Best Iron Mountain Horseback Riding

Northeast of Damascus in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, the Iron Mountain Trail is a 22 mile horseback ride traversing Iron Mountain plateau through thick meadows of wildflowers and old growth hemlocks. This scenic bridle trail was an old stretch of the Appalachian Trail and runs through dense oak and birch forest with plenty of rhododendrons.

The western trailhead is just a half mile east of Damascus at the end of FS4038. The horseback riding route runs northeast to SR600 at Skulls Gap. There is a newer section which extends the trail northeast towards Hurricane Gap, west of Troutdale.

Overall, Iron Mountain is the 3rd most popular horse trail of all 35 horseback rides in Virginia. Several of the better horse trails are nearby Iron Mountain including Virgina Creeper Trail and Virginia Highlands Horse Trail.