1
Poplar Forest
Park
247 acres1.8 mi of trail
Hidden Lives Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Forest
Forest, VA parks, trails & bike paths
About 10% of Forest is conserved land, roughly 893 acres. There are about 14 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Poplar Forest (1.8 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Forest, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Forest outdoors
Conserved land
10%
893 of 8,748 acres
Trails
14 mi
1 mi per sq mi
Parks & preserves
2
66 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
0.0 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 0.0 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
FYAA Forest Recreation Park
Park
45 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Playgrounds in Forest
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 0.9 miUnpaved 1.9 mi
- Hidden Lives Trail0.1 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
893 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 844 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes0.0 mi
- Off-road bike paths0.0 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis8
- Baseball7
- Soccer6
- Pickleball6
- Basketball6
- Football2
- Lacrosse1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Forest
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Other Easement 782 acConservation Easement 578 acLocal Recreation Area 49 acAgricultural Easement 46 acHistoric or Cultural Easement 15 ac
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Youth Athletic AssociationLocal Recreation Area | Private owners | 49 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Bedford CountyPlaque · 1948
Octagonal PrivyIn Poplar Forest · Building
Octagonal PrivyIn Poplar Forest · Building
Slave QuartersIn Poplar Forest · Archaeological site
Nearby
Forest and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest | 10.2% | 13.5 mi | 2 |
| Lynchburg | 3.3% | 46.0 mi | 26 |
| Timberlake | 4.1% | 2.3 mi | 2 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Forest'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 20.6-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.