Hiking

Almost two-thirds of the area's 400 miles of trails are on these routes: the local stretch of the Appalachian Trail (64 miles), the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail (66 miles), and the Iron Mountain Trail (51 miles). Many of the other 67 trails connect to these main routes, and many can be linked into circuit hikes.

You can walk for days on the white-blaze Appalachian Trail without crossing a paved road, especially on the central stretch up and down the flanks of Mount Rogers between C.R. 603 and C.R. 600. A spur goes to the top of the mountain. The blue-blaze Mount Rogers Trail, a very popular alternate route, leaves C.R. 603 near Grindstone Campground; a spur from that track heads down into the pristine Lewis Fork Wilderness before rejoining the Appalachian Trail.

Running across the southern end of the area, the Virginia Creeper Trail offers a much easier, but no less beautiful, hike (and bike ride). This 34-mile route follows an old railroad bed from Abingdon to White Top Mountain.