Rivanna Trails

Welcome
About RTF

About RTF

The Rivanna Trails Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded in 1992 by Charlottesville, Virginia, area citizens with a dream to create a trail system throughout the greenbelt of the Rivanna river and its tributaries. The goal of the foundation is to establish and maintain a footpath encircling Charlottesville generally by following the Rivanna River, Meadow Creek, and Moore's Creek, and to advocate for trails in the area.

We believe that community-wide trails serve as a resource for nature-related recreation and environmental education by individuals as well as teachers, bird watchers, walking clubs, and other local groups with environmental concerns. Well-maintained neighborhood trails provide children with a safe setting in which to play, a place for adults to exercise, for neighbors to get to know each other in a new way, and for community members to enjoy the beauty of our riverine areas.

Community

RTF is a volunteer organization supported solely by tax-deductible contributions. Membership dues offset costs associated with the establishment and maintenance of trails and footbridges and the publication of maps. You can help this effort by joining the Rivanna Trails Foundation. Read about the early history of the RT, or email info@rivannatrails.com for more information.

RTF relies on volunteers to help build and maintain the trail system. The Foundation foresees trail maintenance as a collaborative effort, with neighbors joining in to maintain their neighborhood trail segments with pride and a sense of ownership. To find out more about volunteering or to help your neighborhood Trail Adopter, email info@rivannatrails.com.

Meet the Board

Nikolai Braun lives in Belmont and loves to run, hike, and bike throughout all the natural beauty that Central Virginia has to offer. Handy with a folding saw, you can sometimes find him out after thunderstorms clearing trees and branches from the Rivanna Trail. Nikolai would love to help develop more paved shared-use trails in Charlottesville and the Central VA area for daily commuting and recreation. He is RTF's liaison with the Charlottesville Area Trail Runners.

Jason Castro is an Electronics Engineer who works for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and an officer on the board of the Village Square Property Owners Association. He spearheaded the construction of a connector trail from The Village Square to the trails along the east side of Meadow Creek, and RTF's incorporation of these trails. He joined the RTF Board in the fall of 2022.

Jay Endahl has been associated with the RTF for 18 years. His association began as a RTF workday volunteer and evolved into becoming a trail adopter for 10 years and eventually as a member of the Board. His other interests besides hiking include gardening and golf

Allie Hill can be found biking on trails or roads most days of the week. Her dream is to see a greenway through western Albemarle County, encouraging biking as viable transportation. Allie enjoys working with volunteer school groups on the RT, as she believes that getting kids outside is always a good idea.

Duncan Hill joined the RTF board in 2017. He has lived in Charlottesville since 2002 and works as a physician at Martha Jefferson Hospital. He hikes, runs, and bikes the RT and any other trails he can find in the area. Duncan helps to organize trail adopters whose work keeps the RT open for business.

Michael Holroyd is a computer scientist (PhD UVA 2011) and a search team leader for the Blue Ridge Mountain Rescue Group. He joined the RTF board in 2016 to focus on completing the urban loop, and has worked on projects including permissions along the Willoughby neighborhood trails and the future bridge across Moore's Creek at Woolen Mills. Michael has been RTF President since 2021.

Robert LeHeup always wondered where the Rivanna Trail signs around town led, and one year came across notice of the Loop de Ville and experienced the entire loop in one day. A couple years later he joined the board as Treasurer, and is responsible for keeping the RTF’s business affairs in order - writing donor acknowledgements, depositing donations, filing taxes, and paying the bills.

John Lewis is an avid mountain biker (and ex hiker and runner), and is currently the President of the Charlottesville Area Mountain Bike Club. Shared use trails, and bike/ped issues take up his community engagement time as he serves on various boards and committees. He loves working with the RTF community and local governments to grow and improve our local trail systems for the benefit of everyone.

Megan Lemon is a law student at the UVA School of Law. She spent the summer of 2023 hiking the Pacific Crest Trail after spending 5 years on a small island in Fiji as a Peace Corps Volunteer. She moved to Charlottesville in August 2023, where she quickly fell in love running the Rivanna Trail section between Old Ivy and Barracks. She’s excited to join RTF’s board and work on connecting more people with the amazing amenity that is the Rivanna Trail.

Ned Michie has served on the RTF Board since 2004. He grew up in Charlottesville, on Greenbrier Drive, and spent many hours of his childhood with his brothers and friends playing in what is now Greenbrier Park but was then affectionately known by neighborhood kids as “the Swamp.” He still lives in the Greenbrier neighborhood, and in the 1990s the Park became home to one of the original sections of the Rivanna Trail. Ned’s day job is as a solo practitioner lawyer. In addition to hiking, he enjoys the outdoors, generally, as well as playing basketball and tennis. He has served on other community service boards, including the School Board for 14 years, and he is currently a member of the City’s Parks and Rec Advisory Board.

Terri Miyamoto moved to Crozet with her husband in 2014, after retiring from careers in information systems and lay ministry. Her love of neighborhood trails led her to the Crozet Trails Crew, where she currently serves as president. Terri is especially interested in pursuing safe and efficient options for biking and walking as transportation alternatives, and in encouraging the development of communities that are affordable and accessible to all our neighbors.

Thomas Safranek has worked in park management for over 15 years, most of which was spent with the National Park Service. He loves running and hiking on the Rivanna Trail with his family. He believes access to the outdoors is necessary for healthy and happy communities and sees the Rivanna Trail system as an outstanding resource for the people of Charlottesville.

Eddie Summers - bio and photo coming

Peter Traub - Peter Traub is a software infrastructure engineer with the University of Virginia and a resident of Charlottesville since 2004. He is a lover of hiking, mountain biking, and being out in nature. He joined the board in the spring of 2023 and is looking to increase community awareness of and engagement with our local trail systems.

Rip Verkerke earns his living as a professor at UVA Law School, but he gets his kicks spending time outdoors. He’s been an RTF board member for more than a decade and president since June 2017. His favorite trails include the Barracks to Old Ivy segment of the RT, the Cedar Run to White Oak Canyon loop trail, the Foxhaven Farm to Ragged Mountain Reservoir climb, and the Reservoir loop. When he’s not hiking or biking, Rip loves sailing, landscape design, and doting on his grandchildren. He was thrilled to work with amazing volunteers to create the 5^thStreet Station bridge underpass and to shore up the trail tread near Ivy Road with about 22 tons of gravel.

$John Woodriff$ John Woodriff is a local business owner who enjoys getting out onto the trails after work, and on days off to relax. He joined the board in 2016 after walking on the southern sections of the loop for years, and wanting to be further involved.

Ex Officio Members

Chris Gensic serves at Parks and Trails Planner for the City of Charlottesville. His primary role is to coordinate the design and construction of a network of bicycle and ADA accessible trails to connect City parks, schools, and other destinations. He is also the primary planner for the department, dealing with updating park master plans and developing the larger park network according to the desires of the public and City Council. Chris is also involved in urban forestry and wildlife planning, invasives management, parkland acquisition, volunteer coordination, safe routes to schools, grant writing and grant project management. Chris has also worked as a regional planner at the Thomas Jefferson Planning District and as an environmental policy specialist at the Pentagon in Washington. He has served as the president of Bike/Walk Virginia, a state advocacy group, and locally as president of the Belmont-Carlton Neighborhood Association.

The Rivanna Trails cross private property, and RTF thanks those land owners for their kind permission to let us use their property. Please respect their privacy and property rights by using the trails only during daylight hours, staying on the trails, keeping noise to a minimum, and not littering.