Mill Mountain Review

Most of you recognize Mill Mountain as the place where the neon star shines over the city every night or as the location of the zoo.  Some of you may have fond memories of a rendezvous on the mountain for all I know.  HA!  I want to give you a perspective of the variety of trails you will find there.  Let's start off with asphalt first.


1. The "Old Road" (TOR) - Officially known as Sylvan Road or Prospect Road,  the old road was the original road up Mill Mountain.  It is a steep, narrow and twisting road.  It is lined on one side by old rock walls and on the other by more modern, but rusting guardrail.  There is a "Toll Booth" towards the bottom where at one time, users had to pay a fee to drive up the mountain.  The "Toll Booth" was redone in anticipation of the inaugural Blue Ridge Marathon.  Towards the top of the road, there is a bridge where the road actually loops back over itself.  Right next to the bridge you will find a beautiful home.  The home belongs to a local physician and his wife.  Some nights you will find that they are entertaining guests with a live band, and occasionally you will run across a special event such as a wedding reception. The view from the property is amazing.  The road is often in good shape, but littered with broken twigs and random debris from the wind.  In the fall, you may even find the road to be knee deep in leaves in certain parts.  TOR ends near the Wildflower Garden and Discovery Center.  Technically it is open to cars as far up as the house, but I wouldn't venture that far up it as turning around can be tricky.

2. J.P. Fishburn Parkway aka The "New Road" (JPF) - This is the main two lane road that ferries traffic from Walnut Avenue to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It is a more gradual, but longer climb up the mountain from the downtown area.  Pretty routine as far as roads go.  It is always a good idea to pay attention and be on the look out for road cyclists and wildlife as both tend to frequent this road quite a bit.  There is a trail cross not far from the last houses.  This is the Star Trail and it is marked as a pedestrian crosswalk, so by law you should stop for hikers.

Those are the two asphalt ways up Mill Mountain, so let's move on to trails.  First let me tell you about the "vertical trails."

1. Monument (MUMT) - Monument trail is 1.5 miles long and climbs Mill Mountain from its trail head on Sylvan Rd. (TOR) to its terminus at the J.P. Fishburn Monument near the split in the roads.  The trail itself is mostly hard packed with an assortment of roots and rock gardens.  It is very narrow in places with little room for error.  Ascending Monument leaves a sharp drop off on your left in places.  There are a few places where the trail pitches up for short sections.  Nearly halfway up, you will cross the Star Trail where there is signage to keep you on the right path.  MUMT essentially curves you up the mountain above JPF.  Once you cross Star Trail, there is a brief section of rocky trail then it smooths out again.  You will cross a big rock then come to another short pitch up around a tree before heading left into a weedy-at times area.  Use caution here as sight lines are diminished when the greenery is abundant.  After this section, roll on.  Believe it or not, there is a downhill ahead!  You will zoom along pretty quickly, so be careful to share the trail and not clip a tree.  The trail ends at a sidewalk, so unless you can see that no one is there, slow down.  White blazes mark the way.

2. Woodthrush (WT) - Woodthrush is the 1.6 miles trail that runs from the Star Trail parking lot off of Riverland Road up to the JPF.  This trail is a shared use trail from the parking lot to the water tower (The Star Trail goes the right and is hiker only).  There is also 2/10 of a mile connector trail that is found on your right just after leaving the parking lot.  A fun, little trail that almost has a pump track feel to it when descending. Woodthrush is a steady climb that will work you to tears.  Like MUMT, there are sections where it pitches up.  WT is also home to two hand-built, wood bridges that were constructed by two local Eagle Scouts.  When descending WT, use caution on these bridges as they can be very slippery.  WT is also a hardpacked trail with sections of rocks (mostly at the bottom).  There are usually some muddy spots after rain storms.  It is a wide trail with lots of room for passing other trail users.  Towards the top you will come across a trailhead for Virginia Pine Trail, more on this later!  WT ends at the road, there is no sign at this end because it technically ends on National Park Property where we all know bike riding is forbidden.  (eyeroll)  Orange blazes mark the way.

3. Riser (R) - 0.3 mile, narrow, hardpack trail from Big Sunny to the intersection of the trails near the road.  Riser is blazed in pink.  Tricky left hand switchback about halfway up if you're climbing.  Coming downhill, I can say I've never ridden around the turn.  I don't know why, but I just can't do it.  Riser gets you were you're going.  I like the trail personally, I think because the trail was built by a friend of mine.  =)

4. Ridgeline (Rdg) - 1.3 miles long.  At the bottom where it meets Morrison Ave, it is fairly flat then it is very steep, very rutted and very hard to climb.  It's probably the most severe climb up Mill Mountain.  Again the bottom is near JPF and on National Park Service property so it's maintenance suffers accordingly.  Over the years, a rogue trail has formed that takes it over to JPF near Woodthrush.  Once you survive to the top of the climb, there is a swift downhill to the intersection of trails before you start climbing again.  The trail after the intersections has plenty of roots and rocks to navigate over and around.  A sharp right hand switchback awaits near the gravel access road for the zoo.  After crossing the gravel road the trail meanders up behind the zoo fence then beside it before dumping out into the grass below the sidewalk to the zoo.  Some of us call this upper part Zoo Poo because on certain days it reeks of animal poop.  Purple blazes.

5. Virginia Pine Trail (VP) - 1/2 mile from the origin on Hartsook Road up to Woodthrush.  VP is the newest trail on MM.  It is a steady climb with some challenging switchbacks.  There is also a log ride along VP.  I don't ride it enough to really give an opinion about it. 

6. Star Trail (S) - Hiker only, 1.4 miles.  All types of trail bed - smooth, rocks, roots, steep ups, very little flat.  Haven't been on it in a while.

7. Watchtower (W) - Hiker only, from the Star overlook, go past the Star walking away from the bathrooms, look on your left.  Red Blazed trail that shoots you down to the old road.  As I recall it is a fairly nice trail.  There are a set of rock steps at the bottom which were hand placed by the local trail gurus.

There are other trails that more or less run "horizontally."

1. Big Sunny (BS) - AKA Old Car Trail - This trail is 0.7 miles long and is a gravel trail with many tree roots.  The novelty of the trail is the old car that is off to the right hand side of the trail.  The trail runs from the Old Road to Robin Hood Road.  It is blazed in light blue.  There is a nice view of the helipad of Roanoke Memorial from the power line right-of-way.  If you're lucky you can watch one of the medical helicopters land.

2. Crystal Spring (CS) - 0.6 mile trail that runs from Woodcliff Road to Ivy Lane.  This gravel trail is home to the old Crystal Spring Reservoir, which in the fall and winter you can see the fence around to the left (downhill side).  This trail is a good connector trail when making loops (see next blog post).  It is essentially below Big Sunny in places and offers a similar view of the helipad at RMH. 

Nearby trails of interest include Fern Park (FP) which has a nice singletrack trail that leads from the neighborhood up to JPF.  You should walk the last section as it ends on NPS.  (eyeroll again).  It also connect to the Chestnut Ridge Loop which as a NPS trail prohibits mountainbikes.  If you're looking for a run, go here!  It is an awesome trail to hike and run on. 

Ok, now that I've given you a summary of the trails, I will try to post a separate blog about some ways to link the trails together into a ride or two!  I've enjoyed many miles on MM lately.  I hope that these hot, humid summer rides will help prepare me so that I can enjoy some nice crisp fall and winter rides.  I've always loved MM and now that I can ride so many trails so close to home, I have a deeper affection for it!  It's a good place to be and I usually feel very safe there!  I've even run into the Mayor of Roanoke several times as he lives nearby.  I saw him with his trusty canine today on Crystal Spring.  Such a nice man.  He always takes time to speak.  Knowing he uses the trails is a plus for all of us trail users!