Old Mills Trail Extension (Phase 1 - Lego Farm)

Albemarle County’s Old Mills Trail is currently a well-used and much-loved outdoor recreation destination. It is one element of the larger planned Rivanna River Greenway and Blueway, which is envisioned as a 17-mile corridor of interconnected parks, greenway trails, and water trails with enhanced river access facilities between Brook Hill River Park at the upstream end and (future) Buck Island Creek Park at the downstream end. It is also a corridor of incredible untapped potential and underutilized value.

Phase 1 of the Old Mills Trail Extension project will provide approximately 1-mile of new public recreational trail along the scenic Rivanna River, immediately downstream of the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County’s Pantops Development Area. This extension will bring trail users onto Monticello’s historic property at Lego Farm.

Project scope: The project will include construction of

Approximately 5,000 linear feet of a 4'-6' wide trail,
1 bike/pedestrian bridge (approx 30' long with 6' wide clearance),
Fieldstone retaining walls totaling approximately 90' long under I-64 with bank grading and culverts installed,
1 railroad underpass shelter (approx 70' long with 11' clearance),
4,000 SF of native landscaping to stabilize slopes,
Customary trail signage, and
Signs for natural and cultural heritage information along the trail.

Future improvements may include transition from a 4'-6' wide natural surface trail to a stone dust trail with increased width to 6'-8'.

Benefits:

The Old Mills Trail Extension Phase I will provide access to a new outdoor recreation opportunity with an incredible sense of place and unique experiential value.

One mile of new trail will bring visitors through forests that are rich with history from multiple eras dating back to pre-colonial times.

It will provide physical and visual access to a designated Scenic River with abundant riparian and aquatic wildlife.

The project will create an engaging new destination for participants in a wide variety of trail-based activities like hiking, trail running, mountain biking, birding and wildlife observation, shoreline fishing and/or relaxing while viewing the scenic Rivanna River. This project will also lay the groundwork to continue to extend the Old Mills Trail further downstream to Milton Landing and Glenmore in future phases, where it will eventually pass the location of Jefferson’s birthplace and provide a view of a historic mill ruin at Shadwell Farm (which has never been accessible to the public).

Importantly, this project will successfully meet a demonstrated community need. The Albemarle County Parks & Recreation Needs Assessment (2018) identifies “hiking / walking / running” as the top “High Priority” activity and also identifies “hiking / walking trails as the top “High Priority” facility need.

Note: This is an unfunded priority project within an existing greenway easement. The easement, acquired from Monticello in 2007, has a sunset clause that defines a deadline for beginning construction by August 2027 and completing construction by August 2029. If the deadlines are not met, the easement could be vacated and released. Those timelines require the Design Phase to begin in FY26 and the Construction Phase to begin in FY27.

Costs: This 1-mile project section is estimated at approximately $627,000.

For more information, please see the Albemarle County Parks & Recreation “Parks & Greenways Planning”.