Patricia Ann Byrom Forest Preserve.

Overview

Six hundred acres of Blue Ridge foothills sit at the end of Blackwells Hollow Road, northwest of Crozet, where Albemarle County has left the land largely to itself. The Patricia Ann Byrom Forest Preserve is a working piece of mountain woodland threaded with trails, and the county is honest about what those trails are: many are steep and strenuous. This is not a groomed loop around a pond. It is real terrain, climbed on foot, on a bike, or on horseback, with views that open up as reward for the effort and wildlife turning up often enough that the county mentions it by name.

You'll find the entrance at 6610 Blackwells Hollow Road, Crozet, VA 22932. The park is open daily from 7:00am until dark, which makes it an early-riser's park as much as an all-day one, and the gate hours are worth respecting on the way back down.

On the trails

The trail network is multi-use by design, shared among hikers, runners, mountain bikers, and horseback riders. That mix is part of the preserve's character, and it asks a little courtesy from everyone: bikers yielding on the climbs, riders and walkers reading each other on the blind switchbacks. The county's own description doesn't soften the grade. Many of these trails are steep, and the ones that climb toward the ridgelines earn their views the hard way. If you're new to the preserve, it's worth pulling the county's trail map PDF before you set out, so you know which paths run gentle and which run straight up the hollow.

The payoff, by every account the county offers, is the long view and the quiet. Six hundred acres is enough land to lose the sound of the road quickly, and enough to keep the trails from feeling crowded even when the lot is full. Wildlife gets spotted frequently here, which is another way of saying the woods are healthy and the human footprint stays light.

If you're bringing a horse

The preserve is one of the few public spots near Crozet that genuinely welcomes horseback riders on its trails, and it comes with one firm rule worth knowing before you load the trailer. State law requires that visitors carry a copy of a negative Coggins report for each horse brought to the park. That's not a suggestion posted at the trailhead; it's a legal requirement, and it applies per animal. Riders who trailer in regularly will already keep their Coggins paperwork current, but if you're borrowing a horse or hauling a friend's, make sure the report travels with the animal.

The horseback trails share the same steep, strenuous grades as the rest of the network, so the preserve rewards a fit, sure-footed horse and a rider who knows the difference between a trail that looks hard and one that is.

Before you go

The amenities here are deliberately spare, in keeping with a preserve rather than a developed recreation park. There's a single picnic shelter with one table, so it's first-come rather than a place to plan a large gathering around. Restrooms are on site and ADA accessible. Beyond that, the land is the amenity: the trails, the climbs, the views, and the wildlife.

Because the preserve sits at the end of a hollow road well outside the center of Crozet, it's the kind of place you drive to on purpose. Come with water, come with the right footwear or the right bike for a strenuous grade, and give yourself the daylight to get back before the gate closes at dark. The county keeps the full facility listing, including the current trail map, on its Albemarle County facility page, which is the most reliable source for any changes to hours or trail conditions.

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