James River TRACK Trail for Kids
in North Carolina
At the James River Visitor Center area the parkway descends to one of its lowest elevations. Take one or both of the half mile trails here and check out the aquatic habitat of the river area and the cultural resource that is George Washington's defunct canal system. The TRACK trails are sponsored by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and the Kids In Parks initiative, inspiring kids and families to be more active together outdoors.
To track your adventure, download a map or register for prizes, visit the Kids in Parks TRACK Trails website. When you're finished, reward yourself with a picnic in the shade of a towering sycamore. The Lock 7 on the James River and Kanawha Canal brochure investigates the remnants of George Washington’s defunct canal system.
This 0.5 mile out and back trail offers nice scenery and opportunities to investigate the remaining parts of the canal including a lift lock, waste weir, restored section of prism with a tow path, and a slackwater connection to the river. Learn how the canal helped make the river a major transportation corridor before the Civil War. The aquatic habitats of the James River provide excellent chances to observe bald eagles, herons, cormorants, river otters, musk rats, and wetland plants.
- States
- North Carolina
- Trail type
- Parkway trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Greensboro, NC · 105 mi · ~3.0 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 37.5550°, -79.3660°
About Blue Ridge Parkway
This trail is inside Blue Ridge Parkway, a parkway managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/james-river-track-trail-kiosk.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/blri/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked James River TRACK Trail for Kids and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Other trails within 50 miles
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.