Charlottesville Area Mountain Bike Club

Local Trails

• Walnut Creek Trail Map
• Slightly older Walnut Creek Trail Map Some trails have changed, but this map remains available.

• Marked up map of Walnut Creek Trails
• Older marked up map of Walnut Creek Trails. This map may be slightly easier to read than the newer marked up map.

• Exit #118 on Rt. 29 South and go approximately 6 miles.
• Take a LEFT on Red Hill Road (Rt. 708).
• Go approximately 3 miles to intersection of Old Lynchburg Road (Rt. 631).
• Take a RIGHT on Old Lynchburg Road (Rt. 631) and go one-half mile to entrance of park.
• Take a LEFT at Walnut Creek Park Sign.

• Follow 5th Street Extended until it becomes Old Lynchburg Roat (Rt. 631):
• Follow Old Lynchburg for approximately 9 miles.
• Take a LEFT at Walnut Creek Park Sign.

Please do not ride, walk, or run off the (grassy) backside of the dam at Walnut Creek Park. Please stay on the trail across the middle of thedam and on established trails on either end of the dam.

• Take Route 250 West.
• Turn right onto Route 240.
• Turn left onto Route 788 (Rail Road Avenue).
• Turn right onto Route 684 (Mint Springs Road).
• Turn left into Park.

• Take I-64 west from Charlottesville over Afton Mtn.
• Take exit 96 and turn left (south) onto rt. 624.
• Follow 624 until it merges with 664.
• Bear to the left to follow 664 south.
• Follow 664 through the town of Sherando (just a couple of buildings) and
• Either turn right onto FS 42 (Coal Rd) and park about 1/4 mile down in a small parking area which is the base of the Mill Creek Trail.
• Or after another couple miles turn right into the Sherando Lake recreation area. There are signs indicating the entrance. You can park right after you cross the bridge entering the park or you can go all the way in and pay.

• Take I-64 West to I-81 South
• Take Exit 205 off I-81.
• Head east on Rte 606 (Raphine Road) - left off the exit ramp - towards Steeles Tavern/Vesuvius/Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP)
• Make a left on Rt. 11 (north) at the first T and then a quick right onto 56 towards Vesuvius and the BRP.
• At the top of the hill make a left to enter the BRP. Then make a left onto BRP (heading south)
• You'll see a sign for Whetstone Ridge after about 2 miles and about 1/4 mile after that is a parking lot on your right.

Sweet 21 mile ridge ride in the Blue Ridge mountains. Not for the faint of heart. It's close to Raphine / Steeles Tavern. Trail starts off at the rest area, on the opposite end from the building.

First 3 miles are a good warm up, then it gets tough. Lots of steep ascents and descents, gnarly rocks, and great single track up, down, and around ridge peaks. Depending on who you are, there are anywhere from 3 to 8 hike-a-bike sections. They are all rideable, per se, just tough. The downhills coming off the ridge peaks will test your courage, they aren't long descents, just very technical.

The trail is blazed with yellow diamonds, so it's relatively easy to follow. There are two sections that warrant further explanation:

1. About 4 or 5 miles in, there is a split where you can go up to the left or down to the right. Make sure you go down to the right. It is marked, but easy to miss if you're flying down the fire road.
2. At mile 9 or so, you'll come up on a deer stand. Less than a ½ mile later, the trail goes down to the left, but it is a bit tricky to see if you aren't paying attention. I believe there was a wooden sign pointing to the left, and it had a yellow bag on it to get your attention. This is the start of the relatively easy downhill. Stay on your toes, because it's still riding on the side of a mountain.

After a total elapsed distance of 11.5 miles, the downhill finally dumps you on to Route 803. Take a left, and make the 9 mile, 1200+ foot ascent back up to the parking area. The road is paved for a while, and then turns into gravel. It is a quiet road, and it follows a nice stream, so it's as scenic as you can get on pavement. When you are almost at the top, you'll pass a church that you can see from the Blue Ridge Parkway, and you turn left onto Whetstone Ridge Road. This leads you straight to the parking area (in less than a 1/10 of a mile).

Overall a great ride. Definitely more demanding than Sherando, but more isolated and better views. Well worth the pain. There looked to be at least one area on 803 where you could fill up with water (well spout). Rest area has water and restrooms.

Depending on skill level, the ridge ride takes approximate 3 to 3-1/2 hours, with the road ride taking between 1 and 1-1/2 hours. Bring lots of food and water. If you want to eliminate the road ride, it's fairly straightforward to park a car at the bottom of 803. Just go straight out of the rest area onto Whetstone Ridge, turn right onto Irish Creek Rd (803), and go 9 miles to where the ridge trail ends.