Best hiking trails near Scott Stadium in Charlottesville: a guide for Virginia football fans

Week 0 | NC State at Virginia | Saturday, Aug.

29 | Scott Stadium, Charlottesville, VA | 3:30 p.m.

ET Funny how things work out.

This game was supposed to be college football's first trip to South America, with NC State and Virginia set to kick off Week 0 at Nilton Santos Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

Then the whole thing fell apart this summer when Athlete Advantage (the event organizer) told the ACC it simply couldn't pull it off.

So the Wolfpack and Cavaliers got rerouted back to the far less exotic — but far more practical — Blue Ridge foothills of Charlottesville instead.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE FROM OUTKICK OUTDOORS Virginia's loss of a trip to Rio is your gain.

Instead of fighting for a spot on a flight to Brazil, you can be standing on a mountaintop overlooking the Shenandoah Valley by 9 a.m. and in your tailgate spot by 1.

Charlottesville sits right up against the Blue Ridge Parkway and the edge of Shenandoah National Park , which means some of the best hiking in Virginia is closer to Scott Stadium than most fans realize.

Here's where to go — all within an hour of kickoff and none requiring a passport or conversational Portuguese.

10 minutes from Scott Stadium | Easy The one to bring the whole crew, including grandparents and strollers.

A 4.4-mile out-and-back on packed gravel and raised boardwalk, climbing gently through forest canopy up to the visitor center at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello .

Dog-friendly, wheelchair-accessible and shaded most of the way.

If anyone in your group wants to actually tour the house, that's a separate ticket — $23 to $30 for adults, $10 for kids 5 to 11 — but the trail itself is free.