When did you last walk the Lake Front Trail at Ragged Mountain and pay attention to where the water meets the bank? That edge is due to move. The Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority is partway through the Ragged Mountain Reservoir Pool Fill Project. When it's done, the pool level can rise 12 feet, from an elevation of 671 feet to 683, adding 700 million gallons of storage. RWSA plans to start filling on January 1, 2027, as long as Sugar Hollow Reservoir is spilling at least 30 million gallons a day.
So the Ragged Mountain shoreline you can reach this fall is probably the last version of it at the old pool level. Most of the reservoir is still fenced off, too. Charlottesville's trail map for October and November looks different from its usual shape. The west side is limited and on a construction clock. The east side along the Rivanna has the new additions, plus a short-term maintenance schedule worth checking before you lace up.
What's open at Ragged Mountain right now
Faulconer Construction, RWSA's contractor, has been working on the reservoir since last fall. Clearing trees ahead of the higher water closed the Lake Front Trail, the Peninsula Trail and parts of the Upper Trail. On July 9, 2026, RWSA announced that tree clearing on the eastern side was finished. Those trails partly reopened, and shoreline fishing was allowed again in the cleared areas. New wayfinding signs went up, and trail access is from the lower parking lot.
The rest of the reservoir is still off-limits. Trails on the northern, western and southern sides stay closed, and watercraft are restricted while barging continues. RWSA's September 10, 2026 update says fallen trees are still being barged across the water from those three sides. Work on an expanded blanket drain system in the dam's right abutment is also underway. No other trail reopenings have been announced since July.
RWSA's tentative finish date is December 31, 2026, and the plan is for all trails to fully reopen then. If that date holds and Sugar Hollow is spilling enough, filling starts the next morning. In practice, a fall hike at Ragged Mountain means the east side, the lower lot and the closure signs. It also means a shoreline that will look different once the reservoir rises toward 683 feet.
The extra storage traces back to a decision made almost three years ago. In December 2023, Charlottesville City Council, the Albemarle County Service Authority Board and the RWSA Board approved an amendment allowing the reservoir to use its full design capacity. The dam was built to hold that level all along. Under the 2012 agreement, it was only filled to 671 feet.
Where the new reasons to get outside are
With Ragged Mountain mostly fenced, the newest addition this fall sits on the other side of town. Riversong Cafe opens on October 1 at Rivanna River Company along the Rivanna Trail. It's a coffee trailer serving a full espresso menu, drip coffee and tea. The beans are locally grown by JBird, and the pastries come from MarieBette. Hours are Wednesday through Monday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Rivanna River Company's own directions give its address as 1520 E. High St. The entrance is an access road between Hogwaller Brewing and Sugar Bear Ice Cream, followed by a gravel road to parking in a mowed field by the river. The company's directions are written for its river-trip customers, and they don't say whether the field is open to people who only want coffee. If you're walking in from the trail, that question doesn't come up.
Co-owner Sonya Silver told NBC29 why they opened it:
"A big motivation for us was just to give people new reasons to come down here and kind of lower the barrier to just spending time in the space and walking the trail and maybe getting a delicious coffee and then going on a walk makes it all the more appealing."
The other recent change on this side of town is a smaller connector. The Washington Park Trail Connection opened in April. It links Madison Avenue, the lower park and Preston Avenue on a paved route that works for walkers, cyclists, strollers and wheelchair users.
The short closures to check before October 23
The east side has its own schedule this fall, but it's a short one. From September 21 through October 23, weather permitting, Charlottesville Parks & Recreation has contracted crews removing invasive plants on city land. The targets are mainly invasive vines, paradise trees, autumn olive and bush honeysuckle, treated with herbicide and forestry mulching. The listed sites include several places on any regular walker's route:
- Rivanna Trail sections: Azalea Park, Jordan Park to 5th Street, Quarry Park and Riverview Park
- Other trails: Fry's Spring Nature Trail, John Warner Parkway/Butterfly Greenway and the Pen Park Fitness Trail
- Parks: Azalea, Forest Hills, Meadow Creek Gardens, Riverview, Tonsler and Washington
If caution tape and signs are posted at a trail entrance, the trail is closed to all pedestrians and cyclists. Signs stay up for 24 hours after work in that spot is done. Washington Park is on the list, so the new connector there could be affected on some days. Steve Gaines, the city's Urban Forester, takes questions at 434-970-3587.
Unlike the reservoir work, these closures come and go spot by spot and should be over before Halloween.
Your fall trail calendar
Every closure this season has an end date. Here's how the next three months line up:
- October 1: Riversong Cafe opens at Rivanna River Company.
- October 7, 5 p.m.: Guided Heyward Community Forest hike from Charlottesville Parks & Recreation, meeting at 1730 Reservoir Road. It covers about two miles of natural-surface trail.
- October 23: Scheduled end of the city's invasive-plant work, weather permitting.
- November 4, 5 p.m.: A second guided Heyward hike, same meeting spot.
- December 31: RWSA's tentative completion date for Ragged Mountain, with all trails set to reopen.
- January 1, 2027: Planned start of filling the reservoir, if Sugar Hollow is spilling at least 30 million gallons a day.
Heyward Community Forest is the nearest guided option to Ragged Mountain while the reservoir trails are limited. The 5 p.m. start on November 4 also comes just after the clocks fall back, so an end-of-walk light is worth packing.
South of town and further out
Albemarle County's largest park is open but under construction too. The county says Biscuit Run is open despite active construction zones and several temporary trail closures. The second public entrance on Hickory Street began construction in February 2026. Three boardwalks and a multi-use trail extension started in 2025 and are expected to be finished in 2026. On March 2, crews began a 220-foot pedestrian bridge and ADA walkway connecting the park to neighborhoods off 5th Street, including Southwood. NBC29's March report estimated it would open the following spring. The county's visitor page doesn't name which trails are closed, so check the signs at the trailhead.
The next big river project is still on paper. Albemarle County Parks and Recreation plans to extend the Old Mills Trail just over a mile onto Monticello's historic Lego Farm. The project is expected to cost about $400,000, with nearly $211,000 coming from state grants. Construction is expected to start in summer 2027. Tim Padalino, the county's Chief of Park Planning, describes the long-term master plan as about 10 continuous miles of riverside trail "going right through the heart of Charlottesville and Albemarle County." A separate proposal for a Rivanna River pedestrian bridge between Pantops and the Wool Factory and Woolen Mills area is at an earlier stage. As of February 2026, TJPDC was making a fourth request for federal money to fund preliminary engineering.
None of those longer-term projects changes this fall's routine. For the next three months, the options are the east side of Ragged Mountain, the Rivanna Trail once its invasive-plant work wraps up, and a coffee stop off East High Street that opens six days a week.
If being able to walk to the Rivanna Trail or Biscuit Run is part of why you love your home, it may also figure into what the home is worth. Josh Harris can walk you through it. Get your instant home valuation to see where your house stands this fall.
