The Blue Ridge Railway Trail is a
rail trail
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetca ...
in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...
.
It is a gravel surface recreational trail used for biking, hiking and horseback riding and occupies an abandoned
Virginia Blue Ridge Railway
The Virginia Blue Ridge Railway (VBR) is a historic intrastate short line railroad that operated in central Virginia in the 20th century.
History
The company was incorporated in 1914, and construction was started in 1915. The VBR extended from ...
corridor. The trail was completed in sections between 2003 and 2010.
The trail starts at a trailhead along Route 151 in
Piney River, Virginia Piney River is an unincorporated community in Nelson County, Virginia, United States. It lies along the path of the now-defunct Virginia Blue Ridge Railway
The Virginia Blue Ridge Railway (VBR) is a historic intrastate short line railroad that o ...
, where there is parking for cars and horse trailers as well as a portajohn. The trail follows the course of the Piney River, and after , it crosses Route 674 in
Roses Mill, Virginia, where there is limited parking for cars. The trail continues along the Piney River for another and then crosses the
Tye River
The Tye River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the James River in central Virginia in the United States. Originating on the eastern slope ...
just downstream of its confluence with the Piney River. The trail then follows the Tye, passing under US Route 29 and ending at Tye River Depot, where a railroad car scale is preserved. There is no highway access at the Tye River Depot trailhead. The trail is open from sunrise to sunset.
The trail runs on a former railway spur that ran to a quarry in Piney River from 1915 to 1981.
References
Rail trails in Virginia
Protected areas of Nelson County, Virginia
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