Damascus, Virginia is a small town in the Blue Ridge Highlands with a big claim to fame: Several renowned trails intersect within our town limits, including the Appalachian Trail and the Virginia Creeper Trail, bestowing the honor of "Trail Town USA". As these trails pass through downtown Damascus, they bring along people, stories, and cultures from all walks of life.

Originally a railroad town in the lumber boom of the early 20th century, this small-town economy reinvented itself through outdoor recreation and tourism in the 1990s and has been thriving ever since. Thanks to the efforts of our community - local government, dedicated staff, scores of volunteers, and residents - we've found ways to turn these trails and our other outdoor recreation resources into a source of local pride.

We have some of the best outdoor recreation in the Southeast right in our backyard. At the edge of town, Mount Rogers National Recreation Area stretches as far as the eye can see, across the highest peaks in the state, over high elevation mountain balds and spruce-fir forests, trout streams, and more than 500 miles of trails.

​The Appalachian Trail enters the state of Virginia just a few miles south of town, then runs through the Town Park and down the sidewalk of Main Street. We are the home of the Virginia Creeper Trail, which stretches across the middle of town two blocks to the south. In the busy summer season, wheeled tourists pass through town on the TransAmerican and TransVirginia bike routes, as well as the Virginia Bird and Wildlife Trail, The Crooked Road, Boone Trail Highway, and Mid-Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route (MABDR) motor routes. The Iron Mountain Trail attracts singletrack mountain biking. Damascus is a gateway town to Mount Rogers, the highest point in the state of Virginia, at an elevation of 5,729 feet. Nearby are Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, Whitetop Mountain, and Grayson Highlands State Park, popular destinations for outdoor recreation including hiking, backpacking, bouldering, horseback riding, and biking. Just south of town is Backbone Rock Recreation Area, known as the "World's Shortest Highway Tunnel". Several trout streams and whitewater runs converge in Damascus - Whitetop Laurel, Beaverdam Creek, and Tennessee Laurel - to form the South Fork of the Holston River. The river flows into nearby South Holston Lake, a popular spot for motorized boating, flatwater paddling, swimming, and bass fishing.

The biggest event of the year in Damascus is the Appalachian Trail Days Festival, known locally as 'Trail Days'. Each year in May, the town swells from 650 residents to an estimated 20,000 people for the weekend. Trail Days is a celebration of the Appalachian Trail and thru-hiker culture and a massive reunion of thru-hikers past and present.

The trail town lifestyle is adventurous and creative, yet relaxed. It's the kind of place where you're sure to find an adventure of your very own, one that makes you want to return again and again. From the many trails, parks, and public lands, to our shops and restaurants downtown, there is an adventure for everyone here. 

We cherish this lifestyle, and know you will too.