# Going to ride at Lake Anna State Park, VA on Wednesday...



## corgi (Nov 3, 2009)

That is in my territory! Too bad I will be working. Lake Anna has some great trails. You will have a good time. Have fun!


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Good luck and have fun!

Lake Anna is about 3 hours northeast of me, but I've ridden there before. It's gorgeous.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

I know some people that ride there, a bit north for me, I just google mapped and you are only an hour and a half from Graves Mt. Can ride forever there.


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## thenrie (Sep 10, 2012)

Joe4d said:


> I know some people that ride there, a bit north for me, I just google mapped and you are only an hour and a half from Graves Mt. Can ride forever there.


I can't find a "Grave's Mountain", unless you are referring to Grave's Mountain Lodge. It's near the Rapidan Wildlife Management Area. I am planning to put some miles in at the RWMA and Shenandoah NP this fall, if things work right for me.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Have fun! Take pictures!


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

graves mt lodge is on the left side of road,,, thinking south side, across the road is a place to camp or park for day rides for us po folks. Can get a map of their trails at the lodge gift shop or at the barn. They have about a 15 mile marked route and then connecting trails to the Shenedoah and big meadow trails.
PM me an email address I'll email you a PDF of the map.


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## thenrie (Sep 10, 2012)

Got out there a little later than I had hoped this morning. It was a nice day. The park is nice, the trails are nice, but they are the kind of trails where you need to take a friend (either that or just talk to your horse) because once you've arrived at the parking area, you've already seen just about everything you're going to see. It's all forest and doesn't change more than about 100' elevation in the whole park. The only time anything opens for a long view are several spots where the trails come up to the lake. No meadows, no running streams, no obstacles, nothing challenging. Just a nice, leisurely ride. Good for relaxing, not so good for a training ride. I would have taken some pics, but I was alone and one part of the forest looks pretty much like the rest.

They have wooden bridges in the park for hikers to cross streams (stream beds), but they route the horses around them. I decided to see how Penny would react to crossing a narrow wooden bridge for the first time, since it was about the only obstacle I could try her on. Absolutely uneventful. I was very pleased.

One thing I learned. Much of the park is oak forests. I hadn't thought about it much. This time of year the acorns are dropping and the trails are full of them. Not a good time for riding bare-footed. Going to have to look into boots or get her shod. I'd rather do boots. We had to take it pretty slow and easy today. Overall, I enjoyed it. Ended up being good for Penny's trailer training. No problems loading and unloading today. Getting better.


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