North River Gorge Trail - July 26, 2020

With the Charlottesville area in a long running heat wave, hike leader Jeff Monroe invited some PATC members who had expressed previous interest in hiking for a relatively last minute hike on the North River Gorge Trail.  Karen and John Ballen accepted the challenge.  

The North River Gorge Trail is located in the GWNF North River District west of Churchville.  It has virtually no elevation gain over most of its length, except right at the end when hikers returned to their vehicles.  There were at least a dozen North River crossings, so everyone's feet got wet. The hike leader made the hike in Crocs, which worked great.

Most of the trail is an old woods road, so the trail generally was very wide and not subject to summer growth.  The river water felt great and the river itself provided social distancing over lunch, with a hiker and a dog on one side and married hikers on the other.

North River Gorge is an ideal summer hike: relatively cool, little elevation gain, little summer overgrowth, without a lot of other hikers over most of its distance.  

Hike Distance: 9.6 miles

Total Ascent: 600 feet

Total Time: 4:05