Virginia trails · Jones Mountain Trail
Jones Mountain Trail
A 16.0-mile loop in Virginia, with 1,771 ft of climbing. Reaches Bear Church Rock and other pass/summit/viewpoint destinations. Managed by the National Park Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 3,235 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Bear Church Rock (summit)
- The Sag (pass)
- Cat Knob (summit)
- Jones Mountain (summit)
- Bear Church Rock Overlook (viewpoint)
Getting there
Unnamed trail access. 38.44725, -78.41447 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:14 a.m., the sun rises at 6:41 a.m. and sets at 7:45 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:12 p.m. (EDT) — 13 h 04 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 16.0-mile route takes roughly 6 h 49 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 1:30 p.m. — 6 h 15 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Jones Mountain Trail — 8.8 mi loop, 2,202 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Whiteoak Canyon Trail — 7.3 mi
- Skyland-Big Meadows Horse Trail — 7.6 mi
- Cedar Run Trail — 7.6 mi
- Ridge Trail — 10.5 mi