fire road – Page 3 – Virginia Trail Guide

Doyles River-Jones Run

November 1, 2009August 26, 20155 Comments

The Doyles River-Jones Run loop is a nice six-mile hike that takes you past three sizable waterfalls and a lot of beautiful stream scenery.

Lower Doyles River Falls didn't have much water, but was surrounded by foliage. — There are three significant waterfalls along the Doyles River – Jones Run trail.

Christine Says…

Although, the wind, rain and (yes!) snow stripped the fall color from Shenandoah rather early this year, Adam and I still wanted to get out and hike on at least one glorious, sunny autumn day. There was still a little bit of colorful foliage hanging on in the south district of Shenandoah National Park, so we decided to hike the Doyles River- Jones Run loop on Sunday morning.

Park at the Brown Gap lot — Parking is available at Brown Gap. Pictured Below: The fire road leading down from the parking lot is one of the prettiest in the park; the Shenandoah area has tons of Civil War history. We passed the grave of confederate solder, William Howard, along the way.

We got to the trailhead at Brown Gap right as the sun was coming up. It was f-f-freezing and windy. I carelessly left my hat and gloves at home, so I flipped up the collar of my fleece and retracted my hands into my sleeves. We set out down the Brown Gap fire road, which is one of Shenandoah’s prettier fire roads. It’s also where I used to ride my horse, “Friday”, whenever we trailed to the park. The morning sun was filtering through the golden leaves, and soon the activity of walking warmed me up enough that I didn’t miss my gloves at all. The fire road was really muddy, so I took that as a good sign that there would be plenty of water flowing in the three waterfalls we’d be passing along the route.

In fact, I was so sure that the waterfalls would be impressive, that I carried all the “big guns” in my photography arsenal – two camera bodies, three lenses, a shutter remote, a collection of neutral density and polarizing filters, extra batteries, memory card and my tripod (the one that feels like it weighs close to 100 pounds when I carry it on long hikes). I also brought my new tripod bag (by Kinesis) that allows me to carry the tripod backpack style – evenly centering the weight on my back. The sling style carrier I’ve been using for the past few years twists my neck and shoulders, so I try not to carry it on long hikes. The new bag was really nice, but it perfectly lined up the camera mount lock lever with my butt. Every step I took, the lever poked me quite rudely. I ended up giving the tripod to Adam. He’s taller, so he escaped the constant prodding. I ended up carrying the bag with the rest of the gear. It was much heavier, but still more comfortable.

When we reached the bridge at the junction of the fire road and the Doyles River trail, I groaned in dismay at the dry stream before us. We walked along the river, or at least where the river should have been for another .3 miles to get to the base of Upper Doyles River Falls. Normally, there are pretty little cascades leading down to the main double-terraced waterfall. This time the waterfall was barely a trickle. We ate our breakfast at the base of “Disappointment Falls” and headed on to the lower falls.

The water is Upper Doyles Falls was low - compare January 2009 to October 2009. — The photo above shows Upper Doyles Falls is October 2009 (left) compared to January 2009 (right).

Surprisingly, the lower falls were running quite a bit more than the upper falls. I think narrower chasm through the rocks allows the second falls to hold onto more water flow. The second falls is thin and almost chute-like. Even though the second waterfall had more water, it still wasn’t anything spectacular. When you’re a photographer hiking with 40+ pounds of gear and realizing the shots you had planned aren’t going to happen, the gear instantly feels twice as heavy. I think this is the point that I started to feel like Atlas with the world resting on my shoulders. 🙂

Adam perches on a rock along lower Doyles River Falls. — Lower Doyles Falls was a bit nicer than the upper falls.

Leaving the lower falls, the trail became incredibly beautiful. It followed a babbling brook through near-peak foliage. The trees were a spectacular mix of gold, orange and red – all set off by the brilliant blue sky above. This was, without a doubt, my favorite section of the trail.

So far, the hike had been relatively easy – just gentle up-and-down grades along the stream. At the junction of the Jones Run Trail, the real work started. In just under 2 miles, we picked up most of the elevation gain on the whole hike. It was steep, hard climbing to reach Jones Run Falls.

The trees above displayed beautiful fall colors — The foliage along the Jones Run Trail was spectacular. Pictured Below: Jones Run and Jones Run Falls.

The waterfall on Jones Run was running low, but it was still really pretty. From the waterfall back up to Skyline Drive, the grade of the trail moderates a bit. It’s still a lot of uphill mixed with periods of flat terrain. Eventually, you reach the junction with the Appalachian trail and follow it north for a little over a mile back to the Brown’s Gap parking lot. This section of the AT follows closely to the road, so you constantly hear cars and smell exhaust. The walk along this section is easy, but rather uneventful.

Overall, I think this was a great hike. I’m so glad we had a chance to be outdoors on a beautiful fall day, but I wish the waterfalls had been nicer. We’ll have to try hiking it again in the spring after heavier, more sustained rains.

Adam Says…

While we’ve hiked Doyles River a number of times, this was the first time that we had made a loop of the hike and added Jones Run. When we have done this before, we parked at the Doyles River parking lot around mile marker 81. We would normally hike down to both of the falls and then head back.

On this hike, we parked around mile marker 83 at the Brown Gap lot. We crossed the road and headed down the Brown Gap fire road. At about .4 miles, you see a short path leading up to the gravesite pictured above. In about 1.7 miles you will reach the junction with the Doyles River Trail. Take a right on this trail. After about two tenths of a mile, you will reach the Upper Doyles River Falls. There is a short spur path to lead down to the base of the falls. Once you rejoin the trail, you will then see the Lower Doyles River Falls after a tenth of the mile. Don’t try to blaze down off the trail to reach the falls. The trail loops around to bring you closer to the falls. When you reach near the base of the falls, there is a short, treacherous climb down to the base of these falls. When you join back to the trail, continue south down the Doyles River Trail. You will reach the Junction with the Jones Run Trail in about .6 miles from leaving the Lower Doyles River Falls. You begin your hike up to the Jones Run Falls and will reach them about .7 miles on this trail. After the falls, you will have a 1.2 mile hike up to the Jones Run Parking lot. Before you enter the parking lot, there will be a junction with the Appalachian Trail. Take a right on the AT, heading north until you reach the Brown Gap parking lot. The AT portion is about 1.3 miles back to your car, leading you to this overall hike of 6 miles.

The woods on the Doyles River - Jones Run trail were gold and red. — The woods were very colorful at the lower elevations. Pictured Below: One downed tree we came across was so large that Adam could climb inside.

The hike is not that long being only six miles, but there is a lot of elevation gain from the base of the Doyles River Trail, leading up to the Jones Run Parking lot. Christine felt that it may be better to do this hike in reverse, but based on contours, I think either hike has a tough trip back at the end.

The waterfalls along the way on normal days are really some of the nicer waterfalls in Shenandoah National Park. The water flow didn’t allow us to see them at their best today, but we enjoyed them nonetheless. The Upper Doyles River Falls stands at 28 feet; the Lower Doyles River Falls plummets 63 feet.; the Jones Run Falls plunges 42 feet. If you’re looking for a hike to see multiple falls, this is the best one to do in Shenandoah.

The morning light made the trees glow golden. — More golden foliage along the trail.

On our way back to the car on the AT, we ran into a woman doing the trail in the opposite way. She had two pugs with her on the hike, named Titan and Zoot. They were eager to greet us, since they must have known we had three pugs of our own. They were very energetic to begin their hike to the falls, but we wondered how they fared on the steep way back. We wish we had taken some pictures of these boys, because they looked like they were ready for a great adventure that day.

Cars waiting to get into Shenandoah National Park — There was a very long line of cars waiting to get into Shenandoah National Park

The foliage was just slightly after peak today. We decided to exit the south entrance of the park to reward ourselves with some frozen treats from Sonic. On our way out, we saw the longest line of cars we’ve ever witnessed trying to enter the park at the south gate. Cars were at a stand-still all the way down to the interstate. Three rangers were walking down the line, handing out information to make the fee stations handle things quickly. I guess everyone felt that it would be a nice day to see color in the park and hopefully they weren’t too disappointed in the color.

Trail Notes

Distance – 6 miles – loop.
Elevation Change –1875 feet
Difficulty – 4. The climb up from the bottom of Jones Run is tough!
Trail Conditions – 3.5 The trail is well-maintained and traveled.
Views –0. You might get a few glimpses of vistas through the woods along the fire road.
Waterfalls/streams –4. The waterfalls and streams along this trail are beautiful, especially when there is plenty of rain.
Wildlife – 1. Just a couple deer.
Ease to Navigate – 4. Trails are well marked and easy to follow.
Solitude – 3. You will likely see several other groups of hikers along the way, but it’s not as heavily trafficked as other waterfall trails in the park.

Directions to trailhead:
From Skyline Drive, follow the drive to Brown Gap (near mile marker 83). The parking lot is on the west side of the drive. To begin the hike, walk across Skyline Drive and follow the Brown Gap fire road downhill.

Sugarloaf – Keyser Run – Hogback Mountain Loop

June 10, 2009April 29, 20229 Comments

The Sugarloaf-Keyser Run-Hogback Mountain Loop is a lovely 4.9 mile hike through classic Virginia forest. It passes by several nice panoramic viewpoints and makes use of the Appalachian Trail, a couple SNP trails and a fire road.

Christine says…

We hiked this trail with my parents to celebrate a combination of (belated) Mother’s Day and (early) Father’s Day. My parents are fit, active, outdoorsy people, so we knew they would enjoy a day of wildlife watching, hiking and picnicking in Shenandoah.

We picked the Sugarloaf-Keyser Run-Hogback Mountain Loop because it sounded like the perfect length and difficulty for the whole group. For some reason, my mom had a hard time remembering the name of the hike, and kept referring to it as “Hogland.” I chuckle every time I think of a hiking trail being called Hogland; it sounds like the name of a porcine-themed amusement park.

It definitely turned out to be a suitable hike for the whole group. The first 3.5 miles were really easy going. The AT and Sugarloaf segments were both especially pretty. The section along the Keyser Run Fire Road was boring, as fire roads always are. My mom and I agreed that fire roads are always a little dull compared to “real” trails. We saw a couple hikers coming out of the Little Devil’s Stairs area on Keyser Run Road. They looked exhausted and sweat-drenched. The day turned out to be a lot warmer than had been forecast.

The view from the summit of Hogback Mountain (the highest point on the trail) was a little underwhelming for me. The valley vista was lovely, but it was hazy and the view was ruined by power lines and an obstructive radio tower. The views from Little Hogback are definitely nicer, even though the vantage point isn’t as lofty in elevation. The saddle between Little Hogback and Hogback also has one especially beautiful view spot.

The saddle between Little Hogback and Hogback is very pretty

The whole hike only took us a couple hours to complete, even with water and snack breaks along the way. Afterwards, we shared a delicious picnic lunch at Pinnacles and headed home tired and stuffed full of chocolate chip cookies and fried chicken. It was a really fun day.

Adam says…

Since there are a lot of trails and options in this area, here are the trail directions we used. After crossing Skyline Drive from the parking lot and proceeding .3 miles, you will come to a concrete post. Take a right and follow the blue blazes down the Sugarloaf Trail. Hike for 1.1 miles until you come to the next marker. Take a left onto the Pole Bridge Link Trail. Continue for .5 miles and then take a left on to the Keyser Run fire road. Follow this for 1.1 miles, crossing Skyline Drive. When you reach the AT junction, take a left heading south on the AT. Keep on the south AT, going up Little Hogback and then Hogback Mountain. You will cross Skyline Drive one more time on your descent. Follow the south AT until you reach the parking lot.

The stream crossings were shallow and easy

This hike had some very pretty spots on the trail. The fern-covered forest floor near the beginning of the trail and again near Hogback Mountain was really quite gorgeous. I felt this trail was very easy and most people could handle it. The only challenging portion was the brief half-mile set of switchbacks climbing up to the Hogback Summit. Last year, a ranger told us this was the best hike in Shenandoah National Park. I would disagree, but it was still an enjoyable hike and our first time on this particular route.

One of the prettiest section of trail was the Appalachian Trail crossing Hogback Mountain — One of the prettiest sections of trail was the Appalachian Trail crossing Hogback Mountain

We ran into our AT thru-hiker for a third time! When we stopped to talk to him, I told him, “I promise we’re not stalking you.” He laughed and asked “Don’t you guys ever go home?” Quite funny that we’ve seen him so many times in a park that encompasses 196,000 acres!

Trail Notes

Distance – 4.9 mile loop.
Elevation Change – 700 ft. Most of this is during the climb up to Hogback Mountain.
Difficulty – 1.5. For most of the trail, the trail is level or slightly downhill. There is a steep set of switchbacks to the summit of Hogback Mountain.
Trail Conditions – 4. The AT is well-maintained. You also travel on the Keyser Run fire road for a little over a mile.
Views – 3. The view from the summit of Little Hogback was the nicest unobstructed view.
Waterfalls/streams – 1. A couple of very small stream crossings, but not photo-worthy.
Wildlife – 2. Some signs of bears in the area, but you’re more likely to see some deer along the way.
Ease to Navigate – 4. There are a couple turns, but the directions are well-marked on cement posts.
Solitude – 4. Likely to see AT hikers mostly during June, but we didn’t really see many others.

Directions to trailhead:

Park just south of the Hogback Overlook, in the parking lot located at mile marker 21 on Skyline Drive. At the south end of the lot, you will find the AT marker. You will cross the drive here, go slightly uphill, and then start the descent.

Rose River Loop

May 16, 2009May 25, 201749 Comments

The Rose River Loop is one of Shenandoah National Park’s most beautiful hikes for streams and waterfalls. Over the course of 3.7 miles, you’ll hike along the Rose River, the Hog Camp Branch, and finally up the Rose River fire road.

A new log is resting on the crest of the falls — Two large fallen trees obscure Rose River falls.

Adam Says…

This hike is one of our most-repeated hikes in Shenandoah National Park. It has some great views of running water throughout the trail. This isn’t the most secluded trail since it connects to Dark Hollow Falls. However, you should normally only come across a few other people on this trail. There are some good places to do some trout-fishing along the river. The man pictured a few photos down had caught a 8.5 inch trout the day before at the same spot.

The hike starts off at the parking area just north of the Fishers Gap Overlook. Cross the road and follow the Skyland-Big Meadows Horse Trail for .5 mile. There is a steady downhill grade, but it’s not too steep. At .5 miles, you’ll reach the junction of the Horse Trail and the Rose River Trail. Go right and follow the Rose River Trail, continuing downhill. Once you reach the bottom of the trail in about a mile, you’ll hear the water. The trail continues alongside the stream for a ways. You will reach Rose River falls at 1.3 miles. They are impressive, but more beauty awaits along the trail. For fans of long-exposure photography, this is a paradise.

The trail will pass an old copper mine at 1.8 miles. Some people like to explore the old mine, but we don’t think there is anything worth seeing there.

For the next mile, the trail closely follows the stream. It is very rocky and can be icy or muddy depending on the weather. There are tons of small waterfalls, slides, and plunge pools to explore.

At 2.7 miles, you will reach the footbridge at the bottom of Dark Hollow Falls. Turn right, cross the bridge, and follow the Rose River Fire Road uphill. At 3.3 miles, you will pass the Cave Cemetery on the right. At 3.7 miles, you will arrive back at Skyline Drive and your vehicle.

You can see from some of Christine’s pictures that there is really a lot of nice water to see on this trail. I highly recommend doing this if you have a day or two in the park.

Some graves date back to the Civil War. — Some graves (not this one) in the Cave Family Cemetery date back to the Civil War.

As I usually like to comment, there is a geocache located here. For those that are unaware, physical geocaches are not allowed in National Parks. However, there is a small cemetery located off of the fire road that is considered private land and not owned by the Park Service. The cemetery was used by the people who used to live in the mountain hollows before the government took their land for the park in the early 1900’s. The Cave family gave permission for a geocache to be placed here called Viking Treasure Cave. ETA: This cache has since been removed from the park (September 2010)

Christine Says…

When we started down the Rose River trail, I couldn’t help but skeptically watch the blue sky peeking between openings in the trees above. The local weatherman had forecast a cloudy morning, but as we hiked along the sun began sending down rays and making a dappled pattern across the forest floor. It was lovely to look at, but was definitely not the kind of light I was hoping to have for the stream and waterfall photos I wanted take. You see, the Rose River Loop is one of the very best hikes in Shenandoah for folks who enjoy photographing running water. It’s also the place where my brother proposed to his now wife. They were engaged on a bitter cold New Year’s Eve camping trip somewhere along the Rose River.

Even though the light made photography a challenge today, I found several spots to shoot along the Rose River. We had to bushwhack off the trail a couple times, and all I could think about were ticks. I don’t think I’ve recovered from our walk down the Dry Run Falls fire road yet.

One bushwhack in particular was especially steep, slick and muddy. As luck would have it, it also offered the prettiest of all the little cascades along the walk. When I looked down the ravine, for some reason my inner girly-girl came out. I announced to Adam that I wasn’t going down there no matter what. He said “Yes, you are!” and took my camera away and starting climbing down without me. I was left with no choice but to follow. I got really muddy and touched a gross centipede-like creature. I’ll never like bugs!

We stopped at Rose River Falls for a few shots. For the past few years, there has been a huge fallen tree lying across the waterfall. It’s still there, but now there is a new downed tree stuck at the crest of the waterfall. Both trees are way too big to move, and will likely be there for years to come.

We paused at a couple other places along the Hog Camp Branch for photos, but there was another photographer who was consistently about ten minutes ahead of us on the hike. Each time we got to a spot I planned on photographing, he was already there. He looked pretty serious getting his shots. At one spot, he even donned chest high waders and water shoes so that he could get to the middle of the stream for an ideal composition. I skipped a lot of my favorite photo spots along the Hog Camp because I always feel a bit rude stepping into somebody’s shooting space.

I had my tripod all set up when the fisherman jumped into my scene — Speaking of stepping into someone’s shooting space… I had my tripod all set up when this fisherman dropped into my scene. Oh well 🙂

We finished the loop hike on the Rose River fire road. The last mile on the road is always my least favorite part of the hike. The fire road is easy walking, but yawn… it’s a bit on the boring side. Despite the dull last leg, the Rose River loop is a must-do hike for anyone visiting Shenandoah.

I'm so lucky that Adam routinely offers to carry all my photography gear. — I’m so lucky that Adam routinely offers to carry all my photography gear.

Trail Notes

Distance – 3.7 miles loop trail
(Check out the stats from Map My Hike)*
Elevation Change – Around 900 feet
Difficulty – 2. Some downhill and uphill, but it’s not too bad.
Trail Conditions – 3.5. There are some areas along the river that are more like a 2, but there are some areas that where it is more like a 5. Footing is tricky around the climb up after the red bridge.
Views – 0. Just waterfall and stream views.
Waterfalls/streams – 4.5. Some of the most continuous views of water that allow for some great water photography.
Wildlife – 1. Some birds and chipmunks, but not much else here.
Ease to Navigate – 5. Trail is well-marked and there aren’t any spurs until you get back to the fire road.
Solitude – 3. Not the best on solitude, but you won’t run into a ton of people.

Download a trail map

Directions to trailhead: The trail is located on Skyline Drive. Park at the Fisher’s Gap Overlook (at mile marker 49.4 miles), cross the road and pick up the trail. The Rose River Loop starts to the left of the fire road. You will see a cement marker.

Dry Run Falls

May 9, 2009August 25, 201515 Comments

Adam found this hike mentioned in a book called Waterfalls of Virginia and West Virginia. Since we’ve had so much rain lately, we decided to take the short three mile hike to see the falls.

Dry Run is pretty after substantial rain

Christine Says…

We parked our car at the South River Overlook and made our way down the Dry Run Falls Fire Road. The road was wet and sloppy, but still beautiful because it was lined with countless wildflowers: trillium, wild geranium, violets, hepatica, ragwort and many more I couldn’t identify.

The road follows a gentle downhill grade and eventually passes Lost Cliffs, an impressive rock face rising straight up from the forest floor. A little over a mile into the hike, you start to hear the sounds of water gurgling downhill, getting louder and stronger as more run-off joins the flow.

Dry Run falls are visible from the trail, and would actually be quite pretty if there weren’t several large fallen trees obscuring the view. To get close to the stream, you have to do a little bit of bushwhacking down the ravine. There are a few places along the stream that are photogenic and worth the effort to climb down.

On the hike, we all found multiple ticks crawling on us. After all was said and done, I think we ended up picking sixteen ticks off our clothing and skin. I skipped using bug spray on this hike because our dog was hiking with us, and DEET is so toxic to them. This was by far the most ticks I’ve ever found on myself after a hike.

All in all, Dry Run was a pleasant walk, but not something I would consider a “must-do” hike. There isn’t really anything noteworthy to see along the way and the falls weren’t anything special.

Adam Says…

I was a little unimpressed by this hike. It was something new for us, since we have done most of the Central and South SNP hikes, but it was good to get out to stretch the legs. The fire road leads to an easy walk through the woods. We saw a few bear droppings through the hike, so be careful and make some noise along the trail. Dry Run can be viewed from the trail, but you need to do some bushwhacking to get to the water for any photo opportunities. The water was rushing hard today, but we’ve had a couple of weeks of heavy rain. I’m not sure how heavy this is during a dry season. The water does have several areas of falls and tumbling water if you continue on the trail. You can also approach this hike without entering through the main gate by way of Elkton, but we wanted to do the normal hike.

A neat side-trip was to climb up Lost Cliffs. At the end of the large formation on your right, you will see signs of a short trail that leads you up to the rocks above. Be careful, since most of the rocks are covered with moss and that first step is a lulu.

Wookie Says…

Wookie really enjoyed walking on the fire road. It was definitely an easy and suitable trail for dogs. There was lots of mud and standing water on the trail, so he was filthy and needed a bath when he got home. He also came home with lots ticks crawling on him — one had already attached to his ear.

Trail Notes

Distance – 3.2 miles round-trip
Elevation Change – insignificant – maybe a couple hundred feet.
Difficulty – 1. The trail follows a fire road and has very gentle climbs and descents.
Trail Conditions – 5. The trail is well maintained.
Views – 0. No views.
Waterfalls/streams – 2. The falls and stream are pretty, but nothing special.
Wildlife – 2. We heard a turkey and saw several kinds of salamanders. There were also signs of bear and deer around.
Ease to Navigate – 5. It would be nearly impossible to get lost.
Solitude – 4. Fire roads are used infrequently in the park. We saw only one other person – a local guy collecting mushrooms.

Directions to trailhead:

Follow Skyline Drive to mile 62.7. Park at the South River Overlook. Cross the drive and pick up the trail on the west side of the road.