New River Trail State Park: Austinville Trailhead (Blog Hike #1072)

Trail: New River Trail
Hike Location: New River Trail State Park, Austinville Trailhead
Geographic Location: southeast of Wytheville, VA (36.85116, -80.91966)
Length: 4 miles
Difficulty: 2/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: September 2025
Overview: A double out-and-back on a rail-trail featuring interesting railroad constructions.
Park Information: https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/new-river-trail
Hike Route Map: Shared Publicly; Click This Link to View
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming July 17, 2026)

Directions to the trailhead: East of Wytheville, take I-77/81 to US 52 (exit 80).  Exit and go east on US 52.  Drive US 52 east 5.2 miles to Austinville Road and turn right on Austinville Rd.  Drive Austinville Rd. southwest 2.6 miles to SR 636, and turn left on SR 636.  Cross the New River, and drive another 0.2 miles to the signed Austinville Trailhead parking lot on the right.  Pay the park entrance fee and park in the large gravel lot.

The hike: For my general comments on the New River Trail, see my hike from 2019 that started at the Jackson Ferry Shot Tower a few miles downstream from this trailhead.  While rail-trails do not make for the most interesting hiking, the Austinville Trailhead is an above average place to start a hike on the New River Trail because interesting destinations can be reached in either direction.  This double out-and-back goes to both of those destinations while passing some other interesting sites, thus making a hike on a rail-trail as interesting as possible.

Stile at Austinville Trailhead

            Start by walking across SR 636 and through the yellow metal stile, heading east on the New River Trail.  The New River's floodplain lies to the left and the hillside rises to the right when you walk in this direction.  The trail surface is fine black gravel, and the trail's former life as a railroad grade ensures that all elevation changes are imperceptible and all curves are gradual.

Old lead mine?

            If you look to the right at 0.35 miles, you will see a hole in the cliff that looks like an old mine shaft.  While I could not find any information about this specific mine, many lead mines operated near Austinville in the early 1800's; they provided material for making shot at the nearby Jackson Ferry Shot Tower.  A metal grate prevents access today, and for good reason: entering old mines is a dangerous proposition.

Austinville Tunnel

            At 0.5 miles, you reach the main point of interest in this direction: the old Austinville railroad tunnel.  Though only a couple hundred feet long, on a hot day the tunnel will be several degrees cooler than the outside air temperature.  On any day the chiseled rock walls make for stark scenery, and a bench near the tunnel entrance makes a nice place to sit, rest, and rehydrate.

Austinville Trailhead

            The trail continues east for 28 more miles to Pulaski, but this hike turns around here and starts heading west toward the point of interest in that direction.  Re-cross SR 636 and pass the official Austinville Trailhead, which is marked by a signed shelter, picnic tables, trash cans, and a port-o-let.  The forest consists of many black walnut, oak, and sweet gum trees with some sycamore and a few red cedars.  I saw 3 deer when I hiked this trail a couple of hours before sunset on a cool but humid evening in early September.

Old industrial area

            Soon you pass a large white concrete post marked P29.  These mile markers appear throughout the New River Trail, and the P indicates that the distance given is from Pulaski, the trail's eastern terminus.  At 1.2 miles, you pass an old concrete industrial area on the right.  Although I am not sure what this area was, railroad tracks atop the concrete link it to this trail's railroad days.  Maybe the concrete platform was a resupply or loading point.  The trail curves right to get closer to the river, and a low-level waterfall can be seen downhill in the river if the trees are bare enough.

Trestle over New River

View downstream

View upstream

            After the trail curves left, you reach the trestle over the New River at 2.4 miles.  The trestle is nearly 80 feet high, and it gives great views both up and down the river.  The view upstream with Poplar Camp Mountain in the background is my favorite view on this hike.  The trail continues west, but the trestle is a good place to turn around.  Retrace your steps 1.6 miles to the Austinville Trailhead to complete the hike.