Floyd: The Next Trail Town, USA?

Move over Damascus. The small town of Floyd-Virginia’s eclectic little mountain enclave in the central Blue Ridge-just might be making a run for the title of Trail Town, USA. A new Trails in Floyd Project is working to build a 60-mile network of hiking and biking trails to connect the town to the nearby mountains along the Blue Ridge Parkway and the New River. When it’s completed, organizers are hoping the trail system will make Floyd-located about 40 miles southwest of Roanoke-one of the top recreation hot spots in the region.

The seven proposed trail corridors will connect downtown Floyd to the Parkway, Buffalo Mountain, Mabry Mill, and the New River Trail. The system will heavily incorporate an old route of the Appalachian Trail, which used to run through Floyd County next to the Parkway.

The trails project started from the desires of a few active citizens, including Dennis Anderson, who bikes regularly with his wife. He founded the Trails in Floyd volunteer group after receiving county support and has begun applying for grants and working to secure easements. So far private landowners have reacted favorably to the prospect of new trails, and general public interest has been encouraging at a series of open meetings. Anderson wants to focus on the trails as not only opportunities for recreation but also a way to increase the sustainability within Floyd’s tight-knit community.

“The benefits are innumerable,” he says. “Public support for this project has shown that people want this for the health benefits of being active, but the community aspect is also important. We want to tie our communities together and see kids walking to school on these trails.”

The plan is to make all of the trails multi-purpose, open to hikers, bikers, and horseback riders with no access to any type of motorized vehicles. With the map of the current system, a range of connecting circuit opportunities will open up in an area of the Blue Ridge that was mostly limited to the short spur trails of the Parkway. A specific timeline for completion has not yet been set, but as property owners continue to donate land, Anderson is optimistic construction on some of the trails out of Floyd’s Recreation Park should begin this year. The toughest trails to secure will be in the cross-county corridor that connects Floyd west to the New River Trail.

“We’re counting on willing landowners, because we have no power or interest to take property,” Anderson says. “It’s going to be a piecemeal process, but so far, everyone has been supportive.” -Jedd Ferris