Crystal Springs Recreation Area

Thursday                                                                      Most Recent Posts:
September 8, 2022                    New River – An Unusual Linear State Park
Stony Fork Campground                         Another Visitor – Lucky Me!
Site 46
Wytheville, Virginia

Today is my last hike from  Stony Fork.  I spent this afternoon wandering all around the trails at Crystal Springs Recreation Area.

It’s 1800 acres owned by the town of Wytheville.  The land was preserved as a watershed for the Town, and the remnants of an old reservoir remain. The recreation area is surrounded by the 7500 acre Big Survey Wildlife Management Area.

There are 13 miles of hiking trails but the majority is on the boundary trail around the entire 1800 acres.  I wasn’t interested in that.  But it also said there were 6 other shorter trails.  No mention was made of any actual spring. 

This is how the parking lot looked when I arrived in the early afternoon.  If it’s not busy now, when is it?  On the week-end perhaps??

The trails were marked but very hard to find.  Thank goodness I had their barely adequate map with me.  Several times I thought I might be lost and wandered around until I found a sign for one trail or the other.

I approached the entrance with “the trail”.  Thank goodness there was this cute kiosk?? with a map.

But as you can see in the picture above, “the trail” didn’t lead anywhere except into a huge grassy field where you could climb up the hill or not.

So I walked up to the top and still no trail markers.  This sort of looked like a trail so I followed it for a ways but it wasn’t going anywhere.  So I came back and went another direction.  Later I determined that this was probably the boundary trail.

I won’t go in to how long I wandered around before I found this first trail sign.
At least I knew where I was at this point.  This is the Salamander Meander and was on the map.  I followed it.

And it dead ended into an area with all these wooden things.

I couldn’t imagine what they were doing here.

I finally found this sign map, the only sign I found all day.  It told me I was in Terrain Park between the Waterline Trail and the Crystal Springs Loop.  Neither trail had I seen.

But I did see the Venrick Run.  Now how to get to it.

A closer look showed me what the wooden things were, several balance beams, a log crossing and challenge log (whatever that is), a teeter totter (which I did not see) and more.  Turns out these  balance beams, teeter totters, rock gardens, log crossings, and other obstacles are for mountain bikers to play on.  Might have been fun to see them but none today.

I’m not sure how I got from there to here or what this trail was called but it looked like a genuine trail so I followed it.  No signs.

It led into the woods where there was this orange something on the tree.  I later learned that orange was the High Rock Spur but there was no indication of that anywhere but on the sketchy map I’d gotten at the beginning.  So where did it go?

Somehow from there I ended up on what was marked by its white blaze as the Boundary trail.   The map below told me it was 7 miles and difficult.  It didn’t look difficult so I followed it gradually up until it started steeply climbing.  This was apparently the beginning of the difficult part.

I wasn’t into a mountain climb today so I turned around and retraced my steps.  I later read that the southern portion of the Boundary Trail I was on follows an 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.   I am in south west Virginia after all a hot bed of moonshine at the time especially the Cumberland Gap area where VA, KY and TN meet.  Virginia actually borders 5 states and DC.  Check your map.

Here’s a look at the only trail map I had.  At least it told me what the colors meant

I became concerned when I saw the sign on the right which said I was entering a hunting zone.  Must be that 7500 acres Wildlife Management Area.  Boy could you get lost. 

I didn’t think it was hunting season, I hadn’t heard any shots but I took the next path off of there and back in the other direction.

Always mushrooms if I’m watching.

Not sure how I ended up on this trail that crossed Venrick Run the main stream that cuts through the property.  But glad to find it.

But it took me to what is left of the reservoir built in the early 1900’s.

It was actually a sweet place with remains of  rock walls and a teen tiny “waterfall”.

Nice sandy “beach”.  If I’d brought a chair, I could sit and read.  Who knew.

I took these steps up wondering what they led to.  Whatever it was, I couldn’t figure it out so I just came back down and back in the direction I’d come from.

Ok, here’s the bridge.  Where does that trail on the left go.  This is pretty much what my afternoon had been like.  Where does this go, where does that go?

But AHA – the sign says this is the Woodpecker Run trail with an obvious blue blaze.  It is actually on my map and goes in the direction of the parking lot.

And up hill to get there.

Saw this beauty.

This little patch of partridge berry caught my eye because of the red berries and made me think of Christmas.  It’s a native ground cover which is great.

Sure enough, the blue trail led to the red trail which opened out into the field I recognized.  There was no blaze or sign at this end of the red trail.

And after just over 2 hours, the same two cars were in the parking lot.  I did 9934 steps for 4 miles of hiking.

I was starving and stopped again at Moon Dog Pizza to try their “Absolute Pizza” with a lot of toppings.  It wasn’t as good as the 5 topping “Beauty” I’d had with Mary last week.  But it provided 3 days worth of meals for someone who has tired of cooking.  Pizza is a seriously favorite food of mine.

New River - An Unusual Linear State Park

September 7, 2022                                                           Most Recent Posts:
Stony Fork Campground                                     Another Visitor – Lucky Me!
Site 46                                                                      Jodee & Bill Visit Stony Fork
Wytheville, Virginia

While I was close by, I wanted to check out the New River Trail State Park.  It’s an unusual linear state park which follows the New River for 57.5 miles along the old railroad bed.  It’s wonderful biking.  But I didn’t bring a bike with me to the mountains so I hiked it which was just as lovely or more so since I wasn’t whizzing by anything.

The trail has several access points.  I drove to Foster Falls mistakenly thinking there might be falls there.  It’s at MP 24 on the trail and has the old train station made into a store as well as a small campground, boat, horse and bike rentals.  No falls exactly but cascading waters gliding over river bedrock with a background of limestone cliffs.   Very lovely but not a place I’d want to kayak.  Though there are two boat ramps I assume for when the river water is much higher.

The park is part of an historic district with 12 buildings built in the late-19th century. They include the iron furnace stack, the rail bed and frame railroad passenger station (c. 1887), a general store building, and a combination gristmill/sawmill. The district includes the fantastic Foster Falls Hotel, a late-Victorian style brick building. The hotel property includes two brick dependencies associated with an orphanage that occupied the hotel building beginning in 1938. It now serves as the headquarters of the New River Trail State Park though as it was under renovation when I was there, I’m not sure where the headquarters is now.  There wasn’t much in the train station except the place to get your $4 parking sticker and a small park store.

I hiked around the area before starting the trail.

In the 19th century dozens of iron furnaces and forges dotted the New River Valley due to its high mineral content.  Foster Falls was one of these built in 1880 and operated with water power from the New River.  The town sprang up around it and died with it.

Eerily there was no one around.  No campers or indication of programs in the amphitheater.

There were two of these buildings which based on the grille I took to be some sort of picnic shelter.

The campground was all walk in tent sites right along the river you can see in the far distance.

I’d never seen these before but the signs said they were carts to haul your camping gear in from your car.

I walked along the river as far as I could go imagining kayaking here.

I took it that these were the riffles that gave Foster Falls its name and the granite cliffs.

Benches along the banks at several spots but no one around.

It was very lovely and serene.  Not at all like the wild white water river I had heard about stretching over 300 miles with class I, II and III rapids.

I’m not a white water kayaker but I wonder if these even have a class.  Anyone know?

From there I headed back up to the rail bed and the trail.

A nice picnic spot along the river.

I wondered if the trains on the railroad had been as close to these rocks as the railbed made it look.

I wondered what happened to the train bridge as I doubt this was it.  I also wondered, if it was not, who built and paid for this pedestrian bridge.

After the bridge I stopped at an information sign for Jackson’s Ferry.  There’s no sign of where it might have been.  I learned that in 1770 established a ferry here across the New River, the only one in the region at that time.  After a huge dispute, the route was awarded to the builder and operator of the Shot Tower further on down the trail, Thomas Jackson.  His family ran the ferry until 1931 when an auto bridge was built.  No sign of that here either.

  

I arrived at a sign for the shot tower shortly and climbed the indicated set of stairs up to find a parking lot and information signs.

The information told me that Thomas Jackson came from England with “the trade secret of dropped shot” a process refined there.  The tower took 5 years to build, completed in 1807 to manufacture lead shot.  It was the first factory to mass produce shot in America.   It was in operation for only 32 years.  It appears they are right proud of this 19th century commercial venture in Southwest Virginia.  They have named this spot Shot Tower Historic State Park.  I guess that accounts for the parking lot.

Nice view from up here.

I walked down to the other side.  But there really wasn’t much to see.

I walked a bit further on before turning back and having the river on my left.

I was surprised to see buckeyes on the trail.   I didn’t see the tree.  I’m originally from the Buckeye State but left at age 21.   I think  Buckeyes are lovely with their shiny walnut color and distinctive eye.  Supposedly the color of a Buck’s eye.  But they are not edible and can be toxic.

It was a lovely shady walk.

It seemed a perfect bike path though I only saw two bikers the entire way.

By the time I returned to Foster Falls, I’d walked 6 miles.