Ridge Road, north of Charlottesville

It used to have decent shade but I haven't run it in quite some time, moved to Seattle 17 years ago. It gets plenty hot, even with shade, tho - didn't a runner from Albemarle HS die while running Ridge Rd? It was during the summer and he was headed to W&M in the fall, if I recall correctly.

I used to drink my fill of water about an hour prior to running to ensure I had ample supply of fluids in me on my runs. The more comfortable you are running with water in your stomach the better off you'll be.

I think you posted a few months ago and I tried then to contact you about training with our grp (all girls) or the many in C'ville.

You can swing by RM store and leave a number or ask them about routes. The marathon training grp runs long every Sat. and if you join and pay a small fee they send you emails with where they plan to run. Marc from RMS has mile markers and water stops. They usually start around 6:30.

Ridge is pretty shaded and mostly dirt. We park up at the elementary school to add on a few extra miles if going long. If you run early you won't have any trouble. I'm not sure what you mean by heading north.

Ridge is west of Charlottesville. If you like trails head even further west and run from the Sugar Hollow reservoir.

Ridge Rd is 80-90% shaded and is very very hilly. Exactly 8 mile out and back. You can add on an extra 4 hilly miles by running out and back on Decca Rd.

I am a post collegant guy going to grad school at UVA and am not too familiar with the running scene here either. But I run Ridge Rd and Dick Woods Rd every week.

Awesome, thanks for the responses. Yeah, I think I had a brain fart when I said north....it's west on Barracks, which becomes Garth, right? Fortunately hills don't bother me too much (coming from Seattle) and it's good to know about the shade. I'm going to try to head up there while the weather is still nice and relatively cool :-) I forgot to ask in my OP, but how's traffic on that road? It seems there's no sidewalk - how's the traffic, and is it pretty safe? Also, is the road gravel or dirt? Thanks again for the responses!

gravel, a few pieces of loose gravel but not too bad, very very few cars

Watch out for thouse Hoo kids out there 75% are heartbroken.

I'm also a postcollegiate runner now grad student at UVA. Unfortunately to find any good trails it appears as though you have to go out of the city a bit. There are a couple places around O-Hill that are trails but a bit hilly and not terribly long. And I actually live on Barracks, so I may check that Ridge place out.

kartelite do still run often? Got any more info on places to run. I am a first year grad student, just got here in July, so I am doing pretty much the same loop everyday. Email me if you got anymore info. Thanks.

I'm not finding any time to run right now, we're doing a whole course in 12 days so it's pretty hectic. But I've run around this area in the past, mostly I started around UVA grounds and explored. If you go out Ivy west maybe a mile from Emmet St (after crossing the 250 overpass), there's a turn to the left that leads around this nice residential area, there's a little pond it loops around. Not a whole lot of mileage, but I've done fartleks and stuff out there. I haven't done much far away from campus, so you're probably familiar with most of the stuff I am. I would check out the trails that lead to O-Hill for a nice change of pace...again if you're planning on more than 5 or 6 miles you'll have to retrace your steps some.

Hey Kartelite, I live right off of Barracks road also (Georgetown). I'd ask if you wanted to go for a run sometime, but it sounds like you're quite a bit faster than me :-) My husband doesn't run, but I'm making him get up early to drive me out to ridge road this weekend....he just started med school at the UVA, so we figured he can do some studying while I go for a run. I found a nice little five-miler from my house...not sure where you are on Barracks, but if you're northwest of the shopping Barracks Road shopping center you might like this: head toward the shopping center along Barracks, and at the intersection of Barracks and Emmit, cross the intersection kitty corner, so you're buy ALC Coppies, and then continue along Barracks up the hill. Follow Barracks all the way to the bottom of the long hill (I think by this point, it's called something else, but just follow the main road) and then take a right onto Madison, which becomes 14th. You can follow that all the way to that low-hanging train bridge, and then take a right at the corner, and head up toward campus. Keep going 'till you get to Emmit, and take a right. This will get you back to the intersection of Barracks and Emmit, and you can head home from there. Since I'm about 3/4 of a mile northwest of the shopping center, it gives me about five miles, round trip. Very hilly, but you get sidewalks the whole way, and it's a pretty loop :-)

Also, if you haven't checked out the Rugged Mountain Running Shop yet, they're awesome, and they have a little booklet of running routs for $4.75. Several of these routs run along, or near Barracks. Good luck!

Hey I'm surprised the whole place isn't paved by now.

Ridge Rd and Decca are really about as nice as you'll find in C'ville. A couple of other nice dirt roads are just a bit farther out. Sorry I can't recall the names. Stay on the main drag (Barracks) until you reach the next big crossroad then turn right. Park just before the bridge. One of those starts just beyond the bridge, the other is close by. Other than those, C'ville will be a real letdown for anyone coming from Seattle, Portland, Eugene, Bend or Ashland, or any runner's town west of the Rockies for that matter. Just keep your sense of humor, and remember that in a moment of need there is always the stairs at the medical center.

Didn't think much of the Ragged Mountain owner and ended up avoiding that place mostly --not much point to it. I imagine they are unbearable now that the school has a decent coach.

Say hey to Art. And if you have trouble fitting in, buy yourself a Tide Racing Team cap or maybe just join the polo club. As obnoxious as all the Jefferson stuff will get to be, remember the man could build one helluva a garden wall.

Hmm I live right by there too (HH), so I may give that loop a try this fall. Right now 5 miles seems a bit daunting but I'm hoping to get back into a regular routine next month. I have always been very partial to running on trails/grass, unfortunately the opportunities for that here don't seem to abound.

kartelite wrote:

I have always been very partial to running on trails/grass, unfortunately the opportunities for that here don't seem to abound.

have you not been on any of the rivanna trails? or reservoir road and the trails at the end of it?

the rivanna trail runs around town and is about 22 miles long. of that i'd say at least 16 is not paved. It breaks up for a couple hundred yards every once in a while but you should be able to find where it meets back up.

reservoir rd is a couple miles long and mostly gravel and at the end are a few miles of trails.

you have to watch your step on some of them, but there are plenty of non-paved surfaces around if you want to find them.

quickest from barracks would be hopping on the rivanna, either down by "The Park" past the law school or by the English Inn down near Bodos.

and you live in HH? interesting choice

where is reservoir rd?

JPA turns into Fontaine at Durty Nellys. go down fontaine about a mile or so. its on your right at the top of the hill, right before the church.

before you get there you will also pass a rivanna trail head

rivanna? reservoir? wrote:

have you not been on any of the rivanna trails? or reservoir road and the trails at the end of it?

the rivanna trail runs around town and is about 22 miles long. of that i'd say at least 16 is not paved. It breaks up for a couple hundred yards every once in a while but you should be able to find where it meets back up.

reservoir rd is a couple miles long and mostly gravel and at the end are a few miles of trails.

you have to watch your step on some of them, but there are plenty of non-paved surfaces around if you want to find them.

quickest from barracks would be hopping on the rivanna, either down by "The Park" past the law school or by the English Inn down near Bodos.

I've been on one of the Rivanna trails a couple years ago. I had to cross a road or two, and then I found the trail was pretty wet with some huge logs across it, pretty much impossible to get a good run in. I have been pretty spoiled the past few places I've lived with good trail networks within a mile. I'm sure I'll figure out the Rivanna network eventually and also try Reservoir, but Ridge Rd sounds like what I'm looking for. Thanks for the info.

Wow, I live in HH too...small world!