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The walker-friendly Huckleberry Trail will fill in its last gap.
The Appalachian Trail and New River Trail make this part of Virginia a destination for hikers and bikers. Now a new mountain bike skills park, a trail extension, and plans for more mountain trails are being added to the outdoor adventure mix near Blacksburg.
Blacksburg’s longest trail, the Huckleberry, is filling in the last gap in its 10-mile paved path between Brush Mountain in northwest Blacksburg and Christiansburg. The Huckleberry follows an old railroad bed, playing leapfrog with Lick Run through Merrimac Mine Heritage Park. No trace of the company town remains, but the mine is represented by a rusted winch and a pile of coal. The Huckleberry traverses an active rail line, skirting New River Valley Mall on its way to the Christiansburg Recreation Center. Trail users who want to stay within Blacksburg town limits can trek a 6.5-mile section between the library and Brush Mountain.
Mountain bikers will be able to practice their jumps and bike-handling skills at a Blacksburg mountain bike skills park beginning in May. Blacksburg Rotary Mountain Bike Park is perched on four acres of Brush Mountain, strategically located at the south end of the Huckleberry Trail. The site is the most popular access point to the Jefferson National Forest within Blacksburg town limits.
Before long, mountain bikers will have new trails to ride along the eastern side of Blacksburg’s Brush Mountain. The New River Land Trust has received a grant to buy 553 acres on Brush Mountain for outdoor recreation, making possible a network of trail connecting with the existing Poverty Creek trail system. The addition comes thanks to payments to offset detrimental forest impact due to pipeline construction by the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline.
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The article above appears in our May/June 2019 issue.
