Who holds the ground, and which of it has a road
The federal share here is modest and lopsided. Of 2,321,799 federal acres the Forest Service holds 1,674,033, the National Park Service 307,533, the Department of Defense 205,901, the Fish and Wildlife Service 133,527 and the Bureau of Land Management 805. One agency therefore owns the question of where you may drive, and it answers it on a single document: the Motor Vehicle Use Map, which the forest says shows the routes and areas designated open to motorized travel and the uses allowed by vehicle class, meaning highway-legal vehicles, vehicles under 50 inches wide and motorcycles, together with seasonal allowances.
The George Washington and Jefferson runs through seven ranger districts along the western edge of the state, spilling into small parts of West Virginia and Kentucky, with the supervisor’s office in Roanoke. It lists 23 Wildernesses, three National Scenic Areas, three National Forest Scenic Byways, 325 miles of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and the 140,000-acre Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, which alone carries 400 miles of trail across Carroll, Grayson, Smyth, Washington and Wythe counties.
The Park Service holds the two famous roads and very little else you can camp beside. Shenandoah National Park covers 198,754 acres, of which 79,579 are designated Wilderness, tops out at 4,051 feet on Hawksbill and drops to 535 feet at its north end. The Blue Ridge Parkway begins where Skyline Drive ends and runs to milepost 469 in North Carolina.
Source 1
The state’s own land is small, scattered and fussy about vehicles
Three separate state agencies hold ground worth knowing about, and none of them runs a driving area. The Department of Conservation and Recreation has 44 state parks with more than 700 miles of trail, 29 of which have campgrounds and more than 1,800 campsites between them, and it prohibits golf carts, utility vehicles and all-terrain vehicles in state parks and natural area preserves by law. The Department of Forestry manages 26 state forests totaling 75,785 acres and sells a State Forest Use Permit for hunting, trapping, fishing, mountain biking and horse riding. The Department of Wildlife Resources runs wildlife management areas and public fishing lakes on its own access permit.
The practical effect is that the state systems are for sleeping and walking, and the federal forest is for driving. The one exception sits in the coalfield counties, where the Southwest Regional Recreation Authority runs the Spearhead trails on permits of its own and the Department of Wildlife Resources describes them as the first places in Virginia where hunters and wildlife watchers can use an ATV or UTV to reach public access destinations.
Source 34
The 600-series roads are how you reach any of it
Virginia runs the third largest state-maintained highway system in the country, behind North Carolina and Texas: 59,672 miles in all, of which 1,119 are interstate, 8,046 primary and 50,195 secondary. VDOT says secondary roads are generally numbered 600 and above, and in practice a 600-series number on a valley road is the sign that you are one turn from a forest road.
Those numbers are all over the Forest Service’s own directions. Potts Mountain is reached by SR 311 to VA 615, VA 611 and VA 617. Rocky Run leaves US 33 for State Route 612. High Knob is SR 619 and then Forest Road 238. A good state map that shows secondary route numbers is worth more here than a guide to the trails.
Virginia also runs a scenic road program with real coverage. The Commonwealth Transportation Board has designated over 3,600 miles of road under a State Scenic Highway and Virginia Byway Act that dates to 1966, and the federal designations on top of it include Skyline Drive as a National Scenic Byway and the Blue Ridge Parkway and Colonial Parkway as All-American Roads.
Source 44
Rain, not snow, is what closes a road here
Virginia’s long-term average is 43.5 inches of precipitation a year, under 40 inches in parts of the central mountains and about 50 inches along the tidewater coast. NOAA counts an average of 1.7 days a year when a station records two inches or more, says that count has trended upward since 1990, and notes that Virginia was caught by 82 of the 290 billion-dollar disasters in the United States between 1980 and 2020. Those are the days that take out a culvert.
Helene is the clearest recent example of what that does to a road network. The Forest Service describes it as a once in a millennium storm that caused catastrophic flooding, debris flows, landslides and thousands of downed trees, and puts the damage at nearly 190,000 acres of forest, 900 miles of Forest Service road and more than 820 miles of trail, with over 30 trestles on the Virginia Creeper National Recreation Trail severely damaged or destroyed. Plan any forest road trip around the assumption that a route can be gone and the district office is the only place that knows.
The forest also builds freeze and thaw into its calendar. The Peters Mill Run and Taskers Gap system runs early April to early January and then closes to all motorized use from the first Monday in January through March, which the Lee Ranger District says is for resource protection during freezing and thawing. The Potts Mountain Jeep Trail keeps the same shape of season, April to early January. Comers Rock, high on Iron Mountain, is open mid-April to late October, and Sherando Lake takes campers early April through late October.
The two park roads behave differently from each other. Shenandoah says the park is always open but that parts of Skyline Drive, the only public road through it, close periodically in bad weather, that the drive stays open through winter unless snow or ice shut it, and that crews can need several days to reopen it after a storm. On the Blue Ridge Parkway the Park Service says winter sections may close for ice and snow and that thawing and refreezing on bridges and in shaded curves can keep some of them closed for long stretches.
Source 46
What Virginia asks of a vehicle
There is no statewide off-highway vehicle sticker in Virginia, and that surprises people arriving from the West. The state instead draws a hard line around what an all-terrain vehicle is. The Department of Motor Vehicles defines one as a motor vehicle with three or more wheels that is manufactured for off-highway use, and requires a certificate of title, not a registration, for one bought new after July 1, 2006 with an engine over 50 cubic centimeters. Section 46.2-915.1 of the Code of Virginia then keeps that machine off any public highway except to cross by the most direct route or where an authority allows it. A plated four-wheel drive is not an all-terrain vehicle under that definition, so none of it applies to the truck you drive here.
What does apply is the forest’s own permit, and it is local rather than statewide. Peters Mill Run and Taskers Gap and the South Pedlar ATV trails are fee areas: $5 a day, $12 for three consecutive days or $30 a year, bought from vendors off the forest because they are not sold on site. A Virginia hunting license or a National Forest Stamp does not cover it. Everywhere else on the forest, the rule is simply that you drive the routes the Motor Vehicle Use Map shows open to your class of vehicle.
Width and length decide more than clearance on the paved roads. Marys Rock Tunnel on Skyline Drive at mile 32.2 clears 12 feet 8 inches, and Shenandoah tells drivers of motor homes, RVs and trailers to be ready to shift into low gear. The Williamsburg tunnel on the Colonial Parkway clears 10 feet 4 inches in the Jamestown-bound lane. The Blue Ridge Parkway does not permit commercial traffic at all. On the sand at Chincoteague the Park Service caps a permitted vehicle at 26 feet long and eight feet wide, two axles, four-wheel or all-wheel drive, and will not permit a rental car.
On the state’s own trail systems in the coalfield counties, the Southwest Regional Recreation Authority runs its Spearhead Trails on permits of its own. The Department of Wildlife Resources says outright that anyone using an ATV or UTV on the Coal Canyon, Ridgeview or Mountain View trails has to buy a Spearhead Trails permit and follow that authority’s rules.
Source 42
Where you sleep
Dispersed camping is the backbone of a Virginia trip, and the forest states its rules plainly: up to 14 days in one location in any 30-day period, at least 100 feet from any stream or water source, campsite within 150 feet of a roadway, nothing in the vicinity of a developed campground, picnic area or trailhead, and a special use permit for groups over 75. Campfires are allowed at existing rings, and no permit is needed to gather dead and down firewood.
For a marked site, the same forest runs more than 40 developed campgrounds and three cabins, where the stay limit is 14 consecutive days at Forest Service sites and 28 at concessionaire-run ones. Single-family sites are all available first come, first served, and some of them also take reservations. Little Fort, nine free sites with no reservations, sits at the Peters Mill Run trailhead and stays open all year.
The Park Service is the opposite. Shenandoah prohibits boondocking in an RV or any other vehicle, requires overnight vehicle stays to be in one of its five campgrounds, and sells backcountry permits through Recreation.gov. The Blue Ridge Parkway allows camping only in one of its eight designated camping areas. Our build of the federal reservation database finds 64 campgrounds statewide a vehicle can reach, 37 of them Forest Service, 16 Park Service and 11 Corps of Engineers, with 47 bookable ahead and 15 first come only.
The Corps of Engineers is the quiet third option, mostly on water. The Corps Lakes Gateway lists seven Virginia projects, among them John H. Kerr, Philpott, John W. Flannagan, Lake Moomaw and North Fork of Pound. Every district office page refused to open to us, so nothing on this page states a Corps acreage, shoreline, fee or stay limit; the eleven Corps campgrounds exist here only inside that RIDB total.
Source 25
Passes and routes
-
Skyline DrivePaved
3,680 ft 105 miles
Front Royal to Rockfish Gap, along the crest of the Blue Ridge
The Park Service runs it 105 miles north to south with entrance stations at mile 0 at Front Royal, 31.5 at Thornton Gap, 65.5 at Swift Run Gap and 104.6 at Rockfish Gap. The speed limit is 35 mph in most places, the high point is 3,680 feet at mile 41.7, and Marys Rock Tunnel at mile 32.2 clears 12 feet 8 inches. The park counts 70 overlooks in its statistics and over 75 in its FAQ, and says the drive takes about three hours clear, or three to four if you stop. Fuel is sold at mile 51 and cell coverage is not reliable. 21
- Vehicle
- Any vehicle under 12 feet 8 inches. Be ready to use low gear
- Season
- Generally open 24 hours a day, but closed at any time for weather, and crews can need several days to reopen it after a storm
-
Rockfish Gap at milepost 0 to Great Smoky Mountains at milepost 469
Concrete mileposts run from MP 0 beside Shenandoah to MP 469 in North Carolina, and the speed limit is 45 mph unless posted otherwise. Of the parkway’s 26 tunnels, one is in Virginia and the rest are in North Carolina. The Park Service allows camping only in the eight designated camping areas and states that commercial traffic or activity is not permitted. No Virginia-only mileage is published, so none is given here. 26
- Vehicle
- No commercial traffic. Know your height before the tunnel
- Season
- Ungated sections are open except in emergencies. Winter sections close for ice and snow, and shaded curves can stay closed for long stretches
-
Potts Mountain Jeep Trail, Forest Road 5036
3,820 ft 14.8 miles
SR 311 by way of VA 615, VA 611 and VA 617, past the Pines Campground on the Eastern Divide Ranger District
The Forest Service rates it difficult and describes steep, rutted and rocky conditions on a narrow road, climbing from 2,250 to 3,820 feet. It says the trail is not recommended for standard 4x4s, that drivers must be able to cross large jagged rocks on steep slopes, and that black arrows mark harder obstacle routes off the main line. It is classified as a road, so it is open to street-legal vehicles, hikers, horses, mountain bikes and eBikes. No drinking water. 13
- Vehicle
- Street-legal four-wheel drive with high clearance and all-terrain tires. A winch is recommended
- Season
- April to early January
-
Peters Mill Run and Taskers Gap OHV Trail System
36 miles
Fort Valley, on the Lee Ranger District east of Woodstock and Edinburg
The Forest Service calls this the largest OHV trail system in Virginia and describes 36 miles of steep, rocky, narrow trail alongside easier stretches that were once forest roads. Motorized routes are blazed with the letter V. Hours are sunrise to sunset, permits cost $5 a day, $12 for three consecutive days or $30 a year and must be bought from vendors off the forest, and the winter closure exists to protect the surface through freezing and thawing. 11
- Vehicle
- Jeeps and other four-wheel drives, UTVs, ATVs, motorcycles and electric mountain bikes. Permit required
- Season
- Early April to early January, then closed to all motorized use from the first Monday in January through March
-
Whitetop Mountain Road, Forest Road 89
5,525 ft
Whitetop Road to the Whitetop Mountain observation site, Mount Rogers National Recreation Area
The Forest Service calls Whitetop the second highest mountain in Virginia and says the road to its 5,525-foot summit is the highest public road in the state. Its directions run from I-81 exit 35 near Chilhowie on State Route 762, through a four-way intersection onto St. Clairs Creek Road, then left onto Whitetop Road and right onto FS 89 for the summit. Our own reading of the USGS elevation surface at the summit is 5,530 feet. 16
- Vehicle
- No vehicle class is published for it
- Season
- Open year round, day use sunrise to sunset
-
Forest Road 57 to Comers Rock
3,800 ft 4 miles of gravel from VA 21
VA 21 south of Wytheville to the Comers Rock campground and picnic area on Iron Mountain
The Forest Service puts this small primitive campground on top of Iron Mountain at 3,800 feet, reached by turning onto gravel Forest Service Road 57 and following it west for four miles. Sites cost $5 a night, first come first served, with vault toilets, no drinking water and a log shelter built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Horses are not allowed. 17
- Vehicle
- Gravel road. No reservations and no potable water at the campground
- Season
- Mid-April to late October
-
High Knob and Forest Road 238
4,227 ft
SR 619 above Norton to the High Knob tower, Clinch Ranger District
The Forest Service directs visitors from Kingsport or Abingdon onto SR 619 and then FS 238, where the tower parking lot appears in less than a mile, with a wide paved path from the lot to the tower itself. The nearby High Knob Recreation Area was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the late 1930s around a mountain lake. No agency publishes an elevation for the knob, so the figure on the chart is our own reading of the USGS elevation surface at the summit. 18
- Vehicle
- No vehicle class is published for it
- Season
- Open year round, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
-
Rocky Run Trail, Forest Trail 426
10 miles
A loop of Second Mountain Road and Dictum Ridge Road, west of Harrisonburg
The North River Ranger District describes a loop of about 10 miles for the recreational all-terrain vehicle rider, made up of Forest Service Road 502 and Forest Service Road 422, running between 2,500 and 3,200 feet. The connecting section between the two ridges is narrow and twisting; the rest is wide. Directions run west from Harrisonburg on US 33 for about 10 miles, then right onto State Route 612. 15
- Vehicle
- All-terrain vehicles and e-bikes. Not appropriate for hiking, biking or horses
-
South Pedlar ATV Trail System
19 miles
Natural Bridge Station, Glenwood-Pedlar Ranger District
A 19-mile loop network built for the recreational ATV rider, with narrow twisting trail for experienced riders and wide easy trail elsewhere. The Forest Service limits vehicles to less than 50 inches wide and no more than 1,500 pounds unloaded dry weight, permits only four-wheel ATVs, motorcycles, bicycles and walkers, bars operators under 12, requires a DOT-approved helmet, and sells the same $5, $12 and $30 permits as Peters Mill Run. A full-size truck does not fit this system. 14
- Vehicle
- Four-wheel ATVs and motorcycles under 50 inches wide and 1,500 pounds dry. Permit required
-
Chincoteague over-sand vehicle zones
The Virginia district of Assateague Island, inside Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge
The refuge runs two zones managed by Assateague Island National Seashore, with permits bought through Recreation.gov. The Park Service caps the Virginia zones at 48 vehicles, dropping to 18 when the Toms Cove hook is closed, and its permit runs a year from the month of purchase at $110 to $200. Cutting circles, defacing the beach and driving on dunes or in vegetation away from posted crossings are prohibited at all times. 29
- Vehicle
- Four-wheel or all-wheel drive, under 26 feet long and eight feet wide, two axles. No rental cars, no ATVs or UTVs
- Season
- South Zone for general use; North Zone for fishing only, March 15 to August 31. The Toms Cove hook closes March 15 to August 31
-
Lake Drummond Wildlife Drive
Desert Road in Suffolk to Lake Drummond, Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
The Fish and Wildlife Service says vehicle access on the refuge is through this drive, with a required permit and fee. The envelope station sits half a mile east of the gate on Railroad Ditch road, payment is cash or check, and every vehicle must be out within an hour of the gate closing. This is flat coastal-plain driving on ditch banks, not mountain road. 33
- Vehicle
- Any vehicle, with a $5 daily permit per vehicle paid at a self-service station
- Season
- Gate 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 1 to September 30, and 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. October 1 to March 31
-
Colonial ParkwayPaved
23 miles
Yorktown on the York River to Jamestown on the James, by Williamsburg
A 23-mile Park Service road linking Virginia’s historic triangle, with a maximum speed limit of 45 mph. The Williamsburg tunnel, built in 1942 and 1,190 feet long, clears 10 feet 4 inches at the curb line in the Jamestown-bound lane, which is the tightest published clearance on any road listed here. It is the coastal alternative when the mountains are shut. 28
- Vehicle
- Any vehicle under 10 feet 4 inches in the Jamestown-bound tunnel lane
Rules worth knowing
- The motor vehicle use map shows the vehicle class
- The George Washington and Jefferson’s motor vehicle use map shows National Forest System roads, trails and areas designated open to motorised travel, and it displays what is allowed by vehicle class: highway-legal vehicles, vehicles less than 50 inches wide, and motorcycles, along with seasonal allowances. Reading the class is the whole skill here, because a route open to one is often closed to another. 7
- Fire restrictions here are written by place, not by stage
- When the forest issues restrictions it names the ground: one order prohibited building, maintaining, attending or using a fire, campfire or stove fire within a quarter mile of the Appalachian Trail where it crosses the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area. Commercially available fuel stoves, enclosed lanterns and isobutane backpacking stoves stayed permitted. Read the order rather than assuming a numbered stage. 9
- Mount Rogers is 400 miles of trail across five counties
- The Mount Rogers National Recreation Area holds 400 miles of trail, including 60 miles of the Appalachian Trail and 18 miles of the Virginia Creeper, with eleven campgrounds across Carroll, Grayson, Smyth, Washington and Wythe counties. It is the high country of southwest Virginia and the part of the forest with the most developed camping. 10
- Little Fort is free, and next to the trail system
- Little Fort Campground is open year round with no fee and nine sites that take no reservations, with easy access from the campground onto the Peters Mill Run and Taskers Gap OHV trail system. In a state where almost everything is booked, a free first-come campground beside the largest trail network is worth knowing about. 12
- Sherando Lake charges by the vehicle and by the night
- Sherando Lake’s campground runs early April through late October and its day use area from 1 April through December, at eight dollars a vehicle. Camping is 25 dollars a night, 40 for a double site and seven for electric. It is the developed centre of the forest’s northern half. 19
- Skyline Drive tops out at 3,680 feet, and there is one petrol station
- The highest point on Skyline Drive is 3,680 feet at mile 41.7, by the northern entrance to Skyland. Fuel is available at Big Meadows Wayside at mile 51, and the park advises entering with a full tank anyway. Cell coverage is not reliable through most of the park. 22
- Skyline Drive stays open in winter until it does not
- The park keeps Skyline Drive open through the winter unless snow or ice close it, and says it can take diligent crews several days to reopen after a storm. That is the honest position for a ridge road at this latitude: no seasonal gate date, and no guarantee on any given morning. 23
- The park is always open; the road is not
- Shenandoah National Park is always open, but portions of Skyline Drive, the only public road through it, are periodically closed in bad weather. Most facilities open in March and close by late November, so an off-season visit is a drive rather than a stay. 24
- On the Parkway, camping is in eight places only
- The Blue Ridge Parkway has 26 tunnels, one in Virginia and the rest in North Carolina, and camping is allowed only in one of the Parkway’s eight designated camping areas. There is no dispersed camping anywhere along it and no commercial traffic on it at all. 27
- Back Bay closes its beach ramp to the public
- At Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge the beach vehicular ramp is closed to the general public and vehicles are not permitted past the visitor centre and parking area, which cannot accommodate trailers. The dike trails are closed seasonally from 1 November to 31 March. It is the clearest no in this guide’s Virginia coast. 31
- False Cape has no vehicle access at all
- The state park beyond Back Bay is accessible only by foot, bicycle or boat, and public vehicular access is not allowed at any time. It is worth naming because the map suggests otherwise: the beach appears continuous from Sandbridge, and it is not open to driving. 32
- State park camping is 14 days in 30 across 29 parks
- Twenty-nine Virginia state parks offer camping, with more than 1,800 campsites between them, and the maximum camping period is 14 days in any 30. That is the developed supply for the whole state outside the national forest, and on a summer weekend it is fully booked. 35
- The state forests need their own use permit
- The Department of Forestry manages 26 state forests totalling 75,785 acres, and a State Forest Use Permit is required for hunting, trapping, fishing, mountain biking and horseback riding on them. They are working forests with public access rather than parks, and the permit is how that access is administered. 37
- A wildlife area needs an access permit or a licence
- An access permit is required on department-owned wildlife management areas and public fishing lakes for anyone 17 or older, unless they hold a valid Virginia hunting, freshwater fishing or trapping licence, or a current Virginia boat registration. A daily permit is four dollars a person and an annual permit 23, rising to 28 from 1 October 2026. 39
- The Spearhead trails need their own permit
- Anyone using all-terrain or utility vehicles on the Coal Canyon, Ridgeview or Mountain View trails in southwest Virginia must first buy a Spearhead Trails permit and follow the trail rules. It is a separate system from the forest and the wildlife areas, on former coal ground, and it is the one part of Virginia built for machines rather than for vehicles. 40
- Over 3,600 miles of designated Virginia Byway
- The Commonwealth Transportation Board has designated over 3,600 miles of Virginia Byway under a 1966 act. They are paved state routes rather than back roads, and they are the most pleasant way to connect the forest blocks this guide is about. 45
- Seven Corps projects, and where they are
- The Corps of Engineers lists seven projects in Virginia: Bluestone Lake, the Dismal Swamp Canal, John H. Kerr, John W. Flannagan, Moomaw Lake, North Fork of Pound River Lake and Philpott Lake. Our build of the federal recreation database finds eleven campgrounds among them, which is a small but useful addition to the forest’s own list. 47
- Dispersed camping on the national forest
- The George Washington and Jefferson allows camping anywhere outside a developed campground, up to 14 days in one location in any 30-day period. Camp at least 100 feet from any stream or water source, keep the campsite within 150 feet of a roadway, and stay away from the vicinity of developed campgrounds, picnic areas and trailheads. Nothing is provided, so be self-contained. Groups over 75 people need a special use permit from the district office. Campfires are allowed at existing rings and no permit is needed to collect dead and down firewood. 6
- Virginia has no OHV sticker, and its ATV rule is a highway rule
- Nothing in Virginia resembles a statewide off-highway vehicle permit. The Department of Motor Vehicles defines an all-terrain vehicle as a motor vehicle with three or more wheels manufactured for off-highway use, and requires a title, not a registration, for one bought new after July 1, 2006 with an engine over 50 cubic centimeters. Section 46.2-915.1 of the Code of Virginia then bans operating one on any public highway or other public property, except to cross by the most direct route or where an authority permits it, with a civil penalty of up to $500 and a helmet requirement for riders. A plated four-wheel drive is none of those things. 41
- The forest sells its own permit for two trail systems
- Peters Mill Run and Taskers Gap on the Lee Ranger District and the South Pedlar trails on the Glenwood-Pedlar are fee areas, and the fee is not covered by a National Forest Stamp or a Virginia hunting license. Permits cost $5 a day, $12 for three consecutive days or $30 a year, are sold by vendors off the forest rather than at the trailhead, are not transferable or replaceable, and are only valid with the user’s name and dates written on them. Everywhere else, the Motor Vehicle Use Map decides which routes your class of vehicle may use. 11
- The 4 PM Burning Law, every spring
- From February 15 through April 30 each year, Virginia bans open-air burning before 4 p.m. if the fire is within 300 feet of woods or dry grass that could carry fire to the woods. Burning is allowed from 4 p.m. to midnight if you take proper precautions and attend the fire at all times. Charcoal and gas barbecue grills are exempt, and so are contained chimineas and fire pits with screens, but an open park-style charcoal grill is not. A violation is a Class 3 misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500, and localities may be stricter. Forest closure orders on top of that typically still allow a propane stove. 38
- Beach driving is federal, permitted and capped
- The only beach driving on this page is in the Virginia district of Assateague Island inside Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, and the Park Service writes the rules. A permit runs a year from purchase at $110 to $200. The vehicle must be four-wheel or all-wheel drive, under 26 feet long and eight feet wide, on two axles, plated, insured and registered for the highway, and it must carry a metal shovel, a jack, a jack support, a tire gauge reading 15 pounds or less and a 6,000-pound tow rope or strap. The zones hold 48 vehicles, dropping to 18 when the Toms Cove hook closes. Rental cars, ATVs and UTVs are prohibited. At Back Bay the beach vehicular ramp is closed to the public, and False Cape State Park allows no public vehicle access at any time. 30
- State parks, wildlife areas and state forests each want something different
- Virginia State Parks prohibit golf carts, utility vehicles and all-terrain vehicles in state parks and natural area preserves by law, cap camping at 14 days in any 30-day period, and generally allow two camping units per site with only one on axles. A Department of Wildlife Resources access permit is required on department-owned wildlife management areas and public fishing lakes for anyone 17 or older without a Virginia hunting, fishing or trapping license or a current boat registration: $4 a day or $23 a year, rising to $28 on October 1, 2026. A State Forest Use Permit covers hunting, trapping, fishing, mountain biking and horse riding on the 26 state forests. 36
- Chains are allowed, studs have a season, and there is no traction law
- Virginia publishes no chain-up or traction requirement of the kind western states enforce. Section 46.2-1044 of the Code of Virginia bans any block, stud, flange, cleat or spike on a tire that projects beyond the tread, then permits tire chains of reasonable proportions when they are needed for safety because of snow, ice or other conditions that would make a vehicle slide or skid. Studded tires are allowed only on vehicles whose gross weight does not exceed 10,000 pounds, with studs projecting no more than a sixteenth of an inch and covering no more than three percent of the traction surface, and only from October 15 to April 15. 43
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
US Forest Service (USFS)
National Park Service (NPS)
US Fish and Wildlife (USFW)
Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
Department Of Defense (DOD)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Other Federal
State
Local
Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
Alaska Native Allotment
Road
Primitive Road
Road
Primitive Road
Trail
Roads open to all Vehicles, Yearlong
Roads open to all Vehicles, Seasonal
Roads open to highway legal vehicles only, Yearlong
Roads open to highway legal vehicles only, Seasonal
Special Designation, Yearlong
Special Designation, Seasonal
Trails open to all vehicles, Yearlong
Trails open to all vehicles, Seasonal
Trails open to vehicles 50" or less in width, Yearlong
Trails open to vehicles 50" or less in width, Seasonal
Trails open to motorcycles, Yearlong
Trails open to motorcycles, Seasonal
Special Designation, Seasonal
Trails Open to Wheeled Vehicles Only < 50" in Width, Yearlong
Trails Open to Wheeled Vehicles Only < 50" or Less in Width, Seasonal
Wilderness Area
Wilderness Study Area
