Tough, Beautiful, and Rugged
Located in the northwest corner of Albemarle County, and just a stone’s-throw away from Shenandoah National Park, is the new 600-acre forest preserve. The park sits at the foot of the Blue Ridge, on the slopes of Little Flat Mountain, which is connected to Big Flat Mountain, one of the tallest peaks in the South District. The park features a couple of mostly shaded multi-use trails for hiking, running, mountain biking and horseback riding with some significant elevation gain.
Little Flat Mountain Loop is the principal loop trail running through the park. It's 4.3 miles long from parking lot and offers beautiful views with lots of wildlife spotted recently. There is a nice vista at the Gibson Mountain Overlook at about the halfway mark, and is a great workout to get there climbing 1200 feet in 2.1 miles for the payoff. At one point in the hike, if you hiked almost directly north, you would be only 1.4 miles from Loft Mountain Campground in Shenandoah National Park. Trail intersections are well marked, however there are no trail blazes.
Source: Albemarle.org,
Hikingupward.com
