If you’re looking for a beautiful place to enjoy a quiet walk, run or bike ride it’s hard to beat the Old Mills Trail in Albemarle County. This trail, which begins at Darden Towe Park, winds 2.5 miles on the east bank of the Rivanna River, passing through forests, under cliff faces, along riffles and in view of many historic resources.
It’s about to get a lot better because Albemarle is beginning the first phase of a planned project to extend the Old Mills Trail four miles downstream. There it will eventually connect to a future park at Milton Landing and an existing greenway in Glenmore. This will combine with existing trails to yield a continuous 10-mile riverside greenway and blueway stretching from the urban core of Charlottesville, across historic Monticello properties and into the Rural Area. It will provide first-time access to heritage resources of global significance.
The effort will require sustained leadership, sweat equity and financial support. Forces are moving in a positive direction and your help is needed.
New Access to Ancient Beauty While Connecting Neighborhoods
The Old Mills Trail extension is a top priority for reasons that become apparent with the first visit. The trail, which begins within sight of the City of Charlottesville, follows the Rivanna River (the first Designated Scenic River in Virginia) as it passes through the Southern Albemarle Rural Historic District. Much of the surrounding lands are forever protected by conservation easements and other development restrictions. The river waters host abundant wildlife and drown the sounds of the nearby city.
Because the nearby Port of Pireus was historically the upstream limit of river navigation, numerous historic resources are clustered in the surrounding area. The trail extension will follow the still-visible traces of the ancient Three Notched Road and be an eastern extension of the Three Notched Trail. The trail will pass through land that was traditional Monacan territory and part of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, including the Shadwell plantation, where he was born. Historic treasures visible along the trail’s route include historic Woolen Mills, remnants of the Rivanna Navigation Company’s canal and lock system, and the ruins of Jefferson’s mill. Many of these resources have never been accessible to the public – but they could be soon.
On top of its outstanding recreational value, the Old Mills Trail will connect two of Albemarle County’s designated growth areas (Pantops and Village of Rivanna) and pass near a hospital, a school, a shopping center and numerous hotels and inns. It will provide a beautiful, restorative route for walking, running and biking between the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle’s Rural Area, and generate economic activity in the nearby neighborhoods and beyond.
Long Stalled Progress, Now in Motion
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation (Monticello) began proffering land for the trail way back in 2007, but the trail project didn’t go anywhere – literally and figuratively. PEC assembled a task force at the 2025 Active Mobility Summit to develop a feasible implementation plan and to shepherd the project to completion. At the 2026 summit, Albemarle officials announced that Monticello had conveyed the final easement needed to move forward with permitting and constructing the trail extension. The work of designing and permitting the trail can finally advance.
With money from the Anne and Gene Worrell Foundation (which also supported the new pedestrian bridge to Biscuit Run Park), PEC hired landscape architects from Kimley-Horn to assemble preliminary designs, cost estimates, and an implementation schedule. Local professionals who have followed the project for a long time also contributed significant work.
The trail extension will need to be completed in phases, crossing historic sites and landmarks such as Lego Farm, Shadwell Farm, Stone-Robinson Elementary School, and Milton Landing. Albemarle County has requested $300,000 from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) Recreational Trails Program (RTP) grant to help pay for the first mile of this connection (Lego Farm). The funds will be used to build critical infrastructure including a 35-foot-long pedestrian bridge, a 70-foot-long railroad underpass shelter and site-specific earthwork to establish a sustainable, natural-surface multi-use path.
DCR will announce award winners later this Summer.
The Path Forward
Whether or not the grant is successful, the County will be on the clock to begin the work at Lego Farm by August 16, 2027 to beat a deadline set in Monticello’s original deed of easement. The easement deadline to complete the Lego Farm segment is 2029, but we are aiming for Phase 1 completion in 2028.
Work has already begun to overcome the biggest obstacles: a bureaucratic logjam, lack of urgency and missing coordination. County staff has allocated time to work on the project, as demonstrated in their beautifully-written grant proposal and they have been meeting internally to work through permitting and project management details. These coordination efforts continue.
The collective efforts have unlocked overdue conversations with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the VA Passenger Rail Authority, CSX and the Buckingham Branch Railroad. These entities require legal agreements and protective infrastructure for the trail to pass under their bridges in Pantops. These permissions, which had been stifled for lack of will, are now either in hand or underway.
If the grant is not successful, the trail designs will be modified but it will still get built, albeit to a lesser standard.
A Mobility Coalition…Mobilized
Numerous community groups have already stepped forward to help. The Albemarle County Parks Foundation has pledged to raise a required $75,000 match for the DCR grant – and they will need your help!
PEC has reserved $20,000 in grant funds from the Worrell Foundation for more technical support. The Rivanna Conservation Alliance will assist with bank stabilization and native landscape installation. Monticello, the Rivanna Trails Foundation, Charlottesville Area Mountain Bike Club, Charlottesville Area Trail Runners, and Pantops Trails Crew have all pledged significant financial and in-kind support.
This first segment will be the most difficult because of the physical and jurisdictional barriers it will overcome. Once past them, future phases to Shadwell Farm, Stone-Robinson Elementary School, Milton Landing and Glenmore should be mostly attainable with local talent and resources. We hope that future segments will be built on something like an annual basis.
Your Assistance is Needed
Here’s how you can help this important project, which will make this magnificent landscape accessible and transform the community:
Help raise $75k by donating to the Albemarle County Parks Foundation.
Their goal is ambitious but it is also just the beginning. If the RTP grant application is not successful (and the RTP program is very competitive) the need will be much greater. Future phases will also need to be funded. This is the most impactful thing you can do.
Contact Albemarle County leaders.
Encourage them to prioritize the Old Mills Trail and allocate funding in the next Albemarle County budget.
Support PEC.
PEC has and will continue to provide indispensable leadership, coordination and technical support. Your contributions demonstrate that this work matters and allow it to continue.
Lend your expertise, share your contacts and spread the word.
There are and will be many ways you and your organization can support the project and others like it. In-kind and technical support, outreach, lobbying and new partnerships will all be crucial for this project’s success.
This project has been developing strong roots for a long time. It is about to poke its head above ground and all hands will be needed to nurture it to successful completion.
Let’s get to work!
Helpful Links
Albemarle County Parks Foundation Donation Page
PEC’s Phase One Graphics Package
PEC Letter of Support
Original (2020) Old Mills Trail Feasibility Study
PEC’s “Explore the Urban Rivanna River” Map
Albemarle County Trail Info Page
Albemarle County’s RTP Grant Application
