During the weekdays, lawyers and legislators keep the capital of Virginia button-down. However, on weekends? Downtown transforms into associate urban journey zone, particularly on the James River: paddlers crash through category III and IV rapids, mountain rockers rip down single tracks and climbers scramble across boulders, abandoned bridges and fallen oaks. Post-workout, everybody hits the capital of Virginia brewage path. get rolling and be part of the gang with our guide to the city's best active adventures.

Island time within the middle of town

Open to hikers and cyclists, a straightforward one-mile path loops round the island. This level path kicks off at the location of a warfare prisoner of war camp - currently a grassland - then rolls on the island's north-shore rocks. The island conjointly homes a motorbike skills course, revamped in 2016, that creates for a fun coaching ground for newbies. Tackle dirt ramps, picket ramps, boardwalks, rollers and walls.

You can yell like Tarzan on a guided tree-climbing tour with Riverside Outfitters. Once you're clipped in, you'll climb 40ft up the trunk of a soaring oak. From here, create your means across its mighty branches and push into a bifoliate cover, wherever ziplines and cord bridges expect.

Free parking to access girl islet is out there close to the footbridge, simply west of the yank warfare deposit at Historic Tredegar. supported in 1837, Tredegar was associate iron works production facility that churned out Confederate cannons and military vehicle plating throughout the warfare.

History & hiking: Canal Walk & Brown's Island

It's simple to imagine a active one9th-century trade and industrial district as you stroll the 1.25-mile riverfront Canal Walk, that meanders on the north bank of the watercourse between fifth and seventeenth Streets and across Brown's Island. in-built the 1800s, the historic canals and locks here boosted commerce on the watercourse by permitting cargo-carrying boats to bypass the falls. hunt for attention-getting street art at the jap finish of the walk.

On the water, from raging rapids to funday floats

Richmond is that the solely metropolitan space within the United States with category III and IV rapids flaming past downtown. you'll end up on the water, paddle in hand, with solely a 10-minute drive from your downtown edifice.

Pedal on the Virginia Capital path

Fancy a pedal back in time? Then mount up your bike and take a ride down the Virginia Capital path. Completed in 2015, this made-up bike and pedestrian path stretches 52-miles between capital of Virginia and village, a lot of it beside the James watercourse, and runs past several historical sights.