October 4-7, 2008 — Virginia Governor's Conference on Greenways and Trails

• Richmond Convention Center, VA
• Hosted by Virginia Recreation and Park Society and Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Info: See the Conference Website
  

Agencies

For information on Virginia's state parks: www.dcr.virginia.gov/parks/

The Great Outdoors Resources Page (GORP) has information on Virginia's National Forests: www.gorp.com/gorp/resource/US_National_Forest/soeast.HTM

The Great Outdoors Resources Page (GORP) has information on Shenandoah National Park: www.gorp.com/gorp/resource/US_National_Park/va_shena.HTM

For information on National Park Service units in Virginia: http://data2.itc.nps.gov/parksearch/state.cfm?st=va

Bicycling and Mountain Biking

Mountain bike trails with detailed maps and descriptions from Virginia mountain biking books at Trails.com:

• Mountain Biking Trails in Virginia

Bike rides on Virginia roads and paved pathways from road biking books at Trails.com:

• Road Bike Rides in Virginia

Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts organizes trail work, advocacy, and events in the Maryland-DC-Virginia area: www.more-mtb.org/

 Damascus, VA, Mountain Bike Pages has many trail descriptions: www.bikeguy.net/

East Coast Greenway is a project to link seabord states with trails and on-road routes; information is available for all traversed states: ME, NH, Massachusetts, RI, CT, NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, Washington DC, VA, NC, SC, GA, and FL: www.greenway.org/

The Blue Ridge Bicycle Club promotes bicycling in southwest Virginia: www.roava.net/~bike/

Bike Trails and B & Bs in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia: www.BBBiking.com

Mountain bike trails at Explore Park near Roanoke: www.exploresingletrack.com

Equestrian Trails

Horseback Trail Riding in the George Washington National Forest and the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia: www.empnet.com/trailriding/

The Nokesville Horse Society, in the Virginia counties of Prince William, Fauquier, Loudoun, Fairfax, Warren & Culpeper, is an advocate and supporter of Equestrian and Multi-use trail systems: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NokesvilleHorseSociety

Syria, Graves Mountain, Big Meadows, Rapidan horse trail network: www.rideourtrails.com/Syria/Home.html

Greenways and Community Trails

The goal of the Rivanna Trails Foundation is to establish a network of pathways encircling the City of Charlottesville, generally following the course of the Rivanna River and its tributaries: www.rivannatrails.org

Great FallsTrail Blazers work to develop multi-purpose trails throughout the Great Falls community: www.geocities.com/greatfallstrails/

The Potomac River Greenways Coalition, Fairfax Trails and Streams, Pimmit Run, Difficult Run and the Fairfax Cross-County trail are at: www.fairfaxtrails.org

Rivanna Trails Foundation works to create and protect natural footpaths, which follow the Rivanna River and its tributaries (VA): http://avenue.org/rivanna/

Information on Roanoke Valley Greenways, Virginia: www.greenways.org

Numerous hiking and biking trails in the Roanoke area are listed at: www.roanoke.com/outdoors

Virginia Beach bike trails info and photos: www.rkkengineers.com/vbbike/index.html

Hiking Trails

Hiking trail maps, hike descriptions, and Virginia topographic maps at Trails.com:

• Hiking Trails in Virginia

The Capital Hiking Club offers trips as well as trail information at: www.capitalhikingclub.org/

MidAtlanticHikes.com has maps and trail descriptions for hikes in MD, PA, VA and WV

The Wanderbirds Hiking Club, founded in 1934, is a non-profit, all volunteer club that organizes day hikes every Sunday, year round, for energetic folks in the Washington, DC area. You do not have to be a member of the Club to hike with us. www.wanderbirds.org

Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club maintains 88 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Nelson, Amherst, Rockbridge, Botetourt, and Bedford counties, and maintains lots of good information: www.nbatc.org

Piedmont Appalachian Trail Hikers maintains a section of the Appalachian Trail in southwest Virginia: www.editorialservice.com/path/

The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club is dedicated to the upkeep and improvement of 970 miles of trails, 30 shelters, and 23 cabins in VA, MD, WV, PA, and DC: www.patc.net/index.htm

Tidewater Appalachian Trail Club supports the Appalachian Trail and has information on hiking, trail maintenance, and club events: www.tidewateratc.org

Along the Blue Ridge Parkway's 469 miles are over a hundred hiking trails; all are keyed to parkway mile markers with difficulty rating, length, and photos: www.brptrails.com/

American Volkssport Association year-round walking and Volkssport Event Calendar

Long-Distance Trails

Hiking trails along the Appalachian Trail (AT) in Virginia at Trails.com:

• Appalachian Trail Hiking in Virginia

One-fourth of the Appalachian Trail (550 miles) lies in Virginia

The Great Eastern Trail plans to link existing trails alongthe Appalachian Mountains from Alabama to the Finger Lakes Trail in New York: www.greateasterntrail.org/

Off-Highway Vehicle Trails

The ATV Connection describes several places to ride ATVs: www.atving.com/tmpl/ridearea/maride.cfm

The Eastern Virginia Mountainbike Association has information on trails and a wide variety of bicycle-related topics: www.beachway.com/evma/

For an illustrated trip report on four-wheel driving in the George Washington National Forest: www.4X4NOW.com/trvagw.htm

Rail Trails and Canal Trails

Virginia rail-trails including maps, access points, and history from rails-to-trails books at Trails.com:

• Rail-Trails in Virginia

For a locator map and detailed descriptions of rail trails in the Washington, D.C., area and a few others in PA, VA, MD, and WVa: http://bikewashington.org/trails/dc-index.htm

Friends of the Huckleberry is dedicated to developing the Huckleberry Trail in Montgomery County: www.huckleberrytrail.org/

Friends of the Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail support a controversial railtrail in King George County: www.friendsdrht.org/

Friends of the Washington and Old Dominion Trail is a non-profit citizens organization dedicated to the preservation, enhancement and promotion of the trail: www.wodfriends.org/

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Trail runs 184 miles from Washington, D.C. along the Potomac River to Cumberland, Maryland.: www.fred.net/kathy/canal.html

The Virginia Creeper Trail runs 34.3 miles from Abingdon, Virginia, to the Virginia-North Carolina border: www.ehc.edu/vacreeper/. A map is at: www.his.com/~jmenzies/urbanatb/rtrails/creeper/creeper.htm

The Washington and Old Dominion 65-mile rail trail in suburban DC: www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/9401/

Virginia whitewater kayaking and rafting, with maps and launch points at Trails.com:

• Whitewater Kayaking and Rafting in Virginia

Potomac River Water Trail Map highlights access points along the southern reaches of the river from Washington D.C. to the Chesapeake Bay in both Maryland and Virginia: here