.8 and 4 mi.
Pandapas Pond is an 8-acre pond located about 15 from Blacksburg, 25 minutes from Christiansburg. Jim Pandapas originally built it for personal recreation use before selling it to the Forestry Service. Pandapas owned an electrical supply company in the 1940’s, when in 1948 he decided to buy a 500-acre track of land in the Poverty Creek area of Blacksburg. The pond itself was built for his employees as a recreation area and incentive for future employees to sign on with him. In 1953 however he sold his shares of Electro-Tec and opened a competing company by the name of Poly-Scientific. In this transaction he kept the large parcel of land and the pond. In 1987 Mr. Pandapas tried to give the land and pond to the Forest Service under the contract that they make several improvements including stocked fish, bathrooms, and running water. At which time he was informed that the government cannot buy land with any attached conditions and so he and his wife decided to sell them the land for the original price they paid for it 35 years ago. From the upper parking lot there is access to the Poverty Creek and Gap Mountain trails both of which are part of the Jefferson National Forest. On both of these trails biking and horses are permitted although they are not allowed on the trail around the pond. The trail around the pond itself is 1 mile and gives the option to continue for another mile into the wetlands. The trail is great for walking or running as the path itself is flat and wide. It is also widely used as an easy fishing location as the government stocks it yearly with trout. There is a great amount of wildlife at this location including Canadian geese, several species of turtles, and a vast number of birds. An example of some birds to watch out for during migration season are, scarlet tanager, blue-gray gnatcatcher, hooded warbler, wood thrush, ovenbird, and eastern wood-pewee. Year long birds include great horned and barred owls, pileated and red-bellied woodpeckers, and green herons. If you’re not an avid aviary enthusiast be sure to also keep an eye out for white-tailed deer, eastern box turtles, northern dusky and red-backed salamanders and green and pickerel frogs.