Life Outside Fall 2018 - 36

NATURAL

HIGH

New River Valley's Giles and Montgomery counties offer a
stunning bounty of get-out-'n'-do places, including the nation's
newest long-distance hiking trail and the longest-running
mountain bike ride in the Mid-Atlantic region.
BY SU CLAUSON-WICKER
COURTESY GILES COUNTY TOURISM

LOOK OUT TO THE WEST as you exit I-81 west toward

Blacksburg and Giles County, and you'll see rows of
mountains with a come-hither look. In New River
Valley, every town is within shouting distance of
a forest trail, bike route or fishing stream. The
Appalachian Trail clambers over five mountains
and ashy dolomite cliffs tower 400 feet above the
New River.
Some of northern New River Valley sites are
iconic-60-foot Cascades waterfall, Big Falls tubing run at New River Junction, the Appalachian
Trail and Mountain Lake. Other lesser-known but
equally inviting spots lurk in the hollows and off
backroads-Falls Ridge's ever-growing travertine

Fall 2018 \\ LifeOutside Magazine

waterfall and Narrows's Mill Creek's hidden pools
of native trout, for instance.
With more than a quarter of its land in Jefferson National Forest, Giles County earns its title,
"Virginia's Mountain Playground™." Montgomery
County also boasts a good slice of New River as well
as a network of inviting trails for hikers, joggers,
cyclists and even some daring unicyclists. Plus
craft beer-four breweries have sprouted up on
the Montgomery side of Brush Mountain.
So, follow U.S. 460 along the spine of the northern
New River Valley westward from the Blue Ridge to
the Appalachian range. A mother lode of outdoor
adventures await in these mountains and this river.

Life Outside Fall 2018

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