Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2019 - 20

COUNTRY ROADS

PIPESTEM RESORT
ZIPS IT UP

est Virginia's Pipestem Resort State
Park takes adventure up a notch this
spring with a slate of new outdoor activities, including one of the longest zip line
systems in the East.
Beginning in late spring, visitors can
frolic in a new splash park, try rock climbing, tube the Bluestone Gorge and participate in guided trout fishing, kayaking,
standup paddleboarding and mountain
biking tours. The new activities are offered
through a partnership with ACE Adventure Resort, which will provide the staff
and equipment for guided activities and
instruction.
The highlight of Pipestem's 2019 additions is the opportunity to zip over the
Bluestone River three times at heights of
more than 300 feet. The zip line, which
opens in May, features nine zips offering spectacular views. The zip lines were
constructed by Colorado-based Bonsai
Design, which also developed the zip lines
at the nearby Summit Bechtel Scouting
Reserve.
The zip line construction is just one
part of the $11 million-dollar investment at Pipestem. Cabin modernizations,
campground upgrades, a lakeside beach,
and tram renovations are also scheduled
this year.
-SU CLAUSON-WICKER

Pipestem's new zip opportunities include
travel over the Bluestone River.

BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

The popular Huckleberry Trail connecting Blacksburg and Christiansburg, Virginia, will now
extend to Brush Mountain.

NEW TRAILS IN VIRGINIA'S
NEW RIVER VALLEY
The walker-friendly Huckleberry Trail will fill in its last gap.

he Appalachian Trail and New
River Trail make this part of Virginia a destination for hikers and
bikers. Now a new mountain bike skills
park, a trail extension, and plans for
more mountain trails are being added to
the outdoor adventure mix near Blacksburg.
Blacksburg's longest trail, the Huckleberry, is filling in the last gap in its
10-mile paved path between Brush
Mountain in northwest Blacksburg and
Christiansburg. The Huckleberry follows
an old railroad bed, playing leapfrog
with Lick Run through Merrimac Mine
Heritage Park. No trace of the company
town remains, but the mine is represented by a rusted winch and a pile of coal.
The Huckleberry traverses an active rail
line, skirting New River Valley Mall on
its way to the Christiansburg Recreation
Center. Trail users who want to stay
within Blacksburg town limits can trek a
6.5-mile section between the library and
Brush Mountain.
Mountain bikers will be able to
practice their jumps and bike-handling
skills at a Blacksburg mountain bike
skills park beginning in May. Blacksburg Rotary Mountain Bike Park
is perched on four acres of Brush
Mountain, strategically located at the
south end of the Huckleberry Trail.
The site is the most popular access
point to the Jefferson National Forest
within Blacksburg town limits.
Before long, mountain bikers will

have new trails to ride along the eastern
side of Blacksburg's Brush Mountain.
The New River Land Trust has received a
grant to buy 553 acres on Brush Mountain for outdoor recreation, making possible a network of trail connecting with
the existing Poverty Creek trail system.
The addition comes thanks to payments
to offset detrimental forest impact due
to pipeline construction by the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline.
-SU CLAUSON-WICKER

30 Years Ago

in Blue Ridge Country
"Zelda was the one true love of Scott
Fitzgerald's life. He had loved her
with an almost unselfish devotion.
Zelda's affair with a French aviator
while they were living on the Riviera
in the 1920s was the beginning of
their estrangement. Fitzgerald could
never resolve himself to this event."
-Ray Hardee,
writing in the May/
June, 1989 issue on
"F. Scott Fitzgerald's
Asheville Days:
Trying to Go Home
Again."

Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2019