On April 17th 2025 nine volunteers and one Forest Service employee showed up to work on clearing downed trees from the Max Creek section of the R2R Trail. Downed trees were from the March 15th tornado that hit the Max Creek section of the R2R Trail. The group met at the Taylor Ridge Road trailhead at 9am and cleared all downed trees all the way over to Hilltop Lane. 3 of the 10 were certified by the FS to use chain saws. The crew:

The NWS said on March 15th a preliminary EF-2 tornado struck just north of Vienna. The tornado had wind speeds of 115 mph and was on the ground for 15.9 miles with a width of 100 yards. The tornado started at 1:15 am Saturday and ended at 1:31 am. The following image shows the path of the tornado and it clearly shows the path goes right over the Max Creek Section of the R2R Trail.

The crew concentrated only on the R2R trail and as a result, it was observed that there is still extensive trail damage along other trails in the area including trails 435 and 437. There is also extensive damage to trees through out the area and the Society recommends that anyone going on these trails or off trail be extra cautious.

Typical storm damaged cleaned up

FS employee cutting large tree

Breaktime at the Max Creek picnic table

Clearing limbs

The Trail Society would like to thank all of those that showed up to clear the R2R trail from the tornado damage.