We spent today at Walnut Creek Park in North Garden, VA. This outdoor gem of over 500 acres is maintained by Albemarle County Parks and Rec with seemingly endless things to do including hiking, biking, canoe/kayaking, fishing, disc golf, and even some small craft boating. The weather today was fantastic with full blow sun, a nice breeze, and temps in the low 70s. Tara, Henry, Jax, and I set out to conquer as much of the 15 miles of trails as we could before seeing tell-tale signs of slowing down by our pups, mainly Henry.
The road into the park basically runs north / south with it winding just to the east of the 45-acre lake. Trails are located on the east and west sides of the lake and are mostly rolling terrain with the shortest distance trail being just .3M and the longest 4 miles. The trails are mostly packed dirt comprised of rocks and roots, etc. and are really nice for hiking, running, or mountain biking. There are several “ford crossings” or creek stretches where you will most likely get wet while attempting to get to the other side. These were welcome respites for the dogs as they both stopped to drink and frolic for at least 5 minutes at each opportunity. There is a disc golf course here that looks amazing! Maybe one of the nicest frisbee courses I have ever seen with some challenging terrain to maneuver inclusive of hills, mud bogs, and water obstacles such as creeks and even parks of the lake.
This place is about 20 minutes from Charlottesville and only about 25 minutes from where we are staying at Misty Mountain. Tara and I plan to come back in a few days with our bikes and ride these trails as they look to be super fun with very few riders to contend with for trail time. We might just make a full day of it followed by at least one round of disc golf.
