State Route 63 (SR 63) is a primary

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the U.S. state of

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 ...

. The state highway runs from

U.S. Route 58 Alternate U.S. Route 58 Alternate (US 58 Alt.) is a alternate route to US 58 in western Virginia. The route is a northern bypass to US 58 which stays closer to the Tennessee border and serves Gate City and Bristol. Route description Jonesville to Norton ...

(US 58 Alternate) in St. Paul north to SR 80 and SR 83 in Haysi.

Route description

SR 63 begins at an intersection with US 58 Alternate (Bull Run Road) in the town of St. Paul. The state highway heads east through town as Wise Street, which passes under

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 ...

's Clinch Valley District. The highway intersects SR 270 (4th Street) in the center of town. SR 63 parallels the Clinch River and

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

Kingsport Subdivision The Kingsport Subdivision (also KP Subdivision) is a 133.2-mile (214.4 km) railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. It was formerly part of the Huntington West Division. It beca ...

, formerly the Clinchfield Railroad, east to Lick Creek. The highway and railroad turn north to follow Lick Creek out of St. Paul and cross the

Wise WISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * WISE (AM), a radio station licensed to Asheville, North Carolina *WISE-FM, a radio station licensed to Wise, Virginia * WISE-TV, a television station licensed to Fort Wayne, Indiana Education * ...

–

Russell Russell may refer to: People * Russell (given name) * Russell (surname) * Lady Russell (disambiguation) * Lord Russell (disambiguation) Places Australia *Russell, Australian Capital Territory *Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation) **Ru ...

county line. The state highway heads north as Dante Road to

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

, where the rail line diverges to pass through the Sandy Ridge Tunnel. SR 63 crosses Sandy Ridge and the

Tennessee Valley Divide The Tennessee Valley Divide is the boundary of the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and its tributaries. The Tennessee River drainage basin begins with its tributaries in southwestern Virginia and flows generally west to the confluence of t ...

at Flint Gap and enters

Dickenson County Dickenson County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,124. Its county seat is Clintwood. History Dickenson County, formed in 1880 from parts of Buchanan County, Russell County, ...

. SR 63 descends as Dante Mountain Road into the valley of McClure Creek and rejoins the Kingsport Subdivision at Trammel. The state highway heads northwest through the village of Nora, where McClure Creek merges with Open Fork to become the

McClure River The McClure River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 13, 2011 tributary of the Russell Fork in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is located in Dickenson County in th ...

. SR 63 begins to run concurrently with SR 83 (Dickenson Highway) at Fremont; SR 83 heads west toward

Clintwood Clintwood is a town in Dickenson County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,414 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population of 1,304 in 2018. It is the county seat of Dickenson County. Although originally called "Holly Creek" afte ...

, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Dickenson County. The two highways diverge after passing through the town of Clinchco. SR 83 and the railroad continue to follow the river to Haysi while SR 63 turns onto Big Ridge Road. The state highway ascends and has a winding path atop Big Ridge. SR 63 leaves the ridge to descend to the town of Haysi. The state highway passes over the Kingsport Subdivision at the south end of the railroad's short tunnel and crosses

Russell Fork The Russell Fork, 1975 Board on Geographic Names decision is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 13, 2011 tributary of the Levisa Fork in southwestern Virginia and sout ...

of the Big Sandy River just north of its confluence with the McClure River. SR 63 turns east and becomes the town's Main Street before the highway reaches its northern terminus in the center of town at its three-way intersection with SR 80 and SR 83, which follow Main Street east and Sandlick Drive south to cross Russell Prater Fork at its confluence with Russell Fork.

Major intersections

References

External links

Virginia Highways Project: VA 63
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