Hiking doesn’t have to stop during winter! With proper dressing; an ear to the weather report, and some basic safety rules, you will enjoy hiking our area of Central Virginia as much as in the Spring, Summer and Fall.

If you want a gentle walks on near-by trails try one of the 8 trails surrounding Montpelier, historic home of James Madison

If more advanced hiking is your cup of tea, then we also have you covered. There are over 130 listed trails through out the Appalachian Mountains, Shenandoah National Park and surrounding Piedmont areas. They include; water falls, caves and rock climbs, rated from easy to hard

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There are over 76 trails listed in the hiking guide website AllTrails.com near The Inns of Montpelier. The trails are rated from easy to a few as hard with the bulk having a rating of moderate.

The Shenandoah National Park web site list 47 hiking trails near-by 

Lake Anna State Park list 12 trails and is a short drive from our Inns, all easy to moderate difficulty.

When hiking our area most of the winter temperatures fall into the high 30’s to low 50’s but check the weather report and dress appropriately in layers. You will need to adjust your clothing as the day progress. Speaking of dressing the word is layers but check with an expert such as this web site.

One of the great things of hiking this time of year is small amount of foot traffic, not too many once in a blue moon hiker’s go out this time of year, so no foot traffic jams.

Make sure some one knows which trails your hiking and when you plan on returning, your Inn keeper will be happy to be your contact for this information. Good idea to write down all your information, plans and contact numbers for them. Don’t worry if your checking out before doing your hiking, we still want you safe and will help you stay safe.

With just a small amount of fore thought and preparation winter hiking around the Inns of Montpelier in Central Virginia will be safe and a lot of fun!