In anticipation of running the Hokie Half Marathon this fall with Meagan on the Huckleberry Trail, I am going to take you on a run on the 5.76-mile trail that runs from Christiansburg to Blacksburg…

The Virginia Anthracite Coal and Rail Company tracks were removed and the Huckleberry Trail was built back in 1966. Bill and I love to run on the trail whenever we are visiting our alma mater, Virginia Tech. We usually park and start in the very early morning at the New River Valley Mall. Obviously this picture was taken at the end of our run, but I’m using it because I don’t have any pictures of this sign in the dark. Oh well…

HuckleberryTrail

 

Fall mornings in southwestern Virginia are usually very foggy! Look closely and you can see one of the Virginia Tech’s practice or intramural fields.

HuckleberryTrailFog

 

The spider that wove this web must think he’s in Richmond (University of Richmond Spiders)! My sons say if I have to explain the joke, it wasn’t worth telling!

HuckleberryTrailSpiderWeb

 

Obviously this picture was taken on a different day. That’s Lane Stadium in the distance, my favorite place to spend a Saturday afternoon in the fall!

HuckleberryTrailLaneStadium

 

Much of the trail runs along 460, the major highway that takes you into Blacksburg from Interstate 81. For the most part though, it’s just far enough away that you’re not aware of the vehicles. You just see a lot of beautiful fields…

HuckleberryTrailField

 

And run through some tree groves…

HuckleberryTrailHill

 

And between a huge cut in the rocks…

HuckleberryTrailCarvedOut

 

And if you’re lucky, you’ll see some red Huckleberries!

HuckleberryTrailRedHuckleberries

 

Thus the name, Huckleberry Trail…

HuckleberryTrailSign

 

This is a side bridge/trail that’s not part of the Huckleberry Trial. Our legs usually beg us to run on it for a little while just because it feels so good!

HuckleberryTrailBridge

 

Like a little kid, I always hope that I will be running across this bridge when a train passes by underneath. We were luck one time and I got to wave at the engineer, but I didn’t get a picture…

HuckleberryTrailRailRoadBridge

 

Our Cruiser friend Beth was in town for a game one weekend and joined us for a run. We saw this Holstein cow, and as we were leaving we “herd” her say, “Eat mor chickin.”  Can you believe she’s photo-bombing Beth’s picture?

HuckleberryTrailBethCow

 

Once we got to the Virginia Tech campus we added a few miles by running around the Drill Field and the rest of campus. I got Bill to snap a quick picture of me in front of the building where I spent the most of my time!

HuckleberryTrailDebGym

 

And finally after doing our out-and-back run, we got our finish line photo!

HuckleberryTrailSignWithBeth

 

  • Questions:
  • Do you have a favorite trail that is at one of your often visited destinations?
  • If you’re a runner, did you run in college (competitively or for fitness)?
  • What was your college major?