Friends of the Huckleberry along with the Town of Blacksburg, the Town of Christiansburg, and Montgomery County have released a high-quality, waterproof, tear-resistant paper map, which is available for purchase for $10 at Bike Barn, Blacksburg Books, East Coasters (both Blacksburg and Roanoke locations), Rising Silo Brewery, and RunAbout Sports.
For the first time since the Huckleberry Trail was established, this map shows the entire trail as well as the many trails the Huckleberry connects to, including the new McDonald Hollow Trail Network, Gateway Trail, Mountain Bike Skills Park, the Poverty Creek Trail System, Pandapas Pond, the Coal Mining Heritage Loop Trail, and neighborhood trails. In total, the network of paved and natural surface trails exceeds 60 miles.
To produce the new map, Friends of the Huckleberry reached out to professional cartographers at Pisgah Map Company. With a unique fusion of elegant design and trail-born intuition, PMC has been using its Western North Carolina roots to build the best maps on the market. The design and print costs for the new map were shared among Friends of the Huckleberry and the local governments. The new Huckleberry Trail map contains street level details and is easy to understand and use.
The new map is part of a larger objective that Friends of the Huckleberry established for 2021, and that is to create and provide resources for trail users to explore the Huckleberry Trail and to use the trail to connect to other recreational, natural, and cultural resources in the area.
A GPS-enabled electronic version of the map will be available later this fall on a well-known phone app. Friends of the Huckleberry will share updates on its availability on its website and social media.
In addition to the new maps, Friends of the Huckleberry purchased new mileage markers for the newest sections of the Huckleberry Trail, and they will be installed by the end of August. The Huckleberry Trail is 14.7 miles long and consists of several segments. The original trail runs between the Blacksburg Library and the Christiansburg Recreation Center and is 8.25 miles long. Huckleberry North runs from the roundabout west of Route 460 to Heritage Park and is approximately five miles long. Huckleberry South runs from the intersection of Cambria Street NW and Providence Boulevard and is 1.39 miles long. The mileage markers have new logos for the north and south segments so that users will know which portion of the trail they are on.
Friends of the Huckleberry raised $15,000 in sponsorships to help with the purchase of the mileage markers. Past and new sponsor logos appear on the mileage markers. Additional sponsorship opportunities exist, and more information about sponsoring a mileage marker can be obtained by visiting the new website at: https://huckleberrytrail.org.
