Moderate Hikes 

Moderate

This section of the Iron Mountain trail travels from Comers Rock Campground through rhododendron tunnels and hardwood forest to Hale Lake. Take the .3 mile spur trail from the campground to the Comers Rock overlook for beautiful views to the north and south. Comers Rock was once the site of a wooden fire tower originally built in the 1920’s but all that is left now is the rock foundation.

Mount Rogers National Recreation Area
3714 Highway 16
Marion, Virginia 24354
800-628-7202
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/gwj/recarea/?recid=73909

Moderate

This 2-mile loop is part of the original grant funded trail system that opened in 2010. The trail climbs gently up the side of the ridge and skirts its way through an open hardwood forest to the old reservoir on Venrick Run.

Crystal Springs is an 1,800-acre recreation area offering hiking, mountain biking, camping, backpacking, picnicking, and a Kids in Parks TRACK Trail just three miles from Downtown Wytheville. The thirteen miles of hiking and mountain biking trails range in difficulty from beginner to advanced. The newly built Terrain Park gives the intermediate to experienced mountain biker a fun place to practice on balance beams, teeter totters, rock gardens, log crossings, and other obstacles. There is a lot of history tucked away in the mountains that make up Crystal Springs. Prior to the Town of Wytheville acquiring the property, families farmed and logged the land. Piles of rocks that were cleared from the fields by farmers still stand along Woodpecker Run trail as testament to how difficult farming in the mountains could be. The Short Cut trail and the southern portion of the Boundary trail follow and old wagon road that crossed Lick Mountain. Stories passed through the generations tell of moonshiners using this road to move their product out of the sight of law enforcement. In the 1930’s, the Town of Wytheville purchased the land to preserve the watershed, which flowed to the town, and to build a water reservoir. The reservoir remains and is approximately 60 square feet and 8 feet deep, although years of erosion have fill it with sediment. Hike the Crystal Springs Loop trail to see the remnants of the reservoir. Along the Waterline trail you can see sections of the water pipe that carried water from the reservoir down the valley. Evidence of the past is scattered all throughout Crystal Springs, but you will have to look closely as it is now camouflaged by mother nature.

Crystal Springs Recreation Area
723 Pump Hollow Road
Wytheville, Virginia 24382
276-223-3368
https://www.wytheville.org/recreation/crystalsprings.php

Moderate

The trail head is located 2 miles south of Speedwell on US 21 on the left. The trail gently climbs up Henley Hollow crossing a small stream several times and traversing large rock outcrops before terminating at the Virginia Highlands Horse trail.

Mount Rogers National Recreation Area
3714 Highway 16
Marion, Virginia 24354
800-628-7202
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/gwj/recarea/?recid=73909

Moderate

From the Big Survey Wildlife Management Area parking lot off of Broadway Road (640) it is a 2.6 out and back hike to High Rocks. Note the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries requires you to have an Access Permit or a hunting/fishing license when using their property. See the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries website for more information.

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
Marion Office
1796 Highway 16
Marion, Virginia 24354
276-783-4860
https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/vbwt/sites/big-survey-wildlife-management-area/