ride in town, you can't beat this one! Beautiful landscapes, nice hills, fun!
Nice wide paved trail but short with too many traffic lights. At least 5 lights. Entrance is not well marked. We parked in the McIntire park, close to the YMCA, which had a very hidden path entrance behind the picnic pavilion across from the sports field, which actually led us to the high school. Then we rode down the hill on the sidewalk which finally landed us on the trail. A better place to park might be at the north end, at the Covenant Church of God, 1025 Rio Rd E, Charlottesville, VA 22901 which is near and Exxon if you need drinks or snacks. Runkeeper said it’s 2 miles from end to end, starting at Covenant Church to the end at someone’s driveway along Rt 250, across from the Memorial on the corner.
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails conservancy
(a non-profit) and we need your support!