Shenandoah University River Campus at Cool Spring Battlefield — Attraction in Virginia

This place is fantastic, especially if you have smaller children. The area used to be a golf course and the trails are the old golf cart paths, making them perfect for bikes and easy walking. A good portion of the trails run along the Shenandoah River , crossing over a few wood bridges allowing for a visually stimulating walk. There's also a few ponds for fishing, benches for bird watching and a trail to see a waterfall which about 2.5 miles past also offers connection to the AT. Tons of parking at the end of a very bumpy gravel road that is a few years overdue on some grading.

A word of caution ⚠️ the turn off 7w is right a the bottom of the hill and right before the bridge crossing the Shenandoah. The turning lane to make the right into the entrance road is very short. You should be slowing well in advance to the turning... if you wait you will not have time to slow. We reduce to about 35 coming down the hill. If you are leaving from the complex early afternoon, there is a ton of traffic flying down the mtn westbound going about 75 mph. We generally make a right, cross the bridge, turning at the next u-turn to...

Nice place, but has recently been overrun by COVID refugees from NOVA and other more urban areas. Many people are inconsiderate and just plain obnoxious, with no trail etiquette or regard for others. People walk in large groups and clog up trails, talk too loudly, yell, and play loud music as they walk, and don't control or clean up after their dogs. The volume of visitors has increased so dramatically in 2020 over past years that it is not worth coming if you want "nature". Seems to have become more of an Ashburn City Park than the remote-feeling gem it used to be. I would like to see SU do a better job of crowd management and policy enforcement. Oh, and if you're coming to see the "waterfalls", don't get your hopes...

Just went their for the first time and was really impressed. It’s a reclaimed golf course so you walk on paved golf cart paths. Their were also many interior paths mowed so you could go off path and take short cuts. It was long...didn’t do the full loop. Family friendly. Saw lots of kids. Bring your bikes and strollers. Pushed three kids in a stroller. There’s a covered picnic shelter with multiple tables. Lots of parking and it’s all free. Dipped our feet in the river. Laminated guides available. Road was okay on the way in, but a little pot holy and bumpy. Path markers weren’t the greatest. Saw 10-15 people swimming in various spots in the river. Definitely...