Compton Peak is a short hike in the northern district of Shenandoah National Park. It has great views and requires just a little effort.
Adam takes in the view from the western side of Compton Peak. Below: A trail marker points the way to both the eastern and western views; This area was burned in a large forest fire in the winter of 2011. A resident on the park perimeter started the fire by dumping hot ashes from his wood stove. The fire ended up burning over 2000 acres and closed many trails (including the one to Compton Peak); The eastern view is somewhat obstructed.
Adam Says…
There has been so much rain this spring, that it seems next to impossible to find a pretty day to enjoy a hike. Last weekend, after checking out the weather forecast, we decided to take a quick trip up to Shenandoah National Park to squeeze in a hike before the clouds and rain came (again).
The directions for the hike are rather simple. From the parking lot, just cross Skyline Drive and start up the white-blazed Appalachian Trail. The trail ascends steadily. At .2 miles you will come across a large boulder to the left of the trail. At .7 miles, the trail tends to level off to a slight incline. At .8 miles, you will reach the post that marks the spur trails to the east and west for views for peaks. Both of these spur trails are .2 miles in length. The west trail to the right ascends slightly, but the views are quite impressive. The east trail to the left descends most of the way and eventually leads to a large boulder to ascend for the obstructed views.
Adam makes his way south along the Appalachian Trail. Below: We saw this buck with new antlers near the trailhead; Scaling a huge boulder along the trail; Native azaleas in bloom.
We spent a good while taking in the beautiful views on the west trail. We watched several vultures and a hawk float on the wind drafts. After we headed back from the trail, we saw the clouds starting to move in. We were thrilled we were able to get in a short hike before things clouded up.
Since we’ve recently been doing some longer hikes, this felt a little like cheating. But I tried to think that it isn’t about how many miles you try to pile up, but the enjoyment you get from the scenery around you.
Christine Says…
Compton Peak was not our original plan. We hoped to drive down to Peaks of Otter and hike Flat Top, the companion hike to Sharp Top. But like so many other weekends this spring, our plans have been foiled by impending rain. To put things in perspective, by mid-May, our area should receive a little over 12 inches of rain. In spring 2011, we’re already pushing 22 inches of rain. It’s definitely made everything lush and green. Waterfalls are flowing abundantly. But, it’s always slick and muddy, views are cloudy, thunder is always rumbling and lightning flashes almost nightly – and let’s face it – it’s no fun to walk in a downpour.
Christine relaxes on the rocks. Below: We enjoyed the clear views and beautiful sky; The climb to the eastern overlook was really rocky.
We knew we had about a four hour window of sunshine before clouds and rain moved in, so we chose a short hike in Shenandoah. Compton Peak fit the bill nicely.
As we were getting situated, we saw a thru-hiker descending the trail. I’m always struck by how fast they hike; so business-like. We also passed a couple other backpackers and hikers coming off the trail. We chatted with one older couple. When we asked them “How was the view?”, they responded that they hadn’t made it that far. Compton Peak is a really short hike, so I was really surprised they turned around before getting to the overlook.
The ascent was fairly gradual, but for some reason I was feeling completely drained on this particular morning. My boots felt lead-lined and I didn’t have any energy. It made me a little glad that we chose a short hike for a change!
I loved the western summit of Compton Peak! The rock was nice and flat. It gave me a perfect place to lie flat on my back and feel the breeze blow over my face. The sky was absolutely gorgeous – deep blue and full of a variety of cloud formations. The viewpoint had a lot of native azaleas in full bloom surrounding the rocky overlook. It was really pretty.
A thru-hiker heads north along the Appalachian Trail.
The eastern summit was underwhelming. In fact, I didn’t bother to walk all the way out to the rock after Adam told me the view was obstructed. The hike back was all downhill and took only 15-20 minutes. It was a little odd being on such a short hike after doing so many longer hikes lately. If I hadn’t been so tired, I probably would have felt like such a short hike was ‘incomplete’.
Trail Notes
Distance – 2.4 miles out and back. This includes the two spur hikes to the Peak views
Elevation Change – 835 feet.
Difficulty –2. This is a pleasant and easy section to hike.
Trail Conditions –3. Very nicely maintained and easy to walk. There are a few rocky sections. The East trail at the top had water running on the trail and was quite slick on the descent.
Views – 3.5 The best views are from the West trail
Waterfalls/streams – 0. Non-existent.
Wildlife – 1.5. We didn’t see anything along the way, but the peaks should be a good spot to check out some birds of prey.
Ease to Navigate – 4. Follow the white blazes until you reach the top post. There is a junction here that leads to blue-blazed trails to the east and west.
Solitude – 2. You will likely see people along the trail, due to the ease of hike. The overlooks don’t have room for a lot of people, so you could be sharing the views with others.
Directions to trailhead: Park at mile 10.3 on Skyline Drive at the Compton Gap parking area. The trail begins across the road from the parking lot.
The Appalachian Trail from Bearfence Mountain to Swift Run Gap is a nine mile section. It doesn’t really offer any majestic views or pretty stream scenery, but it is a pleasant walk through classic Shenandoah forest.
Blooming Trillium Along the Appalachian Trail. Below: Adam makes his way along the AT; The only view on the hike comes from an opening in the trees near Pocosin Cabin; Climbing the one rocky section of trail; Ferns were everywhere!
Christine Says…
This post should have been about our backpacking trip to White Rock in George Washington National Forest. We spent all morning on Saturday getting ready – making toiletry kits, forcing our sleeping bags into waterproof stuff sacks, testing batteries in our headlamps, filling our Camelbaks, et cetera. We even drove the nearly two hours over into West Virginia. The forecast called for a 30% chance of spotty showers, however, at the trailhead we found a steady deluge of cold rain. We sat in the car for about an hour and a half, waiting for the rain to pass by. It never did, so we bailed on our backpacking trip and headed home feeling completely bummed out.
The next morning, we woke to drizzle and clouds, but the local weather guy kept saying “Not a washout, don’t cancel outdoor plans, dry air moving into the area.” So, we decided to head out into the gloomy morning and finish our last section of Appalachian Trail in the central district of Shenandoah National Park. We had already hiked three sections – Big Meadows to Bearfence, Skyland to Big Meadows and Skyland to Thornton Gap, so that left the nine miles between Bearfence and Swift Run Gap.
It turned out to be a perfect day for this hike! The drizzle stopped shortly after we arrived in the park, and the cool, overcast weather was ideal for a hike through the woods. I always like cloudy weather when I’m going to be photographing scenes under the tree canopy. The clouds are like a giant softbox – filtering the light and making every scene look softly-lit and shadow-free. Sunny days in the woods always result in spotty/stripy uneven photos – the contrast between light and dark is too much.
The yellow lady slipper is a rather uncommon wildflower. Below: A collection of wildflower shots… trillium, wild violet, wild geranium, and some others we don’t know.
It also was a fabulous day for enjoying the amazing display of wildflowers Shenandoah has underway right now. I saw everything from wild violets to expansive carpets of trillium to colorful and rather uncommon yellow lady slippers. The forest floor lining the trail was like an ocean of wildflowers – there were so many. It was so gorgeous! I think I must have said “Can you believe all these flowers!?” to Adam at least five or six times. I don’t think he was as moved as I was! For example, when I spotted the lady slipped, I gasped and said “Oooooh – oh, my gosh – look!” He thought I saw a bear cub, and was duly disappointed when he learned I only saw a flower.
In addition to all the wildflowers, we also saw many birds that we don’t see often down in the valley. We saw two mating pairs of Scarlet Tanagers, several Baltimore Orioles, many Eastern Towhees, Eastern Phoebes and a few Bluebirds.
This section of Appalachian Trail is a good example for why the path is aptly nicknamed ‘The Green Tunnel’. Even though the leaves were not fully out, the trail always felt like a narrow passage cutting through the greenest of greens. Everywhere you walk, trees form an umbrella overhead and ferns, grasses and other understory plants come right up to the trail’s edge. It’s such a peaceful setting.
We didn’t pass any grand views – really, the only spot you could really see off into the distance was one small peek through the trees shortly before passing the Pocosin Cabin. We also didn’t pass any streams bigger than small runnels that could be traversed by a single large step. We also didn’t see many other hikers. We ran into several AT thru-hikers. They’re probably the first of many we’ll see over the next couple months! Late May through the end of June seems to be when most of them pass through Shenandoah.
The Pocosin cabin sits just a few hundred feet off the Appalachian Trail. Below: Spring leaves are starting to pop up at even the higher elevations; Lower elevations are already leafed out; Lunch at South River Picnic Area.
As we got closer to the South River picnic area, we started seeing a few more people – a man out looking for morels, a few couples walking the South River Falls loop, and lots of picnickers. We stopped at the picnic area and ate our packed lunch. It was a nice place to take a break before knocking out the last three miles of our hike.
Most of the last three miles we hiked just a few months earlier, when we did the Saddleback Mountain loop. There were several places along the trail that I remembered seeing covered with a dusting of snow last time we passed by. Green leaves dramatically change the scene! It didn’t look like the same place at all.
The last couple miles of our hike were all downhill back to Swift Run Gap. Overall, this nine-mile section of trail was really easy walking, with only about 1300 feet of climbing. And although it didn’t have the most impressive scenery, I enjoyed the hike very much. It was a great ‘consolation prize’ for our canceled backpacking trip!
Adam Says…
This hike finished our Central District section hike of the Appalachian Trail. Please see our Skyland to Thornton Gap, Skyland to Big Meadows, and Big Meadows to Bearfence entries to read about the entire hike through this section. We hope to continue working on sections in the South and North districts of Shenandoah National Park to complete this section of the AT.
Bearfence Hut is an overnight shelter for backpackers. Below: The trail down to the shelter is slick and steep; the AT passes right behind Lewis Mountain campground and cabins.
We left one car at the Swift Run Gap entrance to the park and then drove up to the Bearfence Mountain parking lot around mile 56.8 on Skyline Drive (keep in mind there is also a Bearfence Trail parking lot around mile 56.5, so be sure to park at the correct lot). There is a parking lot on both the west and east sides of Skyline Drive. The Appalachian Trail picks up near the parking lot on the eastern side of Skyline Drive. Head south on the white-blazed AT. The trail descends slightly and you will soon come across a spur trail to the Bearfence Mountain Hut, that can be used for overnight backpackers. The .1 mile spur trail is steep and may be slippery on the way down, but it is always interesting to see these huts along the AT. (Note added 2022: This spur trail has been decommissioned. The hut is now accessed via the fire road from the parking area.)
Continue along the AT and the trail ascends slightly. You will be able to see spur trails along the way to the Lewis Mountain Campground and picnic area. After passing by this area, the trail will descend again. At 2.7 miles, you will cross over the Pocosin Fire Road as you start a 500 foot ascent. At the 4.0 mile mark, you will reach the peak of Baldface Mountain and then begin your descent. At 5.5 miles, you will reach the South River Picnic Area to your right. This is a great place to stop and eat a snack or use the restroom. Once you get past the South River picnic area, you will shortly come across another fire road. Take a left at this road to continue on the AT. You will follow this road uphill a short distance and then you will find the entrance back on the AT on the right-hand side of the road. Keep following the AT as it ascends the Saddleback Mountain. You reach the peak of Saddleback Mountain around mile 7 on your hike. You then descend for the next two miles back to the Swift Run Gap station.
The highlights of this hike were really all the bird sightings and the wildflowers. There seemed to be a trillion trillium on the trail. We really enjoyed seeing all the Baltimore Orioles (no sign of Cal Ripken, Jr.) and the Scarlet Tanagers. With the rain being so heavy this spring, the colors were bursting.
Native Azaleas Along the Trail. Below: Closeup of azaleas; Adam passing a pretty dogwood at the end of the hike.
We enjoyed hiking the little side trail down to Bearfence Hut and chatting with a group of section hikers. They had spent a rainy night in the shelter and were gearing up to hike another 8+ miles to the Big Meadows area. One of the group was a boy, maybe eight or nine. He asked if we were thru-hikers and talked about how much you have to eat when you’re hiking. It was nice to see a kid learning to love the outdoors.
We also diverted down the trail to Pocosin Cabin for Christine to take a couple photos, but ended up staying only briefly because we didn’t want to disturb the party that had rented the cabin. They had an adorable long-haired German Shepherd puppy named ‘Chance’. He greeted us near the privy and was in full play mode!
I did feel a little out of shape on this hike. It seems that after I hit the seven mile mark, my legs tend to cramp and I have to hobble along the trail. Hopefully this will improve over the next few months. The first part of the hike was great, but then fatigue started to set in for me. Christine has been doing a ton of training with weights and cardio this spring, so she felt really energetic the entire hike. Personally, I thought it was great to see the car at the finish line!
Trail Notes
Distance – 9.25 miles. This includes the shorter spur hikes to Bearfence Hut, Lewis Mountain Campground, Pocosin Cabin and South River Picnic Area
Elevation Change – 1350 feet in three main climbs.
Difficulty –2. This is a pleasant and easy section to hike.
Trail Conditions –4. Very nicely maintained and easy to walk. There are several rocky sections.
Views – 1. You get one decent view near Pocosin Cabin.
Waterfalls/streams – 0. Non-existent.
Wildlife – 3.5. You will likely see deer and you may even see some black bears during the warmer months.
Ease to Navigate – 4. Follow the white blazes. The one tricky place is where you cross the fire road that leads to South River Spring and the PATC maintenance hut. As you come out on the fire road, follow it downhill to pick the AT back up. You should see a white blaze.
Solitude – 2. You will likely see people along the trail, especially near South River and Lewis Mountain.
Directions to trailhead: Park at mile 56.8 on Skyline Drive at the Bearfence Mountain parking. The trail begins near the eastern parking lot.
This 5.5 mile loop through Sky Meadows State Park offers spectacular valley views and the opportunity to hike in high, open meadows.
Adam takes in the view from the Piedmont Overlook. Below: Mt. Bleak House was built in 1843 and is open for tours; An Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker makes his way down the trail (he is in the far left of the photo, beyond the dogwood trees); A cute village in the valley below.
Adam Says…
This hike was amazing! I can’t believe that we had never been to Sky Meadows State Park until now. Each year, Christine and I pull a list of hikes together that we want to try and cover. When I was looking through the Falcon Guide Hiking Virginia book, they mentioned under “other hikes” to try the Sky Meadows State Park. I am shocked that the authors didn’t feature a trail through this area rather than leaving it as a footnote. I think this is one of the best hikes in Virginia for views. I would liken the scenery and open views to those you would find at Cole Mountain or Grayson Highlands/Mount Rogers. Put this on your list of “must hikes” – you won’t regret it!
Across from the Visitor Center, you will see the Park Office on the hillside. Walk past the large board showing the map of hiking trails and walk up the gravel path that leads into the woods. Once you reach the fork, take a left and continue down the gravel Boston Mill road. Continue on this road, passing by the junction with the Gap Run trail, until you come to the junction with the South Ridge trail at .45 miles.
The Snowden House ruins. Below: We crossed this small stream early in the hike. It’s probably dry most of the year; Adam makes his way up the South Ridge Trail; Adam reads information about Snowden; Dogwoods were at their peak.
Take a right on to the yellow-blazed South Ridge Trail. The trail begins to quickly climb up the steep hillside. At .5 miles, there is a short spur trail to a nice view. At .58 miles, you will come to the Snowden Ruins. You’ll see the foundation of the old homestead along with what is left of a stone chimney. Further up the trail, you will come to the South Ridge overlook which sits under a dogwood tree. Continue along the trail which tends to ascend most of the way. At 2.2 miles, you will reach a junction with the North Ridge trail. Take a left up the blue-blazed North Ridge Trail. At 2.6 miles, you will reach a junction with the white-blazed Appalachian trail. Take a right, heading north on the Appalachian Trail. At 3.5 miles, you will come to a fork.
Take a right at the fork to go on to the light blue-blazed Ambassador Whitehouse trail. At 3.9 miles, you will come to the Paris overlook viewpoint, which also provides gorgeous panoramic views. After this viewpoint, the trail descends back through the woods. At 4.53 take a left back on to the North Ridge trail, but in just a few feet you will take a left up the red Piedmont Overlook trail.
Adam under the Dogwoods. Below: Hepatica; Tiger Swallowtail; Mayapple Flower
The trail ascends through a steep section here, but you will climb up a few stairs and then reach a wider trail that leads to a few benches and the Upper Piedmont Overlook. Enjoy the views here and as you climb down to the Lower Piedmont Overlook. After passing by an old farm building, you will climb over a few stairs and then down until you come back to the Boston Mill Road at mile 5.1. Take a left on the road and you should be making your way back to your vehicle and the Visitor Center.
The land that became Sky Meadows State Park was donated by Paul Mellon (son of Andrew Mellon – U.S. Secretary of State from 1921-1932), a famous philanthropist, art collector, and Kentucky Derby-winning horse owner. He donated 1132 acres of the land in 1975 and later more donations (including the land for the Appalachian Trail) have taken it up to the current 1862 acres. The history of the land also dates back to Lord Fairfax and previous owners had ties to Belle Grove.
This really was a perfect day to do this hike! We started off the day with a trip through Shenandoah National Park to view some early morning wildlife and to take in some breakfast at Skyland. We then made our way to Front Royal and headed to Sky Meadows State Park. The weather was perfect for hiking with highs in the 70s and a breeze throughout. The sky was very clear with a few clouds, but no threat of rain. The views were extraordinary and I can’t wait to come back some time.
Adam find the Hiking Upward Cache. Below: Lunch on the trail; Turning onto the AT; Making our way across the high meadows.
If you are interested in geocaching, there are several geocaches to find on this loop:
Last Saturday was a perfect spring day. We got up before sunrise and drove through the central and north districts of Shenandoah National park en route to Sky Meadows State Park for a day of hiking. (Passing through Shenandoah, we saw a bear and had a good breakfast at Skyland!)
Sky Meadows was established in the early 1980s and is home to a beautiful restored Civil-war era farm and twelve miles of hiking trails – including a little snip of the Appalachian Trail. Sky Meadows is unique in that its campground has no car access. Anyone wishing to stay overnight has to hike in to their campsite.
We parked at Mt. Bleak House. From there, we hiked down a gravel path leading to the park’s network of trails. Finding the trail we wanted to start on was a little tricky, because park maps were not to scale. After a little fumbling around, we were on our way up the South Ridge Trail. The trail climbed slowly and steadily uphill, past the ruins of Snowden – another old farm within the park’s boundary. All that’s left standing of Snowden is a crumbling chimney and a number of foundations from outbuildings. The site has a plaque describing the house and the people that lived there many years ago.
From Snowden, the path ascended continually passing through open meadows and pretty forest. The dogwoods and redbuds were all near their peak of spring glory. The flowers on the trees were truly spectacular against the perfect blue sky. The breeze kept bugs (and sweating) at bay! It really was ideal weather to be outdoors.
A Beautiful Redbud along the trail. Below: A view into the valley from the Piedmont Overlook; More Views; A spectacular dogwood.
For a while, the trail was pretty level as it passed through thicker woods. We startled a turkey and watched it fly off, chortling and gobbling in dismay at being disturbed. I must say… turkeys look really funny in flight. The trail in this area was lined with lots of tiny wildflowers – mostly violets and hepatica.
Eventually, we started climbing again and came to the junction of the North Ridge and South Ridge trails. We contemplated stopping for lunch at this point, but decided to press on, following the North Ridge trail to where it meets Appalachian Trail. Another nice thing about Sky Meadows… there are benches at most trail junctions and overlooks. It’s nice to have a comfortable place to sit and eat lunch – away from ticks, poison ivy and other crawly things. We ended up using the bench along the Appalachian Trail for our picnic spot.
For lunch, we feasted on sandwiches, brownies, grapes and cheese. Adam was eating his cheese and looking especially contemplative, when he turned and asked me “What kind of cheese is this?” I responded “It’s mozzarella and cheddar twisted together. You don’t like it?” He said “No, it’s really GOOD… it sort of tastes like lobster dipped in melted butter!” It’s weird, but he was actually kind of right – something about the texture of warmish mozzarella blended with the flavor of sharper cheddar ended up tasting remarkably like lobster. We’ve taken to calling this particular cheese snack ‘Lobster Cheese’.
While we ate lunch, we watched several other groups of hikers pass by. No one really seemed to know where they were going. Someone asked us if Harper’s Ferry was where the Appalachian Trail began. Someone asked if they were already in Shenandoah National Park. Two guys with cigarettes, sodas and no hiking gear contemplated aloud to one another “Should we go to Shenandoah or Harper’s Ferry?” (they were 20+ miles from either destination.)
After lunch, we headed north along the Appalachian Trail for a short while. Along the ridge, the forest completely opened up to high meadows with amazing views into the valley below. We were walking along the trail, chatting, when a fast hiker snuck up and passed us from behind. He turned out to be the first AT thru-hiker we’ve seen in Virginia this year. He’s definitely ahead of the pack!
We passed this old farm building on the hike down the Piedmont Overlook Trail. Below: A pretty lone tree; Adam stands in the middle of a huge four-trunked tree.
We really enjoyed walking across the open meadow terrain. Most hikes we do are through thick forest, so this was a welcome change of pace.
At the junction of the Ambassador House Trail, the Appalachian Trail continued north and we turned right to make our way across more meadows and downhill to the Piedmont Overlook Trail. We dipped back into forested area and passed a really cool four-trunked tree. It was big enough for Adam to stand inside between all the trunks.
We took the optional arm of the trail uphill to get to the actual Piedmont Overlook, which was beautiful! I loved seeing all the little houses and farms below in the valley. From the overlook, the remainder of the hike was steeply downhill across open meadow.
Mt. Bleak House Grounds. Below: A couple other shots from the Mt. Bleak grounds.
We arrived back on the gravel road and made our way back to the Mt. Bleak House area. We stopped in the gift shop and chatted with the ranger. We overheard her asking everyone walking in “Did you hike today?” and pretty much everyone answered “No – we’re just here to picnic!” So, I made a point to tell her that we had hiked, had a great time and thought the park’s trail system was fantastic and very nicely maintained. Adam got his passport book stamped and got credit for finding the state park’s official geocache. We took a few minutes to poke around the farm and talk to two historical interpreters – one of them in a wonderful Zouave uniform.
We enjoyed our day in Sky Meadows very much. It’s definitely a park we’ll visit again.
On our way home, we stopped briefly in Linden, Va to buy apple butter-cinnamon donuts from the Apple House. If you’re in the area – you should do the same – they’re delicious!
Trail Notes
Distance – 5.5 miles.
Elevation Change – 1100 feet with one large climb in the beginning of the hike. It’s mostly downhill or flat afterwards.
Difficulty –2.5. The beginning section is the toughest and is not for every person, but if you take it slow most people will be fine.
Trail Conditions –4. It is very well-maintained. The only rocky section was the .3 mile section on the North Ridge Trail. The trail is wide in most places for two people to walk side-by-side. Some sections you are even walking on soft grass.
Views – 5. You have lots of views along this hike of the valley and farm below. On a clear day, you can see for miles!
Waterfalls/streams – 1. You cross one small stream in the beginning. It’s probably dry most of the year.
Wildlife – 2. We only saw one wild turkey and some other birds (there are bluebird boxes along the road). They have spotted golden eagles in the area recently.
Ease to Navigate – 3. There are many options and junctions with other trails and the trails are not that well marked along the way. While I don’t think a lot of people get lost up here, I do think some people take wrong turns before deciding they may have not gone the best way.
Solitude – 2. You will likely see people along the trail. However, I think most of these people will be within a mile of the visitor’s center. While we did see several people, you should be able to find your peace along the trail to soak in the views.
Directions to trailhead: From Route 17, turn on to Edmonds Lane as you see the sign for Sky Meadows State Park. Follow this road until you reach the parking lot in front of Mt. Bleak House. Park your car here and then walk past the large billboard with hiking trails on the small gravel path near the Park Office House. All of the hiking trails start once you reach the junction on the edge of the woods. Take a left to start your hike.
Virginia Trail Guide 