New River Trail State Park 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 streetcar ...

and

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

located entirely in southwest

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, extending from the trail's northeastern terminus in Pulaski to its southern terminus in

Galax ''Galax'', the wandplant, wandflower, or beetleweed, is a genus in the flowering plant family Diapensiaceae, containing a single species, ''Galax urceolata'' ( syn. ''G. rotundifolia'', ''G. aphylla''). It is native to the southeastern United S ...

, with a spur from Fries Junction on the main trail to

Fries French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips ( Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...

. Designated a

National Recreation Trail The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...

, the

linear park A linear park is a type of park that is significantly longer than it is wide. These linear parks are strips of public land running along canals, rivers, streams, defensive walls, electrical lines, or highways and shorelines. Examples of linear p ...

follows 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 The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

donated its discontinued

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

to the state of Virginia. Volunteers began making improvements and the park opened in May 1987 with of trail, opening the entire for recreational use by the late 1990s. The trail was designated a Millennium Legacy Trail in 1999, for reflecting "the spirit of the nation's states and territories." The linear park adjoins historic sites including the 19th-century

Jackson Ferry Shot Tower The Jackson Ferry Shot Tower is a tall tower used for manufacturing lead shot located in Wythe County, Virginia and now adjacent to the New River Trail State Park, a lineal rail trail park connecting the historic towns of Pulaski and Galax, V ...

, the Draper Mercantile building, two turn-of-the-century hydroelectric dams, remains of the Ivanhoe Blast Furnace, the Ivanhoe

Carbide In chemistry, a carbide usually describes a compound composed of carbon and a metal. In metallurgy, carbiding or carburizing is the process for producing carbide coatings on a metal piece. Interstitial / Metallic carbides The carbides of the ...

Plant, the Foster Falls Blast Furnace, and the Foster Falls Orphanage, as well as numerous outdoor recreational areas, including

Mount Rogers National Recreation Area Mount Rogers National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area (NRA) in southwestern Virginia near the border with Tennessee and North Carolina. It centerpiece is the Lewis Fork Wilderness containing Mount Rogers, the highest p ...

, and four Department of Game and Inland Fisheries boat launches. The trail features two tunnels, and long respectively; three major bridges (Hiwassee Bridge at , Ivanhoe Bridge at and Fries Junction Bridge at in length); and almost 30 smaller bridges and trestles.

Nearby state parks

The following state parks are within of New River Trail State Park: * Claytor Lake State Park *

Grayson Highlands State Park Grayson Highlands State Park is a state park located in Grayson County, Virginia, United States. It is adjacent to the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area and lies within the Jefferson National Forest. The park was established in 1965 and co ...

New River State Park New River State Park is a North Carolina state park in Ashe County, North Carolina in the United States. Located near Jefferson, North Carolina, it covers in the protected New River watershed. The New River is one of the oldest rivers in the U ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

* Stone Mountain State Park, North Carolina

References

External links

Official website
State parks of Virginia State parks of the Appalachians Rail trails in Virginia Parks in Grayson County, Virginia Parks in Carroll County, Virginia Parks in Wythe County, Virginia Parks in Pulaski County, Virginia National Recreation Trails in Virginia Long-distance trails in the United States Protected areas established in 1987 1987 establishments in Virginia Bike paths in Virginia {{GraysonCountyVA-geo-stub

Nearby state parks

See also

References

External links