New River Trail State Park

State park in southwest Virginia, United States

New River Trail State Park

New River Trail State Park

Location of New River Trail State Park

Location| Southwest Virginia
Coordinates| 36°53′5″N 80°51′9″W﻿ / ﻿36.88472°N 80.85250°W﻿ / 36.88472; -80.85250
Area| 1,423 acres (576 ha)
Established| 1987
Governing body| Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
Volunteers worked alongside park staff to pull tires, tarps, and other debris from the New River

New River Trail State Park is a 57.7-mile (92.9 km) rail trail and state park located entirely in southwest Virginia, extending from the trail's northeastern terminus in Pulaski to its southern terminus in Galax, with a 5.5-mile (8.9 km) spur from Fries Junction on the main trail to Fries.

Designated a National Recreation Trail, the linear park follows 39 miles (63 km) of the New River, which is one of the five oldest rivers in the world.

Headquartered in Foster Falls, roughly a third of the trail distance from Pulaski, the crushed stone multi-use trail was formally created in 1986, when Norfolk Southern Railway donated its discontinued right-of-way to the state of Virginia. Volunteers began making improvements and the park opened in May 1987 with 4 miles (6.4 km) of trail, opening the entire 57 miles (92 km) for recreational use by the late 1990s.

The trail was designated a Millennium Legacy Trail in 1999,[1] for reflecting "the spirit of the nation's states and territories."[2] The 765-acre (310 ha) linear park adjoins historic sites including the nineteenth-century Jackson Ferry Shot Tower, the Draper Mercantile building, two turn-of-the-century hydroelectric dams, remains of the Ivanhoe Blast Furnace, the Ivanhoe Carbide Plant, the Foster Falls Blast Furnace, and the Foster Falls Orphanage, as well as numerous outdoor recreational areas, including Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, and four Department of Game and Inland Fisheries boat launches.

The trail features two tunnels, 135 feet (41 m) and 193 feet (59 m) long respectively; three major bridges (Hiwassee Bridge at 951 feet (290 m), Ivanhoe Bridge at 670 feet (200 m) and Fries Junction Bridge at 1,089 feet (332 m) in length); and almost 30 smaller bridges and trestles.

## Nearby state parks

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The following state parks are within 30 miles (48 km) of New River Trail State Park:

* Claytor Lake State Park
* Grayson Highlands State Park
* New River State Park, North Carolina
* Stone Mountain State Park, North Carolina

## See also

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* Cycling infrastructure
* Fall Line Trail
* Greenbrier River Trail
* High Bridge Trail State Park
* Virginia Capital Trail
* Virginia Creeper Trail
* Washington & Old Dominion Trail

## References

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1. ^ "Virginia's Millennium Legacy". Virginia Department of Transportation.
2. ^ "National Millennium Trails in Virginia". Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.

## External links

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Media related to New River Trail State Park at Wikimedia Commons

* Official website

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Hiking trails in Virginia

* Appalachian
* Blue Ridge Railway
* Bull Run Occoquan
* Chessie Nature
* Dahlgren Railroad Heritage
* Difficult Run
* East Coast Greenway
* Great Eastern
* High Bridge
* Massanutten
* Huckleberry
* New River
* Overmountain Victory
* Potomac Heritage
* Tuscarora
* Virginia Creeper
* Washington & Old Dominion
* Wild Oak

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Protected areas of Virginia

Federal|

| National Parks|

* Shenandoah

|

National Historical Parks,
Historic Sites & Monuments|

* Appomattox Court House NHP
* Arlington House
* Booker T. Washington NM
* Cedar Creek and Belle Grove NHP
* Claude Moore Colonial Farm
* Colonial NHP
* Cumberland Gap NHP
* Fort Monroe NM
* George Washington Birthplace NM
* Harpers Ferry NHP
* Maggie L. Walker NHS

National Military Parks,
Battlefields & Battlefield Parks|

* Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP
* Manassas NBP
* Petersburg NB
* Richmond NBP

National Cemeteries|

* Alexandria
* Arlington
* Balls Bluff
* City Point
* Cold Harbor
* Culpeper
* Danville
* Fort Harrison
* Fredericksburg
* Glendale
* Hampton
* Hampton VAMC
* Poplar Grove
* Quantico
* Richmond
* Seven Pines
* Staunton
* Winchester
* Yorktown

National Parkways|

* Blue Ridge Parkway
* (Blue Ridge Music Center
* Mabry Mill
* Peaks of Otter
* Rocky Knob Recreation Area)
* George Washington Memorial Parkway

National Trails|

* Appalachian Trail
* Captain John Smith Chesapeake NHT
* Overmountain Victory NHT
* Potomac Heritage Trail
* Star-Spangled Banner NHT

National
Wildlife Refuges|

* Back Bay
* Chincoteague
* Eastern Shore of Virginia
* Mason Neck
* Featherstone
* Fisherman Island
* Glenn Martin
* Great Dismal Swamp
* James River
* Nansemond
* Occoquan Bay
* Plum Tree Island
* Presquile
* Rappahannock River Valley
* Wallops Island

National Forests|

* George Washington and Jefferson

USFS National Recreation Areas|

* Mount Rogers National Recreation Area

Other NPS Areas|

* Assateague Island National Seashore
* Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network
* Prince William Forest Park
* Wolf Trap NP for the Performing Arts

Wilderness Areas|

* Barbours Creek
* James River Face
* Mountain Lake
* Priest
* Ramsey's Draft
* Rich Hole
* Rough Mountain
* Saint Mary's
* Three Ridges

National Estuarine
Research Reserves|

* Chesapeake Bay

State|

| State parks|

* Bear Creek Lake
* Belle Isle
* Breaks Interstate
* Caledon
* Chippokes
* Claytor Lake
* Clinch River
* Culpeper Battlefields
* Douthat
* Fairy Stone
* False Cape
* First Landing
* Grayson Highlands
* High Bridge Trail
* Holliday Lake
* Hungry Mother
* James River
* Kiptopeke
* Lake Anna
* Leesylvania
* Machicomoco
* Mason Neck
* Mayo River
* Middle Peninsula
* Natural Bridge
* Natural Tunnel
* New River Trail
* Occoneechee
* Pocahontas
* Powhatan
* Sailor's Creek Battlefield
* Seven Bends
* Shot Tower
* Shenandoah River
* Sky Meadows
* Smith Mountain Lake
* Southwest Virginia Museum
* Staunton River
* Staunton River Battlefield
* Sweet Run
* Tabb Monument
* Twin Lakes
* Westmoreland
* Widewater
* Wilderness Road
* York River

|

State forests|

* Appomattox-Buckingham
* Big Woods
* Bourassa
* Browne
* Channels
* Charlotte
* Chesterfield
* Chilton Woods
* Conway Robinson
* Crawfords
* Cumberland
* Devil's Backbone
* Dragon Run
* First Mountain
* Hawks
* Lesesne
* Matthews
* Moore's Creek
* Niday Place
* Old Flat
* Paul
* Prince Edward-Gallion
* Sandy Point
* South Quay
* Whitney
* Zoar

Natural Area
Preserves|

* Antioch Pines
* Bald Knob
* Bethel Beach
* Big Spring Bog
* Blackwater
* Buffalo Mountain
* Bull Run Mountains
* Bush Mill Stream
* Camp Branch Wetlands
* Cape Charles Coastal Habitat
* Cave Hill
* The Cedars
* The Channels
* Cherry Orchard Bog
* Chestnut Creek Wetlands
* Chestnut Ridge
* Chotank Creek
* Chub Sandhill
* Cleveland Barrens
* Clover Hollow
* Cowbane Prairie
* Crawford's Knob
* Crow's Nest
* Cumberland Marsh
* Dameron Marsh
* Deep Run Ponds
* Dendron Swamp
* Difficult Creek
* Elklick Woodlands
* False Cape
* Folly Mills Creek Fen
* Goshen Pass
* Grafton Ponds
* Grassy Hill
* Grayson Glades
* Hickory Hollow
* Hughlett Point
* Johnsons Creek
* Lyndhurst Ponds
* Magothy Bay
* Mark's and Jack's Island
* Mount Joy Pond
* Mutton Hunk Fen
* Naked Mountain
* New Point Comfort
* North Landing River
* Northwest River
* Ogdens Cave
* Parkers Marsh
* Parramore Island
* Pedlar Hills Glades
* Piney Grove Flatwoods
* Pinnacle
* Poor Mountain
* Redrock Mountain
* Savage Neck Dunes
* Unthanks Cave
* William B. Trower Bayshore
* Wreck Island

Wildlife
Management Areas|

* Amelia
* Big Survey
* Big Woods
* Briery Creek
* Chester F. Phelps
* Cavalier
* Chickahominy
* Clinch Mountain
* Crooked Creek
* Dick Cross
* Doe Creek
* Fairystone Farms
* Featherfin
* G. Richard Thompson
* Game Farm Marsh
* Goshen and Little North Mountain
* Hardware River
* Havens
* Hidden Valley
* Highland
* Hog Island
* Horsepen Lake
* James River
* Land's End
* Mattaponi
* Mattaponi Bluffs
* Merrimac Farm
* Mockhorn Island
* Oakley Forest
* Pettigrew
* Powhatan
* Princess Anne
* Ragged Island
* Rapidan
* Robert W. Duncan
* Saxis
* Short Hills
* Smith Mountain Cooperative
* Stewarts Creek
* T. M. Gathright
* Turkeycock
* Ware Creek
* Weston
* White Oak Mountain

Other|

| Registered Historic
Places in Virginia|

* Virginia Landmarks Register
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Virginia
* Bridges
* National Historic Landmarks

|

* Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
* Virginia Department of Forestry
* Virginia Department of Historic Resources
* Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources

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