Breaks Interstate Park

File:Placeholder.JPG Trail Name Breaks Interstate Park Nearest City Breaks State Virginia Trail Marking N/A Trail Use/Features Difficulty Rating Medium Hiking Time 33 Hours <br />0.188 Days <br />180 Min <br /> Distance, round-trip 4.54.5 mi <br />7.242 km <br /> Climb/Descent Elevation *"*" is not a number. / {{{Elevation Loss}}}"{{{Elevation Loss}}}" is not a number. High Point *"*" is not a number. Nearest Medical Pikeville, KY Trip Reports Click Here Loading map... {"type":"ROADMAP","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"270px","height":"180px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":8,"layers":[],"controls":["zoom"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":37.28675199999999989586285664699971675872802734375,"lon":-82.296030999999999266947270371019840240478515625,"icon":""}]} Show Large Map

Overview

Breaks Interstate Park offers twenty, mostly short, hiking trails covering around 12 miles that can be connected to enjoy various views around the gorge. Suggested loop hike take hits highlights of overlooks and down along the creek for a half day jaunt.

How to get there

From Kingsport:

1. Take I-81 north to Exit 14 (VA-140/Abingdon).
2. Turn right/NE onto VA-140 and travel half mile.
3. Turn right onto W Main St/US11/US19 for just under a mile.
4. Turn left/norht onto US-19 and travel 29 miles to Rosedale.
5. Turn left onto VA-80 and continue for 40 miles to park entrance.
6. There are several parkings lots for the main trails.

GPS address for visitors center 627 Commission Circle Breaks, VA 24607.

Route Description

The following trails are available in Breaks Interstate Park.

Trail	Miles	Blaze	Difficulty	Usage
Beaver Pond Trail	0.4	Purple	Easy
Campbranch Trail	0.7	White	Easy
Center Creek Trail	0.5	Purple	Medium
Cold Springs Trail	0.5	Yellow	Medium
Deer Trail	0.5	Purple	Easy
Geological Trail	0.35	White	Medium
Grassy Creek Trail	0.5	Yellow	Medium
Grassy Overlook Trail	0.5	Green	Medium
Ladies Loop Trail	0.24	Gray	Moderate
Lake Trail	0.5	Orange	Easy
Laurel Branch Trail	1.25	Red	Medium
Loop Trail	0.4	Green	Easy
Mountain Bike Trail	3.0	Green	Medium
Overlook Trail	0.75	Green	Medium
Prospectors' Trail	1.5	Orange	Medium
Rattlesnake Trail	2.5	Orange	Medium
Ridge Trail	0.5	Blue	Medium
River Trail	1.0	Blue	Difficult
Tower Tunnel Trail	0.2	Yellow	Easy
Towers Overlook Trail	0.15	Red	Easy

An interesting roughly 4.5 mile loop hike can be created by combining half dozen trails. Drive 0.4 mile past the visitor's center to the parking lot for Towers Tunnel Overlook (N37°17.190 W82°18.215). First, head out 0.2 mile to the Towers Tunnel Overlook to see the railroad cut through the sandstone pillar. Back to the trailhead for the Prospectors' Trail. Head down for 0.8 mile until River Trail is reached. Switch to the mile long River Trail for closer look at the Russell Fork. Some of the side trails down to the river are steep (involve rock climbing to get back up). At the south end of River Trail, the path changes names to the Grassy Creek Trail. Follow the trail up along creek for 0.3 mile until Laurel Branch Trail is reached. Here is where some energy is going to be spent hiking 0.6 mile back up out of the gorge. Next, take the Geological Trail up to the parking lot of Stateline Overlook where you can see the second railroad tunnel. Next take the Overlook Trail over to the Clinchfield Overlook. Finally, short piece along the park road back to your vehicle. Depending on number of stops for photos and rest, the loop should take around three hours to complete.

Typical Conditions

Being a VA/KY state park, the dirt and gravel trails are kept in excellent condition. Some of the trail sections are narrow with steep dropoffs, so pay attention. After rain, some of the dirt trails are reported to be slippery.

Fees, Permits, etc.

Daily parking fee for passenger vehicles into VA state parks is $2 weekdays, $3 weekends.

Maps

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Park trail map

Photos

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