Goshen Pass · VA-39

The Maury River gorge, one way: from Lexington the route follows VA-39 to Rockbridge Baths, runs through Goshen Pass with the river right beside the road, then continues through Goshen and Millboro Springs to finish in Warm Springs. It's 44 miles. Watch for log trucks, and in summer for swimmers' cars parked along the pass. The route ends in Warm Springs on purpose: farther west, VA-39 heads into West Virginia.

VA-39 leaves Lexington to the north and follows the Maury River upstream. Past Rockbridge Baths the valley narrows into Goshen Pass, a gorge where the road and the river squeeze between steep wooded walls for a few miles. On the way through is the wayside with a shelter and picnic tables, and above the river a memorial to Matthew Fontaine Maury, the oceanographer the river is named after: his body was carried through the pass on its way from Lexington to Richmond, and a large anchor and chain honor his years in the Navy.

West of the pass the road opens up through Goshen and Millboro Springs and crosses into Bath County, finishing in Warm Springs, where VA-39 meets US-220 a short walk from the old bathhouses. Log trucks use VA-39, and in summer swimmers park along the pass, so ride the gorge with room to spare. It's a one-way route and it ends in Warm Springs on purpose: farther west VA-39 crosses into West Virginia.