1
McIntire Park
Managed by City of Charlottesville Parks and Recreation
117 acres4.7 mi of trail
greenyellowpinkcyanRivanna Trail (RTF spur)
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Charlottesville
Charlottesville, VA parks, trails & bike paths
About 10% of Charlottesville is conserved land, roughly 667 acres. There are about 23 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in McIntire Park (4.7 mi), Pen Park (3.1 mi), and Greenbrier Park (1.4 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Charlottesville, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Charlottesville outdoors
Conserved land
10%
667 of 6,533 acres
Trails
23 mi
2.3 mi per sq mi · 16 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
28
15 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
22.1 mi
18.0 mi lanes · 3.5 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Pen Park
Managed by City of Charlottesville
265 acres3.1 mi of trail
Rivanna Trail (River North)Rivanna Trail (River North spur)Rivanna Trail (RTF)
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Greenbrier Park
Park
30 acres1.4 mi of trail
Rivanna Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the trail sign
4
Meadow Creek Valley
Managed by City of Charlottesville
41 acres1.2 mi of trail
Rivanna Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
5
Greenleaf Park
Managed by Charlottesville Parks and Recreation
16 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
6
Azalea Park
Managed by City of Charlottesville Parks and Recreation
20 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
7
Belmont Park
Park
4 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
8
Meadow Creek Gardens and Disc Golf Course
Park
18 acres0.4 mi of trail
Rivanna Trail (RTF)
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
All 28 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 28 parks & preserves
McIntire Park117 acres · 4.7 mi of trail · City of Charlottesville Parks and Recreation
Pen Park265 acres · 3.1 mi of trail · City of Charlottesville
Greenbrier Park30 acres · 1.4 mi of trail
Meadow Creek Valley41 acres · 1.2 mi of trail · City of Charlottesville
Greenleaf Park16 acres · 0.9 mi of trail · Charlottesville Parks and Recreation
Azalea Park20 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · City of Charlottesville Parks and Recreation
Belmont Park4 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Meadow Creek Gardens and Disc Golf Course18 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Riverview Park20 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Charlottesville
Washington Park12 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Playgrounds in Charlottesville
Showing 1–10 of 50 playgrounds
Northeast Park PlaygroundIn Northeast Park
Water ParkIn Forest Hills Park
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground in Azalea Park
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
4 more unnamed playgrounds are mapped in Charlottesville.
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 2.5 miUnpaved 18.2 mi
Showing 1–10 of 12 trails
- Rivanna Trail (RTF)3.1 mi
- Rivanna Trail1.4 mi
- Rivanna Trail (River North)1.3 mi
- Rivanna Trail (RTF spur)0.7 mi
- Rivanna Trail (River North spur)0.6 mi
- Fifeville Community Trail0.4 mi
- green0.3 mi
- yellow0.2 mi
- RTF spur0.2 mi
- pink0.2 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
667 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 10 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 1 of 87 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes18.0 mi
- Off-road bike paths3.5 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.6 mi
Courts & fields
- Basketball26
- Baseball18
- Tennis16
- Golf15
- Soccer6
- Football4
- Skate park3
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Charlottesville
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Local Park 1,311 acUnknown Easement 264 acConservation Easement 192 acHistoric or Cultural Easement 3 acLocal Conservation Area 1 ac
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pen ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 543 | Open |
| McIntire ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 260 | Open |
| Meadow Creek ValleyLocal Park | Not recorded | 79 | Open |
| Greenbrier ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 60 | Open |
| Riverview ParkLocal Park | Not recorded | 43 | Open |
| Azalea ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 41 | Open |
| Meadowcreek Gardens & Disc GolfLocal Park | Not recorded | 36 | Open |
| Tonsler ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 27 | Open |
| Greenleaf ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 26 | Open |
| Quarry ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 24 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
Albemarle Historic DistrictDistrict
Charlottesville Woolen MillsPlaque
Charlottesville and Albemarle County Courthouse Historic DistrictDistrict
Dogwood Vietnam MemorialIn McIntire Park
Kitty Foster CemeteryGraveyard
Kitty Foster HomesteadMemorial
Lambeth RuinsRuins
Ridge Street Historic DistrictDistrict
Rugby Road-University Corner Historic DistrictDistrict
Wertland Street Historic DistrictDistrict
Nearby
Charlottesville and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlottesville | 10.2% | 23.1 mi | 28 |
| University of Virginia | 28.6% | 18.6 mi | 5 |
| Pantops | 8.4% | 10.4 mi | 1 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Charlottesville's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 20-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.