Mountaintop Experiences: Students explore unique venues for outdoor fun on Liberty Mountain

Liberty University’s Campus Recreation department invites students to come up for a breath of fresh air — while practicing social distancing in the great outdoors — with a short escape to one of its various venues on Liberty Mountain, a recreational paradise in their own backyard.

“I would encourage students to take advantage of these activities during their time at Liberty,” Campus Recreation Executive Director Jamie Swyers said. “Getting involved, trying something new, and experiencing all the campus has to offer is such an exciting benefit to being a part of this community.”

In the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, just above main campus, spectacular views abound along the 50-plus miles of single- and double-track hiking and mountain bike trails traversing 3,500 acres of the Liberty Mountain Trail System (LMTS) — especially from 1,350-foot summits at the LU Monogram and the Barrick-Falwell Lodge at the Snowflex Centre. (View a trail map).

“It’s an incredible resource and an amazing sanctuary that Liberty not only offers its students, staff, and faculty, but also the community at large,” said Dr. Clark Zealand, a professor in the School of Business’ Department of Sport, Event & Tourism Management. “I love that there’s a nice variation of trails. Some are easier than others, some are more technical, rockier with more roots. Some are more novice and some more advanced.”

Outdoor Recreation staff also direct the annual five-race Liberty Mountain Trail Series. On Dec. 5, the series continues with the Reindeer Run 2-Miler, a Christmas costume family fun run, followed by the Arctic 5K on Feb. 6.

The races will start at the Hydaway Outdoor Center, which features an 8-acre lake suited for swimming, fishing, kayaking, canoeing, or standup paddleboarding. Other warm-weather attractions include a beach with reclining chairs and tower with a giant water slide. The center also features a high ropes challenge course and zip lines as well as eight campsites with rentals of tents, sleeping bags and pads, hammocks, cooking equipment, and backpacks. From Dec. 3-5, the center will be open for a drive-through Christmas light display at 6 p.m. each night.

Tucked higher up in the woods is one of the premier collegiate gun ranges in the country. Featuring a full-service shotgun facility, a rifle and pistol range, Olympic-style and 3D archery ranges, and a recently constructed lodge, the new Liberty Mountain Gun Club (LMGC) is home to educational, recreational, and competitive shooting activities.

Bill Crawford, LMGC’s general manager, says the facility offers a wide variety of shooting opportunities for students, faculty, and staff, whether they are competitive shooters, weekend hobbyists, or someone who has never touched a firearm before.

The club rents 22-caliber pistols and rifles, 12- and 20-gauge shotguns and sells ammunition so that visitors who don’t have access to firearms can use the ranges.

For those who prefer shotgun shooting, the facility provides a full range of disciplines: American skeet and America trap, two nine-trap 5-stands, a sporting clays course, International skeet and International trap, also known as bunker. Crawford says the bunker facility is one of the novel features at Liberty’s range, with the only other one in Virginia located at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico.

“It is an amazing selling point for people to understand that we have this extracurricular recreational activity,” Crawford said. “Like the bowling alley, like the rock wall, the Liberty Mountain Gun Club is just another thing to add to the long list of amazing facilities that this university provides to our students.”

The new lodge features a classroom for safety and certification classes. Through the Helms School of Government, students can register for a two-credit class on the safe use and handling of a pistol, rifle, or shotgun. The lodge hosts events and, with access to the Wi-Fi network, has become more popular as a resting and study spot for students.

“We are actually starting to see more and more students just come up here and study just because it is a nice location with a pretty view,” Crawford said.

Liberty Mountain is also home to the 380-acre Equestrian Center with more than 50 miles of trails that wind around the back of the mountain, where students can participate in group rides by appointment.

One of the larger collegiate facilities in the state, it includes 72 stalls at the main barn and two other smaller barns, with another 20 stalls under renovation connected to a 300-foot by 120-foot indoor arena, where students can take horseback riding lessons and horsemanship classes.

“We definitely have premiere facilities for students to enjoy and try to provide the best environment for our horses and students to interact and hopefully thrive,” Director of Equestrian Programs and Hunt Seat Head Coach Suzanne Flaig said. “We offer riding lessons and trail rides and periodic special events that provide opportunities for students to come up to an aesthetically idyllic setting. A lot of students describe it as a refuge from other stressors or the hectic pace of their daily lives. My staff and I feel very blessed that this is where we work, and certainly do not take that for granted. We are happy to be able to share that with them.”

Next to the Equestrian Center is the university’s Astronomical Observatory featuring a 24-inch DFM Engineering telescope, ideal for stargazing the heavens on clear nights.

Students also have access to two, 20-hole disc golf courses, including one near Hydaway that spans more than 3 miles as it meanders along creeks and through the woods parallel to a few of the hiking and mountain bike trails.

“I don’t think there are many (colleges or universities) that have one, let alone two, disc golf courses on campus,” Flames Disc Golf Head Coach Steve Bowman said. “How many schools have 7,000 acres to use as a playground?”

An additional nine-hole pitch-and-putt disc golf course is planned not far from the NCAA golf program’s four-hole course, driving range, and Clarkson Clubhouse.

The Liberty Mountain Intramural Complex, located at the base of the mountain near the Liberty Indoor Track Complex and Liberty Natatorium, provides ample field space for recreational team sports such as Ultimate, softball, and football, as well as four beach volleyball courts.

Winter extreme sports enthusiasts can take to the mountain’s most visible recreational venue — the Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre (LMSC). The year-round slopes for skiing, snowboarding, and tubing make the LMSC the only fully functional facility of its kind in North America.

“For students, it is free to use, so it is definitely a great place to learn up here,” said Snowflex General Manager Caleb Acree, noting that the Next Level Development Program is a great way for students to build up their training base. “Especially as resorts are opening in the next month or so, it is a way to get ready for the season, to gain skills that will translate easily onto the snow at any resort you want to go to.”

Acree said skiing and snowboarding are two of today’s ideal recreational pursuits.

“They are very low contact sports, with all our activities done outside, where it is very easy to social distance,” he said. “As colder weather arrives, Snowflex is a great spot for students to come, wearing something to bundle up in. Especially as we get later in the fall and into the winter months, as we are winding down for the semester, it is so beautiful up at the lodge at night, with our fireplace decorated for Christmas. It is a great atmosphere to hang out and study,” with coffee, cocoa, or other refreshments from its snack bar.

Like many of Liberty Mountain’s offerings, the Snowflex Centre is also open to the public.

“Having an expansive outdoor property adjacent to Liberty’s campus is a wonderful resource and provides so many opportunities,” Swyers said. “We are blessed to be able to offer such a wide array of programs and facilities that truly benefit student, faculty, and staff in a holistic way.”

<<Watch a video featuring these and other Campus Recreation offerings.