Hike Location: Shot Tower Historical State Park and New
River State Park
Geographic Location: southeast of Wytheville, VA (36.86986, -80.87019)
Length: 6.6 miles
Difficulty: 3/10 (Easy/Moderate)
Date Hiked: July 2019
Overview: A mostly flat out-and-back featuring an 1807 limestone
shot tower.
Park Information: https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/shot-tower
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=758809
Photo Highlight:
Directions to the trailhead: In southern Virginia, take
I-77 to SR 69 (exit 24). Exit and go
east on SR 69, then almost immediately turn left onto US 52. Drive US 52 north 1.4 miles to SR 624 and
take a soft left on SR 624. SR 624
dead-ends at Shot Tower Historical State Park.
Park in the park’s only parking lot.
The hike: When
most people think of a shot tower, they think of a tower a marksman would stand
atop to improve his sightlines, but the Jackson Ferry Shot Tower was used to
produce the bullets (or shot) the marksman would fire. Made of locally quarried limestone, the tower
took local miner and businessman Thomas Jackson 7 years to build, and it operated
between 1807 and 1839. Lead mined at
nearby Austinville (a town known as Lead Mines back then) was melted and poured
through a sieve at the top of the tower before falling 150 feet into a kettle
of water. The long drop was thought
necessary to properly mold the round shot, and the thick limestone walls
provided temperature control for the drop.
Many years after it ceased
production, the tower was donated to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and after
extensive renovation it opened to the public as Shot Tower Historical State
Park in 1968. While the 10 acre historical
park contains only a parking lot, the tower, and a very short paved loop that
accesses the tower, it is also a trailhead for the New River Trail, a 57-mile
Rails-to-Trails project that follows its namesake river for much of its
distance. From the shot tower, it is 1.2
miles east on the New River Trail to Foster Falls and its numerous amenities,
but this hike heads west on a more remote section of the New River Trail toward
Austinville, the source of the lead that was poured through the tower.
|
| Jackson Ferry Shot Tower |
Of course you should start by
touring the tower. Take the paved trail
to the left of the tower, which quickly curves right and descends to the
tower’s entrance. Although this entrance
appears to be at the base of the tower, in fact it is the middle of the tower:
75 feet of limestone stands above you, and a 75 foot shaft descends beneath this
point. When I came here on a hot
Saturday afternoon in late July, an historical interpreter stationed here told
me about the tower’s history and the shot-making process.
 |
| Connector trail to New River Trail |
Continue past the tower and look to
the left for some descending wooden steps that mark the beginning of the connector
trail that leads to the New River Trail.
A short but steep descent brings you to the New River Trail, a
cinder/gravel/dirt route that goes left and right. Turn left to begin heading west on the New
River Trail.
The New River can be seen downhill
to the right, and soon you pass under the I-77 bridge over the New River. Because the New River Trail is a rail/trail, the
entire trail is very flat. Also, horses
and bicycles are allowed to use the trail, but this section sees relatively little
traffic of any kind.
 |
| New River Trail |
For the next 1.5 miles the trail treads
a tight corridor between a steep hillside rising to the left and the river downhill
to the right. Some riverside canoe-in
campsites appear in this area, and overall the environment is shady and
scenic. For the most part trees
partially obscure views of the river, but at 0.7 miles a narrow gap in the
trees provides a clear view of the river and the grassy hillside beyond.
 |
| A clear view of the New River |
At 1.5 miles, the trail corridor
widens as you pass mile marker P27. Concrete
mile marker posts appear every mile along the New River Trail, and the P
indicates the number is the mileage from Pulaski, the trail’s eastern
terminus. I saw a doe and 2 fawns cross
the trail in front of me in this area.
 |
| Old railroad tunnel |
Near 2.5 miles, you cross Indian
Branch on a wooden bridge. A bench and
rest area just past this bridge would make a nice place to turn around, but if
you continue another 0.8 miles you reach an old railroad tunnel now used by the
trail. Carved from the rock, the tunnel
is less than 200 feet long, but on a hot day it will still be a few degrees
cooler inside the tunnel than outside.
Austinville, the source of the lead processed at the shot tower, lies a
few hundred feet beyond the tunnel. The
New River Trail continues for another 29 miles, so at some point you will need
to turn around and retrace your steps to the shot tower to complete the hike.
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