All this month, some trail entrances at Pen Park have had caution tape across them. The City of Charlottesville says that tape means what it looks like. When tape and signs are posted at a trail entrance, the trail is closed to all through traffic, pedestrians and bicycles included. The tape marks an invasive-plant restoration project, and the crews are scheduled to finish this week.
For Stonehenge, Pen Park is the large green space just up Rio Road. Its fall winds down in stages, and each stage moves the park's regular weekly gathering to a different day. Through October, that gathering is the Wednesday afternoon farmers market. In November it moves to Saturday mornings on the Rivanna Trail. After Thanksgiving the golf course keeps the calendar going into December.
The restoration crews finish this week
Charlottesville Parks & Recreation's restoration notice, posted September 16, set the work window from September 21 to October 23, weather permitting. Contracted crews have been doing targeted herbicide applications and forestry mulching. They're going after invasive vines, paradise trees, autumn olive and bush honeysuckle.
The stretch closest to Stonehenge is where the work concentrates. Three locations on the city's list sit in the same corridor:
- Pen Park Fitness Trail
- John Warner Parkway trail and the Butterfly Greenway
- Meadow Creek Gardens
The city says the goal is to cut back invasive growth, increase the existing tree canopy, and restore native groundcovers and native trees. Signs go up along the trail edges when work starts in an area and stay for 24 hours afterward. Since the schedule depends on the weather, the tape is a better guide than the calendar. If it's still up on a given morning, that stretch is still closed.
The city's Pen Park page lists a 10-station fitness course, a 1.5-mile trail along the Rivanna River, the 18-hole Meadowcreek Golf Course, tennis courts, a playground, restrooms and a pollinator garden.
The Wednesday market closes an hour earlier
Farmers in the Park, the city's Wednesday market at Pen Park, has switched to its October hours. Visit Charlottesville's listing gives the schedule:
| Months | Day | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| May through September | Wednesdays | 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. |
| October | Wednesdays | 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. |
The market's Marketspread listing for October 7 shows the same 3 to 6 p.m. window. The posted schedule stops at October, and no November dates are listed. That leaves one market after this post publishes, on Wednesday, October 28. If you usually come by after work, plan around the 6 p.m. close.
Only growers and producers sell at this market, so vendors are limited to farmers and food. Visit Charlottesville describes it as a smaller version of the Saturday City Market. The city also matches SNAP spending through Virginia Fresh Match. Up to $50 in SNAP purchases gets another $50 to spend on fresh produce.
This was the market's first full summer on the east side of the parking lot. The city's June 30 announcement said the new layout added wider walkways, more seating and shade from several mature trees. It also freed up the green space just north of the market for live music and future events. City Market Supervisor Justin McKenzie said in that release that the extra space and shade "will improve the overall market experience while giving us more flexibility to host entertainment and community activities." Wind Down Wednesday, the free live music the city launched in June for the first Wednesday of each month, made use of that new space.
Saturday mornings start at the tennis-court lot
With the Wednesday market done for the year, the next regular event at Pen Park falls on a Saturday. The Rivanna Trails Foundation leads a guided walk on the third Saturday of each month and covers a different section of the Rivanna Trail each time, finishing the whole loop over the course of a year.
November's walk begins at Pen Park:
- Date: Saturday, November 21
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to noon
- Route: River North, from Pen Park to Dunlora and back
- Meeting point: Pen Park tennis-court parking lot, 1346 Pen Park Road
- Distance: 4 miles
The foundation lists all of its walks as out-and-back routes of 3 to 6 miles, lasting about two hours. This route runs north along the river from the park. Albemarle County's trail inventory also lists a Free State Rivanna Trail spur that heads upstream from Pen Park toward Belvedere. A walk timed four weeks after the restoration crews leave means a walk through freshly cleared woods.
The foundation's other recurring Saturday event happens closer to Stonehenge. Its trail maintenance work parties meet at 9 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month at 2030 Morton Drive, near Meadow Creek Gardens. On this fall's calendar, that falls on November 14 and December 12. Together, the two Saturday events mean trail work near Meadow Creek in the middle of the month and a guided walk out of Pen Park the following weekend.
The golf course carries the park to the holidays
Meadowcreek Golf Course is the one part of Pen Park with a published holiday calendar. The course's events listing shows two tournaments after the trail season:
| Date | Event | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, November 24 | Turkey Scramble | Four-person gross scramble, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Friday, December 18 | Holiday scramble | Two-person scramble |
The Turkey Scramble lands two days before Thanksgiving. The course's homepage advertises the Cavalier Pass and says Meadowcreek was named Best Golf Course in Charlottesville for 2025. The rates page says twilight hours change with the season, so check with the course before an evening round in late fall.
Across the river, the courts doubled this year
Darden Towe Park sits across the Rivanna from Pen Park. CvilleRightNow reported in June that the park's pickleball courts grew from six to 12, with a Saturday morning ceremony to open them. Albemarle County's trail inventory lists Darden Towe as a trailhead for the Old Mills Trail and describes the Free Bridge Promenade as a car-free extension of the park. Darden Towe also hosted the city's free Butterfly Festival on September 27.
The rest of the season, in order
- Through Friday, October 23: Restoration crews are scheduled to finish on the Pen Park Fitness Trail, the John Warner Parkway trail and Butterfly Greenway, and Meadow Creek Gardens, weather permitting.
- Wednesday, October 28, 3 to 6 p.m.: Farmers in the Park at Pen Park, the last Wednesday on the posted October schedule.
- Saturday, November 14, 9 a.m.: Rivanna Trails Foundation work party at 2030 Morton Drive, near Meadow Creek Gardens.
- Saturday, November 21, 10 a.m. to noon: Rivanna Trails Foundation guided walk from Pen Park to Dunlora, meeting at the tennis-court lot, 1346 Pen Park Road.
- Tuesday, November 24, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Turkey Scramble at Meadowcreek Golf Course.
- Saturday, December 12, 9 a.m.: Rivanna Trails Foundation work party, Morton Drive.
- Friday, December 18: Holiday two-person scramble at Meadowcreek.
At Nest Realty, we keep track of what's happening in the places our clients actually spend time, from the Wednesday market at Pen Park to the trailheads along Rio Road. If you'd like to talk about the Stonehenge and Rio area with someone who knows it well, our agents are glad to help. Get Started Now.
