Virginia Bike Trails

This page is about off-road bike trails, bike paths, greenways, and rail-trails. Scroll down to for links to our weblog articles. For on-road bike routes, see our Virginia Bike Routes page.

Maintaining a comprehensive listing of all Virginia bike trails would be a monumental task. Some local and regional directories are fairly complete and regularly updated, with useful maps, descriptions, driving directions, etc. So we\’re compiling a listing of these, along with some individual trails.

This page is a work in progress. Please send updates and suggestions to webmaster@vabike.org

Statewide Trail Directories

The Rails to Trails Conservancy maintains a regularly updated, comprehensive listing of rail-trails at their Traillink site. If your local trails are not listed, you can help RTC map them.

Northern Virginia

The Washington and Old Dominion Trail is a 45 mile long, 100\’ wide park connecting much of northern Virginia; from Shirlington at the eastern end to Purcellville at the western, running through Vienna, Reston, Herndon, and Leesburg.

For information about trails close to the DC area, Arlington County has a trail directory at CommuterPage.com

Though it hasn\’t been updated in awhile, Bike Washington\’s trail directory is comprehensive and informative, with nice maps.

Central Virginia

The High Bridge Trail runs through Cumberland, Nottoway and Prince Edward counties, and the towns of Burkeville, Farmville, Pamplin City, Prospect and Rice. As of June 2009, 26 of 34 miles have been completed.

Southwest Virginia

Dan Casey\’s Blue Ridge Biking Archive is one of the best guides to biking in southwest Virginia, on-road or off.

The mountain biking page at Roanoke Outside is excellent.

The Roanoke Valley Greenways are coming along nicely, and has an award-winning map.

The Huckleberry Trail runs 6 miles from downtown Blacksburg to the New River Valley Mall in Christiansburg. It\’s popular for both commuting and recreation. Soon to be extended from the mall to the Christiansburg Rec Center; and at the other end to Pandapas Pond, a popular mountain biking and hiking area.

Radford has a great trail network along the New River in Bisset Park, and up through Wildwood Park. These are great for family rides with small children. An unused railway trestle across the New River could someday give the Fairlawn neighborhood direct access to these parks and downtown.

The New River Trail runs 57 miles along the New River from Pulaski to Galax. A recently dedicated extension connects with downtown Pulaski.

The Virginia Creeper Trail is known all over the US and beyond, for its scenic beauty and unique all-downhill possibilities. A must-do for all cyclists! Novices can take a shuttle to the top of the hill, and ride downhill for 17 miles. Seasoned pedalers can ride both ways, uphill and down.

Southeast Virginia — Hampton Roads

The Virginia Capital Trail will connect the past and present capitals of Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Richmond, along the Scenic Route 5 corridor. As of spring 2008, 38 out of 55 miles are either completed, under construction, or in development. Governor Kaine hopes to have the trail completed by 2010. VDOT also maintains a guide to the Capital Trail.