virginia hiking – Page 5 – Virginia Trail Guide

Furnace Mountain – Austin Mountain Loop

April 26, 2015May 7, 20159 Comments

This 12-mile loop combines numerous park trails into one great route! You’ll pass by several gorgeous viewpoints, walk along pretty Madison Run, and cross massive talus slopes. It’s a challenging hike with about 3,000 feet of climbing.

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

On the Shoulder of Austin Mountain — Adam crosses one of the large talus slopes on the side of Austin Mountain.

Christine Says…

The Austin Mountain – Furnace Mountain Loop has the reputation of being one of the park’s toughest and longest day hikes. Not only is the terrain rocky and rugged, there is also a serious amount of climbing involved. Essentially, you climb up from the valley floor, traversing several mountains along the way – Furnace, Trayfoot, Blackrock, and Austin. While you don’t technically reach the summits of Austin or Trayfoot, you come within a couple hundred feet of these viewless/inaccessible summits.

Most sources begin this hike from the Browns Gap parking area on Skyline Drive. For us, it’s a much shorter drive to start down in the valley, at the park perimeter near Grottoes. We parked along the roadside where Browns Gap Rd meets the Madison Run fire road. This is a popular park entry point for hikers and equestrians alike. It can get crowded if you don’t get an early start on the day.

Crossing Madison Run — Adam crosses Madison Run. Below: Pretty sun rays on the fire road; Walking up Furnace Mountain; Small talus slopes and views on the Furnace Mountain trail.

After walking up the Madison Run fire road for a short distance, the Furnace Mountain trail begins on the right with a rock-hop crossing of Madison Run. For a little over a mile, you’ll ascend Furnace Mountain before coming to a cement post that marks the spur trail to the summit of Furnace Mountain. The spur trail is about half a mile and leads to a fantastic viewpoint. You can see Skyline Drive if you look carefully. If you look across the gorge, you’ll see the huge talus slopes of Austin Mountain that you’ll cross later in the hike. On this particular day, we skipped the side trail to the summit of Furnace. We had hiked Furnace Mountain just a few weeks earlier and knew we had many miles to go and other views to enjoy along the way.

The ascent continues in earnest along the Furnace Mountain Trail. Eventually, you’ll come to a junction with the Trayfoot Mountain trail. Take a left and descend. This trail is an old road bed, so it’s wide and nicely graded. After a few tenths of a mile, you’ll come to another cement marker post. Follow the trail to the right in the direction of Blackrock Summit. This rocky jumble will be your best view on the hike! We chose to eat lunch at this spot. That probably wasn’t the best of ideas, because the strong wind made the summit bitterly cold. It’s no fun to eat PB&J with your teeth chattering and while you’re wearing gloves. Needless to say, we ate quickly!

Overlook on Furnace Mountain — The view from Furnace Mountain. Below: From Furnace Mountain you can see the massive talus slopes on Austin Mountain; Looking back at Furnace Mountain; Junction of Furnace Mountain and Trayfoot Mountain trails.

Rounding Blackrock Summit leads you to the Appalachian Trail. To continue this route, head north on the AT for a couple miles until you reach the Browns Gap parking area on Skyline Drive. This section of AT is fast going – it’s practically flat and uncomplicated. You’ll pass the Dundo picnic area along the way. If you run out of water, there is a clean tap at the picnic area.

From the Browns Gap parking area, follow the fire road downhill for .8 of a mile. A cement post on the right marks the Madison Run Spur Trail. This trail will go steeply uphill to a junction with the Rockytop and Big Run trails. Bear to the left on the Rockytop trail. Follow the Rockytop trail for several tenths of a mile until you reach another cement marker for the Austin Mountain trail. If you hike when leaves are off the trees, you’ll get some great ridge views in this area.

Once you turn left onto the Austin Mountain trail, you’ll have a little over 3 miles to go before you hit fire road again. The terrain starts off easily enough, following a lovely ridge overlooking Dundo Hollow and Furnace Mountain (from earlier in your hike). The views are really nice, and it’s impressive to look back on all the distance you’ve traversed!

Adam on Blackrock Summit — Adam takes in the view from Blackrock Summit. Below: View from the Trayfoot Mountain trail; Arriving at Blackrock summit; Playing on the rocks.

But a little over a mile along the Austin Mountain trail, the talus slopes begin. From there, it’s an endless field of loose rocks for nearly a mile. When you think you’re done with rocks, surprise… there are more rocks! Don’t miss looking up and behind you – the cliff-like wall of Austin Mountain looks like a crenulated castle wall. After you cross the last talus slope, you have a steep, knee-grinding descent back to the Madison Run fire road.

Once you reach the fire road, you just have a easy .6 mile road-walk back to your start point. The stream is especially scenic along this stretch. After getting back to the car, we decided we had earned milkshakes! It was a fun day and a great challenge!

Adam Says…

We decided to try and tackle this loop since we wanted to get some good training for some longer hikes. While we were able to get out and do a few good hikes over the winter months, this was definitely a challenging hike to do before we (or at least I) had gotten my “summer trail legs”. This particular hike did a toll on me, especially the last couple of miles.

Junction of Trayfoot with the Appalachian Trail — The junction of the Trayfoot Mountain Trail and the Appalachian Trail. Below: Hiking the AT; Arriving at Browns Gap and the fire road; The junction with the Austin Mountain Trail.

The water across Madison Run was running a little higher and faster than normal, but we were able to rockhop across and begin our hike. The hike up Furnace Mountain is a steady uphill, but does lead to some nice views along the way. There is one section that has a small talus slope that we thought was impressive, but little did we know what Austin Mountain would bring later in the day. At the junction of the spur trail, we met a couple that was doing the same loop but camped along Madison Run that morning. They had started from the Browns Gap parking area in Shenandoah National Park, but had a day of mostly uphill climbing this day. As Christine mentioned, we decided to skip the overlook and made our way to Blackrock Summit.

Talus Slopes — Huge talus slopes on Austin Mountain. Below: Views from the Austin Mountain Trail; Talus slopes and a view of Furnace Mountain; Descending Austin Mountain.

At Blackrock, the wind was incredibly strong and cold. There was still ice in the crevices between the rocks in most places. We sat out to eat some lunch, but our hands were trembling in the cold, which made for challenging and rushed eating. We quickly got out of there and joined the Appalachian Trail, heading north. We made quick time on this flatter section of trail and crossed Skyline Drive. The trail stays close to Skyline Drive until you reach the Dundo picnic area (which does have bathrooms if you need it).

Passing the picnic area, we crossed Skyline Drive again after 6.5 miles. After crossing the road, we made our way through the parking lot and crossed the gate blocking the fire road. Heading down the fire road was easy walking. At mile 7.3, we spotted the cement post on the side of the road, leading up the Madison Run Spur Trail. This section was steep but short as we reached the crest and junction with the Rockytop Trail. We took a left here which continues uphill and reaches the junction with the Austin Mountain Trail around 8.2 miles. Bear to the left and the trail begins to go downhill finally.

Pretty Madison Run. Below: Crenulations on Austin Mountain; Adam coming down to the fire road; Walking the fire road back to the car.

Right before this junction, my IT bands near my right knee began to hurt. Sometimes when one knee begins to hurt, you tend to overcompensate with the other. We came across a hiker that was hiking up and he warned us there was a mile of loose rock to walk on. We soon reached the huge talus slopes. When you have one leg giving you pain, the last thing you want to see is loose rock footing for as long as you can see. The views of the slope were impressive, as well as looking across the mountainous valley to see Furnace Mountain, but the pain was keeping me from having the best of times. With vultures ominously circling above my head, I felt they didn’t have much faith I would make it. Just when we thought we had reached across the slopes, the trail turns back and works it way down the mountain, giving us lower parts of the slopes and more rocks. We finally reached the bottom of the trail and joined the Madison Run Road at 11.2 miles. It was a flat walk along the side of a picturesque creek until we made our way back to the car in .8 miles.

While this was a tough hike, it was rewarding. This hike has great views, unique geology, and a picturesque creek. If you don’t want to tackle it in one day, it would make a nice backpacking loop, but I would recommend starting at Brown’s Gap to split the hike and leave you camping by the water source of Madison Run.

Trail Notes

Distance – 12 miles Add .5 mile, each way, if you take the spur trail out to the overlook atop Furnace Mountain. You can make a shorter, easier loop if you descend via the fire road and skip Austin Mountain)
(Check out the stats from Map My Hike)*
Elevation Change – 2900 ft.
Difficulty – 4.5. The length and amount of climbing make this tough.
Trail Conditions – 2. While the trail was well-maintained, the footing on the talus slopes brings this score down due to the challenge of walking on loose rock for over a mile of the trail.
Views – 4. You have nice views from Furnace Mountain if you add that spur, but Blackrock Summit and views along the Austin Mountain Trail make it worthwhile.
Streams/Waterfalls – 3. Madison Run is a nice wide stream and reliable water source year-round.
Wildlife –2. We didn’t see much, but there have been bear sightings along the Austin Mountain portion of the trail.
Ease to Navigate – 2.5. There are lots of trails that cross, so pay attention to the signs. The trickiest is around the Blackrock Summit area.
Solitude – 3. You will likely see people at Blackrock summit, but not a lot of activity elsewhere.

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: From I-81, take exit 256 heading east towards Weyers Cave. Go 6.6 miles and take a left on US-340/Augusta Avenue. Go .1 miles and take a right on Cary Street. In .2 miles, continue on to VA-663/Brown’s Gap Road. In 1.9 miles, turn right on to the dirt fire road. Follow this 1.1 miles and you will reach the parking area. Look for the concrete post for Furnace Mountain which will have you instantly rock-hopping across Madison Run to start your hike.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Appalachian Trail – Reeds Gap to Dripping Rock

March 22, 2015April 22, 20159 Comments

This 9 mile hike’s distance could be cut in half if you have a car shuttle. When we hiked it, the Blue Ridge Parkway was closed for ice/snow, so we ended up parking at Reeds Gap, walking 4.8 miles on the Appalachian Trail and then walking 4.2 miles back along the closed parkway. Typically, this would be an easy hike with a couple nice views. In our case, it was a challenging icy hike in (occasional) white out conditions!

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Snow Along the Blue Ridge Parkway — It’s a real treat to walk the Blue Ridge Parkway when it’s closed to vehicular traffic. Fresh snow made the view spectacular. Below: The parking area at Reeds Gap was icy when we arrived; Adam walked along the iced Appalachian Trail; Everything was fully coated with a glaze of ice.

Adam Says…

As we slowly work on completing the entire Appalachian Trail through Virginia, we sometimes end up with small gaps in our contiguous miles. This 4.8 mile section was one of those and it was proving to be our nemesis. We had tried to share a shuttle with friends and park at both ends, but a closure of the parkway made those plans fall through.

Over our Christmas break from work, we tried to hike it by dropping Christine at one end and I would park at the other, passing in the middle, and then Christine hiking to the car and driving back to pick me up. It wasn’t preferable to do it this way because we like hiking together, but we really wanted to cover these miles. But on our way to the drop point, we saw several cars slide off the road (not far from a precipitous, cliff-side drop). Rain from the day before had left a thin sheen of ice on all the shady, curvy spots in the road.

One of the couples in a car that slid off the road was having a heated argument – he wanted to press on through the icy danger, but she wanted to call AAA and have the car towed off the mountain. We decided to backtrack and not risk it (especially not knowing the road conditions ahead), choosing to hike near Humpback Rocks instead. On our way to Humpback Rocks, we saw a park ranger making his way to the slippery road patch. They ended up closing the parkway just south of Humpback Rocks that day. The parkway closes quite often in the winter. Rangers would rather close the roads than risk having to come up and save people on the trails/roads when weather conditions could make it difficult.

Ice Falls — There were several rock face covered with snow melt and re-frozen run-off. They made pretty ice formations. Below: Christine cross the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Three Ridges Overlook. The pavement was like a skating rink; Adam makes his way downhill; In many places branches were bowed across the trail.

After those failed attempts, we decided to try this section again. The weather forecast suggested a warming, clearing day, no snow in the near future. There had been a short bout of freezing rain the night before, so we were a little concerned about roads, but we knew we could at least make it to Reeds Gap and hike from there. When we arrived at Reeds Gap, we found a few other cars there, but it looked like they were attempting to hike Three Ridges. We found the sign for the Appalachian Trail and crossed SR 664 to head north on the white-blazed Appalachian Trail. I was amazed at how icy the ground still was. It was manageable in normal hiking shoes, but still slippery in parts. Every step that I took left an icy footprint behind me, which made the trail look like an old Family Circus comic strip. At the least, they were good breadcrumbs left in case we needed to backtrack on the trail. Some of the branches from nearby trees were iced over and bowed over the trail, causing us to have to lift them over the trail. Some broken off pieces looked like broken antlers littering the ground.

After going about .5 miles, the Appalachian Trail crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway. At this point, the trail descended through some slippery areas, so we decided to put on our Yaktrax to provide some traction. I don’t know how we would have made progress without them. After going just another mile or so, it started to snow. At first, it was just a few flurries, but it was picking up. At 3.5 miles, we came to a sign pointing out a short trail to the Rock Point Overlook. The snow was coming down so fast at this point, visibility was at a minimum. We ate a quick snack and then proceeded. At 4.35 miles, we arrived at the Cedar Cliffs overlook. The snow had been falling so hard, it was hard to find the trail. It was at this point, I realized that hiking along the AT in the snow wasn’t the best idea – all the trees were covered with snow, covering up any white blazes that would have been on the trees. We were so close to finishing this section and didn’t want to turn back at this point. I had Christine stand in one area that we knew was close to the trail and within eyesight while I scouted ahead to try and find a semblance of trail under our feet. Eventually, I found the trail again and we proceeded.

Overlook — Views from the first overlook were practically lost to the swirling snow. Below: Sign pointing the way to the overlook; Snow started coming down harder while we were stopped at the overlook; Within 15 minutes, the icy ground was covered with a generous dusting of snow.

I started to worry at this point about being able to drive back down from the mountain if the roads were going to be bad. We made a decision that when we reached the road, we would hike back along the Blue Ridge Parkway to hopefully save time and get us back to our car more quickly. At 4.85 miles, we arrived back at the Blue Ridge Parkway. We took a right and headed south along the parkway and we were soon very glad we had made this decision. We came across some great views at overlooks along the road that we didn’t have along the trail. And then the snow stopped and the sun came out to start melting the snow, which eased my nerves. The views were outstanding on the way back as we could see a defining line of snow that had hit the mountains and clear fields at the lower elevations.

While this hike had a little bit of danger due to the weather, it was a visual winter wonderland. This is the definition of winter hiking. We arrived back at the gate that was blocking the parkway at 9.0 miles and got back in our car. We decided to hit Devil’s Backbone on our return trip home and then also stopped at some other Nelson County 151 highlights – Bold Rock Cider’s new tasting room and Silverback Distillery. It really was a great adventure and it made me feel very lucky to have a wife that will go on such crazy undertakings with me.

NOTE: From research we have done, the starting point is called “Reeds Gap” in some sources and “Reids Gap” in others. We went with the first spelling since that was how it was listed on PATC and NatGeo maps.

Christine Says…

Finishing this little 4.9 section of AT turned out to be more elusive than I ever would have believed possible. After a few attempts failed due to snow/ice, closed roads, and transportation problems, we finally successfully hiked from Reeds Gap to Dripping Rock!

On the day we accomplished this minor feat, conditions weren’t quite ideal. There had been a bit of freezing rain the night before, but the weather was forecast to warm and clear over the course of the morning. The Blue Ridge Parkway was still closed, so we couldn’t leave a shuttle-back car at Dripping Rock. This wasn’t a big deal – instead of hiking 4.9 miles once, we’d have to hike those same miles twice, making a total hike of almost ten miles. We left our car in the roadside parking on Route 664, next to the Appalachian Trail crossing. Route 664 (Reed’s Gap Rd.) crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway and is kept open year-round.

At Reeds Gap, everything upright was coated with a thick glaze of ice. It was foggy and gray and raw. We headed north on the AT, our feet crunching though the crust of ice. It was so peaceful and beautiful.

We're nuts — Adam questioned how wise it was for us to hike on a day with such rapidly changing weather. Below: There were some broken trees along the parkway; Adam takes in Ravens Roost; A little ‘Christmas Story’ reenactment.

The Appalachian Trail soon crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Three Ridges Overlook. The asphalt was like a skating rink! It looked like regular pavement, but it was as slick as a slip-and-slide. I could totally understand why the park service closed the road!

After crossing, there was a slight descent and the terrain became a little rockier. I started to lose my footing, so Adam helped me into my traction. The ice wasn’t thick enough or hard enough for Microspikes, so we went with Yaktrax. Mine are a touch too small for my boots, so getting them on is a two person effort. I brace on a rock and Adam yanks the Yaktrax with all his might until they snap into place! One day, I’ll buy some bigger ones. 🙂 Fitted with traction, we moved swiftly along with sure, confident footing. Snow started falling – flurries at first, then in earnest. It wasn’t supposed to snow, so we trekked on hoping the skies would soon clear up (like they were supposed to!) Ah… mountain weather at its unpredictable best!

We reached a small sign pointing us to the Rock Point Overlook. As we looked off the rocky outcropping, all we could see was clouds and swirling snow. Every now and then the clouds moved enough that we could see mountains on the other side of the gap. We ate a quick snack and moved on. The snow just kept coming down faster and faster. We started feeling a little worried about getting back to our car and finding Route 664 impassable.

Blue Ridge Parkway — There were many beautiful views along the parkway. Below: It was neat to see the snowless valley below; During the last few miles of walking, the sun came out and melted the snow off the road; Another pretty valley view.

In fair weather, there are more nice views along this stretch of the Appalachian Trail, but by the time we reached the vistas at Cedar Cliffs, we were practically in whiteout conditions. The white snow even camouflaged the white blazes on the trees. It was too bad, Cedar Cliffs had large rock ledges and would have been beautiful in clear conditions. About a half mile past the cliffs, we reached the Blue Ridge Parkway and the pullout for Dripping Rock Spring. We made it – we finished our section! At that point, the snow was still coming down hard and fast. To save time, we had decided to hike the parkway back to our car. It’s easy to move at speed when the terrain is uncomplicated. We still needed traction because the road was extremely slippery and treacherous.

It turned out that the road was the better choice for scenery, too! We saw some of the most spectacular winter vistas from Rock Point, Ravens Roost, and other openings along the way. I felt really privileged to see this scenery that most people don’t get to see when the road is closed to vehicles. As we hiked along, the promised clearing conditions finally happened. The ice on the road melted quickly and we were treated to a stunning display of sunshine and ice – it was like walking through a shimmering crystal forest.

Sunny Skies and Snow — Sunshine and snow make for a beautiful combination! Below: Once the sun came out the snow melted really quickly.

We got back to our car pretty quickly and found the car and the road both free of ice! We headed down the other side of Route 664 (past Wintergreen Resort) to go to Devil’s Backbone for lunch. The brewery was packed! All the other women there were wearing makeup, skinny jeans, and tall boots. I was sweaty, disheveled, and dressed sort of like Rainbow Brite. But whatever… they had (after an hour’s wait) beer and good food.

We decided to take the 151 route home so we could pass Bold Rock and Silverback. Bold Rock recently finished their new tasting room. It’s rustic and elegant – with fireplaces and wonderful farmland views. After beers at Devils Backbone, we skipped drinking cider, but I’m glad we took the time to check out their new facilities.

Silverback is the area’s new distillery. They’ll eventually have whiskey made using local grains. But for now, they have moonshine, gin, and vodka. You can do a flight of tastings of their three spirits – a half ounce of each, either straight or mixed into signature cocktails. We ended up sharing a flight of three mini cocktails – a Moscow Mule, a Gin and Ginger, and Monkey Tea. I’m not much of a liquor/cocktail fan, but the drinks were fun and tasty. I definitely recommend checking these two spots out if you happen to be in the area!

Devil's Backbone — We stopped for lunch at Devil’s Backbone. Below: We checked out the new taproom for Bold Rock. It’s very cozy and elegant. We didn’t stay for cider on this trip; We also stopped by Silverback distillery and shared a flight of miniature cocktails.

Trail Notes

Distance – 9 miles
(Check out the stats from Map My Hike)*
Elevation Change – 1050 ft.
Difficulty – 2. The icy conditions made it more of a challenge, but overall this would be a fairly easy hike with not as much elevation gain. The distance may make it a little more difficult for those that are not used to going this far.
Trail Conditions – 3.5. Again, the ice made this a bit more challenging, but this section of the AT was very well-maintained. There were a few loose, rocky sections.
Views – 4.5. Most of what we were able to see was from the parkway, but I know the other overlooks would lead to panoramic views.
Streams/Waterfalls – 1. There was one small, frozen over stream that might work as a water source.
Wildlife – 1. We saw lots of deer leaping into the woods, but I wouldn’t expect a lot of other wildlife, especially since this is a well-traveled section.
Ease to Navigate – 4. Just follow signs at the posts for the Appalachian Trail. Of course, since we lost the trail at one of the overlooks, we couldn’t give this a perfect score.
Solitude – 3. Due to the nearby parking lot, I would expect this would be a place where people would explore the trail. Of course, most of the cars in the nearby parking lot are likely heading up Three Ridges from Reeds Gap instead.

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: From I-64, take exit 96 for SR 624 toward Waynesboro/Lyndhurst. Turn on to S. Delphine Avenue and go 1.2 miles. The road becomes Mt. Torrey Road/SR 664. In 9.3 miles, turn left to stay on SR 664. Once you reach the top of the road in .8 miles, you will cross the Blue Ridge Parkway. Park at the large parking lot on the other side of the road. Across from the parking lot (and across SR 664), you will see the post and sign for the Appalachian Trail. Head north on the white-blazed trail.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Kepler Overlook

March 14, 2015March 20, 2015Leave a comment

This easygoing 6-mile hike offered solitude, great backcountry campsites, and nice views at the top! It was a perfect hike to tackle with a group of friends and dogs.

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Adam takes in the beautiful ,but hazy, view from the top. — Adam takes in the beautiful, but hazy, view from the top. Below: Walking to the trail from the parking area. This was really the only confusing part of the hike; Crossing Cedar Creek; Right after crossing the creek there is a superb campsite with hewn benches and a high hewn counter-top for cooking.

Christine Says…

Back in January, we planned a little section hike along the Appalachian Trail with a group of friends. However, icy conditions closed the Blue Ridge Parkway, leaving us scrambling for an alternate plan. We stumbled across the Kepler Overlook on Hiking Upward and decided it would be a good ‘plan B’. Our group met for breakfast at Mr’ J’s Bagels (yay carbs!) in Harrisonburg before heading up to the trailhead.

We expected to have to park about a third of a mile from the official trailhead, but we found the forest service gate open and were able to leave our cars right at the hike’s start point. From the parking area, there are trails and forest service roads leading in several directions. This was probably the most confusing part of the hike. You want to go straight up the forest road with the permanently closed gate. If you don’t reach the blue-blazed Tuscarora trail within the first .3 mile of your hike up the road, you’ll know you’ve gone the wrong way!

Hiking Along — The group hikes along the trail. Below: Crossing a small footbridge: Clark and Maia on the trail; Adam makes his way uphill.

At the junction with the Tuscarora trail, go left. You’ll pass another closed gate before coming to Cedar Creek. The crossing of Cedar Creek is fairly wide and might be tricky in wet conditions. We were able to negotiate the crossing with some careful rock hopping. Shortly after the crossing, you’ll come to one of the nicest backcountry campsites I’ve seen. Someone has taken the time to build wide benches, a large fire pit, and even a high counter-top for cooking. It would be a great group campsite with easy access to water.

From the campsite, continue to follow the blue-blazed trail. There was one place that the trail appeared to go straight, but actually turned. We all missed the turn and had to backtrack a few hundred feet where the trail crosses the stream again using a footbridge made of branches.

After crossing the stream, the trail climbs Tea Mountain. It’s never a tough climb, but it’s a steady uphill. The trail alternates between narrow footpath and wider road-like conditions. The trail follows along several switchbacks. At about 1.9 miles into the hike, you should see an unmarked side trail on the left. If you follow this side trail for a few hundred feet, you’ll reach a large rock jumble. From the top of the rock jumble you get a great view of the mountains beyond.

Spur Trail — Adam enjoys the first view of the hike. Below: A light dusting of snow on the shady side of the mountain; There were plenty of nice campsites along the ridge; The view was pretty but very hazy.

After taking in the view, return to the Tuscarora trail and continue uphill for about another mile or so until you reach the saddle between Tea and Little North Mountains. Along this ridge, there are several nice viewpoints and lots of open, flat space for camping. We took some time to explore a couple different vistas. The views were nice, but the sky conditions were really hazy.

After enjoying the mountaintop, we descended the way we came up. On our way home, we decided to check out a new farm brewery near Edinburg. Swover Creek is a working farm – they grow fruit and hops, raise chickens, and make sausage from locally produced meat. They’ve recently started a brewery and are working on building a tasting room in their old barn. We all tried a flight of their four beers (the persimmon ale was my favorite). We also had their house-made soft pretzels and mustard and enjoyed a sampling of their different sausages. It was a fun stop and I definitely recommend checking them out if you’re in the area!

Adam Says…

The Kepler Overlook hike was one that we had been wanting to do since we heard about it from our friends at Hiking Upward. This hike leads to nice views as you climb up to Little North Mountain.

The trail started off as we went past the closed gate up the fire road. There is a sign just past the gate showing the inter-connected trail system. Continue up the fire road for about .3 miles and then take a right on the blue-blazed Tuscarora Trail. The Tuscarora Trail leads down to Cedar Creek. Cross a small stream at .5 miles and you will reach a nice campsite. Continue along the trail and the trail takes another stream crossing (this time over a small log bridge with a branch handrail). The trail turns quickly to the left as you begin your climb up Tea Mountain. At 1.9 miles on a switchback, you reach an unmarked side trail. Following this for about .1 miles will take you to a rock outcropping with some views to the west. Backtrack to rejoin the Tuscarora Trail.

Nice View - Kepler Overlook — One of the rocky outcroppings along the ridge. Below: Time for a group selfie; Kris takes in the view; Descent.

At 2.5 miles, the trail reaches a Saddle between Tea Mountain and North Mountain. From here, climb up North Mountain. The trail levels out at 3.0 miles at a large area for backcountry camping. From here, you have two options for views. Cut through the campsite to the right along the ridge for a nice view. You can also go to the left and make your way again towards the ridge to get more views to the east.

We enjoyed our hike with friends and dogs. You can check out Clark’s YouTube video below. We were amazed at how much he was enjoying the hike and even took some time to enjoy the view himself.

Van Buren Furnace sits near the trailhead. Below: Post-hike beers at Swover Creek; Pretty farm chicken!

After the hike we hit Swover Creek Farm to try out their brewery. Since the tasting room is not yet built, we enjoyed our beer in the farmhouse. I have described this when talking to friends as if you were to go over to your grandmother’s house and drink beer. We got our flight of beers from the small room downstairs and then took them upstairs to the larger “living room”. There were some large tables and older furniture, so it really felt like a visit to your grandmother’s. All of the people that were there were local people and one man brought a thermos to fill with beer instead of a growler. They brought out samples of their sausage they made on the farm and we ended up buying some to take home. It was such a warm, home environment and we thought they did a great job with the small-batch beers they had made. This was a perfect post-hike stop.

Clark and Maia Say…

Our friends brought their lab (Clark) and shepherd (Maia) along on the hike! They were great trail dogs to have along for the day!

Clark was fitted with a GoPro — so don’t miss seeing the hike from his point of view! 🙂

Trail Notes

Distance – 6 miles
(Check out the stats from Map My Hike)*
Elevation Change – 1120 ft.
Difficulty – 3. A pretty easy hike with a bit of steady, moderate climbing.
Trail Conditions – 4. Trail was in great shape.
Views – 3.5. Nice, but slightly obstructed by trees.
Streams/Waterfalls – 3. Cedar Creek is pretty and a solid water source.
Wildlife – 2. We didn’t see anything, but there are plenty of deer and bear in the area.
Ease to Navigate – 2. There are a couple places where it’s easy to lose the trail. Also, there are several trails and fire roads from the parking area that can easily be confused.
Solitude –4. We saw only a small handful of people on a nice, sunny, winter weekend day.

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: Take exit 291 on I-81 heading west on SR 651. Go 1.5 miles and take a left on SR 623. Go 4 miles and take a right on to SR 600. Go 4.4 miles and take a left on SR 603/Van Buren Road. Continue on Van Buren Road for 2.7 miles and you will see parking on the left. There are two parking areas here, but pass the first parking area to get to the second parking area which is on the lefthand side. Park here and retrace your path a short distance to see the closed gate and the fire road where your hike will start.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Neighbor Mountain – Jeremy’s Run Loop

February 5, 2015February 5, 20155 Comments

This 14.7 mile route offers wilderness, beautiful views, and stunning stream scenery (even a small waterfall!) It’s a wonderful, moderate overnight backpacking loop; or a really challenging day hike. We set out intending to camp along Jeremy’s Run, but it didn’t quite go as planned!

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Views from the Neighbor Mountain Trail — The views on this loop hike come along the descent of Neighbor Mountain. Below: The trailhead at Elkwallow Picnic Area; Hiking along in golden woods; Adam and Kris at the junction of the Appalachian Trail and Neighbor Mountain Trail.

Christine Says…

The final weekend of October 2014 was so beautiful – perfect, made-to-order backpacking weather. We decided to head out on one more overnighter before the weather turned cold. We invited our friend, Kris, to come along. She loves the outdoors as much as we do, and I was sure she’d enjoy this loop. Don’t miss her guest blogger entry later in this post! It had been several years since we last hiked in the vicinity of Jeremy’s Run, and I was really looking forward to camping along the beautiful stream.

After stocking up on some lunch provisions at Elkwallow Wayside, we finally hit the trail around 11:00. We figured we had a little over eight miles of hiking on our first day, so starting late morning would get us to camp before 3:00, with plenty of daylight left to pitch tents, cook dinner, and relax.

Hiking along the Neighbor Mountain Trail. Below: The fall color was still close to peak; Adam checks out a rock formation; At the summit of Neighbor Mountain.

We started out at the Elkwallow Picnic Area. A short spur trail leads downhill to the junction with the white-blazed Appalachian Trail. The AT descends for about .3 of a mile before coming to a junction with the blue-blazed Jeremy’s Run Trail. Follow the Appalachian Trail, veering to the left. The trail ascends for a little over a mile before coming to a more level ridge. You’ll pass the junction with the Thorton River trail, continuing south on the AT. At just over four miles into the hike, you’ll reach the junction with the yellow-blazed Neighbor Mountain trail.

We decided this junction would be a nice place to stop for lunch (hummus – my favorite trail lunch of late – easy to eat and lots of quality calories!). After a relaxing, thirty-minute break, we took the turn onto the Neighbor Mountain trail. The path meandered across the ridge. For the first couple miles, it was mostly walking in the woods. There was a nice breeze and gorgeous sparkling sunshine was filtering through golden leaves. It was everything you want fall to be!

Even though there is no view, the summit of Neighbor Mountain is marked with a cement post. At the summit, I noticed I had picked up a ‘hitchhiker’ along the way – a walking stick bug was clinging to my pants. I wonder how far he had come with me. I picked him off, and set him on a fallen log off the trail.

Between six and seven miles into the hike, there are a few excellent views of the Massanutten ridge and Three Sisters. There was a forest fire in this area several years ago, so the view was pretty open and expansive. We all paused a while to enjoy the fall foliage. It was so wonderful to see colorful mountains rolling our before us. We talked about how privileged and blessed we all felt to be out on such an amazing day!

View of Valley — Adam enjoys a view of the valley and mountains to the west. Below: This part of Neighbor Mountain burned in 2012. Alot of damage is still evident; Fall color; Adam descends Neighbor Mountain toward Jeremys Run.

The last mile and a half of the day was steady downhill, meandering across switchbacks until the Neighbor Mountain trail reached the bottom of the valley and Jeremy’s Run. As soon as you reach the stream, campsites are everywhere. The first few we passed were already taken, so we ended up returning to the hidden campsite we used several years earlier. It’s a flat spot under the trees shortly before the first water crossing.

And here’s where the story takes an unexpected turn…

Adam Says…

We all worked on pitching our tents and setting up camp. I set up our tent while Christine worked on inflating our sleeping pads. Kris was on the other side of the clearing working on setting up the one-person tent she had borrowed, when she suddenly she groaned, “Uh… guys – I think we might have a little problem.”

As it turned out, the tent bag only held the rain fly and the poles. The ground cloth and the actual tent were missing in action. She hadn’t checked the bag before hitting the trail. We spent the next 45 minutes trying to improvise a shelter with everything and anything we had. We tried piling three people in our Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 (bad idea). We discussed whether or not the evening would be suitable for cowboy camping under the stars. We talked through a few different scenarios: 1) we all hike back immediately, 2) I sleep under the tarp while Kris and Christine sleep in the tent, or 3) I hike back to the car tonight and pick them up in the morning. I was least excited about the second option because the area felt tick-infested with the wet leaves. We debated the options for a few minutes, but ultimately, we decided the best choice was to keep the group together and make our backpacking trip into a very long day hike.

Failed Camp — We tried to find a way to rig up shelter, but in the end we decided it was better to hike out. Below: Crossing the first stream and trying to eat something with enough calories to hike out happily; Adam doing one of many stream crossings; The best campsite along Jeremys Run sits above a waterfall.

We knew we only had a little over an hour of daylight left – the sun sets early behind the mountains surrounding Jeremy’s Run. We rushed to pack everything up as quickly as we could. Cooking a hot dinner would have required getting more water, so we opted to just eat a few snacks from our bags. We started off at a quick pace. I twisted my knee at the first major water crossing we had to make, which made the rest of the trip pretty painful. But sometimes, you just have to suck it up and hike.

We soon passed another great campsite next to a small waterfall. The trail meanders along and across Jeremy’s Run, requiring lots of rock-hopping across the stream. The sun was dipping down quickly and we soon found that we needed to put on our headlamps. Christine and Kris had legit headlamps, but I was using a small clip-on headlight that didn’t have the lumen output needed for a night hike. When it reached dusk a few miles from our campsite, we came across a couple with a dog. They asked us how far it was to the campsites and if they were all taken. The guy was carrying an outrageous amount of gear and the girl looked completely miserable. We knew they were going to be hiking to the campsites by nightfall and setting up camp in the dark. I’m not sure if this was her first venture into overnight camping, but based on the daggers she was shooting him with her eyes, it may be their last. They warned us they had seen a couple of bears just ahead of us, so we were on full alert.

Headlamps — We hiked by headlamp the last hour. Below: Jeremys Run in twilight; A large pool along the run; One of the last few stream crossings before it became too dark to take photos.

As it became fully dark, we still had a few stream crossings to make, which made it quite hazardous. I reminded myself that the water wasn’t that deep so if we stepped in the water, we would probably be OK. Another danger of night-hiking is the ability to lose the trail. We really had to pay attention to the ground and try to keep an eye out for occasional blazes to make sure we would stay on the trail. Hiking in the fall after most of the leaves have covered the trail provides an extra challenge. Because I had a weaker headlamp, it was hard for me to lead along the trail since the lights from Christine and Kris were blasting my shadow ahead of me on the ground. And then, I heard large noises in the woods, which I’m guessing was the bears that we had been warned about. We kept talking loudly and playing some games to keep our minds sharp (animals/foods/colors that start with each letter of the alphabet) as we hiked along.

At 4.25 miles from our intended campsite, we finally came across a concrete marker post. This post marked the junction with the Knob Mountain cutoff trail, so we knew were getting closer. We kept straight on the Jeremy’s Run Trail and at 5.15 miles, we reached our first junction with the Neighbor Mountain Trail. It was now just .3 miles straight ahead until we reached the parking lot where we started. We made the last climb with renewed energy and celebrated that we made it through this adventure.

It was definitely one of the longest hikes we have done in a day and with the extra weight on our back, was one of the toughest. We got back in the car and decided to go out to dinner to celebrate with drinks and food at Ciro’s in Elkton, VA. We were physically exhausted and hungry, but it was quite an adventure we will never forget.

One takeaway I had from this trip was that we were all great at hiking together. When we faced the challenge of not having two functional tents, we kept our wits about us, made a quick decision and went with it. There was no complaining and we just relied on each other to get through. If we had panicked or become overly upset, it could have led to a dangerous situation. It is through this challenge, that we learned that having good hiking partners that work well together is a great trait to have for survival. We all vowed to come back to this spot to camp together sometime in the spring to get the full experience through camping on Jeremy’s Run. After the hike, Kris bought her own tent and I bought a better headlamp.

Kris Says…

Backpacking 101- It doesn’t matter if you were up late celebrating your birthday and borrowing some equipment…ALWAYS double check your equipment or your trip will not be so fly!

I was excited to be hiking with friends on a beautiful fall day. We have always shared an appreciation of nature, lots of conversations and tons of laughter. I guess that is why we handled our little upset so calmly and reasonably. Although, I’m pretty sure I said “Adam, just because I am a girl doesn’t mean you have to give up your tent. I will cowboy up. Now, everyone hand over any booze or sleep aides you may have!” Of course that didn’t fly.

Ultimately we laughed at the situation, even as we crossed that creek 14 or so times and in the dark. And I learned a few things on this trip: I am capable of hiking 15 miles with a 25 lbs pack in a day, Little Debbie Peanut Butter pies are so tasty and 400 calories, it was time to purchase my own backpacking tent, a packing checklist is important and a good attitude goes a long way.

I vowed to return to Jeremy’s Run and hike early enough to snag the sweet waterfall camp spot, I also plan to cowboy camp sometime just to prove I can (my dog will protect me).

Christine and Adam- you two are SuperFly!

Trail Notes

Distance – 14.7 miles
(We had issues with MapMyHike on this trip, so we have partial stats. We have the Neighbor Mountain segment and most of the Jeremys Run to Elkwallow segment. We’re missing the portion along the Appalachian Trail and a few early tenths of a mile along Jeremy’s Run. Technical issues!)*
Elevation Change – 2610 ft.
Difficulty – 4. The terrain is fairly moderate throughout the hike, but the length ups the difficulty rating.
Trail Conditions – 3. Sections along the Appalachian Trail and Neighbor Mountain are in great shape. The Jeremy’s Run trail is rocky and has at least 14 water crossings – some of them can be challenging!
Views – 3.5. The views descending Neighbor Mountain are beautiful, but never fully open/panoramic.
Streams/Waterfalls – 3.5. The stream is beautiful and scenic.
Wildlife – 5. We saw a bobcat! Hikers we passed at sunset told us there was a bear ahead, but we couldn’t see anything in the dark. But, the last time we hiked in this area, we saw three bears. We have also seen/heard owls, pileated woodpeckers, and whippoorwills.
Ease to Navigate – 4. The junctions are clearly marked and easy to follow — unless you’re hiking in the dark! 🙂
Solitude –1. It’s the most popular backpacking loop in the park’s northern district.

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: From the US-211 entrance of Shenandoah National Park, head north for 9 miles on Skyline Drive. Take a left towards the Mathews Arm Campground. In .7 miles, you will reach a parking lot. The trail takes off next to the outdoor bathroom.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Old Rag – via Berry Hollow

January 19, 2015January 31, 201517 Comments

This is a great alternative to the ‘classic’ ascent of Old Rag. You still get the same stunning summit, but this 5.4 mile route lets you bypass all the road walking, lessens your vertical gain, and skips the famous rock scramble (which can be a good or bad thing depending on how you feel about rock scrambles!)

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Adam takes in the view from the Old Rag Summit. Below: Berry Hollow Parking; A golden forest: You reach the Old Rag Day Use Shelter shortly after the fire road junction.

Adam Says…

Old Rag is one of those classic Virginia hikes that most avid hikers in the state want to do at some point. The views are truly spectacular, but the most popular route up Old Rag includes a technical rock scramble with exposed ledges and big drops. Some people might have a fear of heights or not be fit enough to tackle the scramble. The route via Berry Hollow is perfect for people wanting a ‘low key’ route to the peak.

We were on our way to hike White Oak Canyon, but the parking lot was completely full. Not wanting to give up for the day, we consulted our maps and noticed we were right next to Berry Hollow and the alternate route up Old Rag.

We arrived at the small parking lot at Berry Hollow and also found a very full lot. However, after waiting just a few minutes, some hikers came down the trail and said about 3-4 cars would be leaving in the next ten minutes as they were returning from an overnight/sunrise hike. So, we waited and sure enough, several spaces cleared up. I would recommend arriving at the lot early in the morning, because there is only space available for about 12 vehicles.

You begin the hike by making your way past a closed gate. You can see the path marked on the kiosk to the right of the trail. This route starts on the wide Berry Hollow fire road, which goes along the Berry Hollow stream for a while. Hiking the trail during a peak fall day, we were surrounded by brilliant yellows from fallen leaves on the trail and up above. At .8 miles, you reach a junction with the Saddle Trail. Take a right on to the Saddle Trail, which you will take all the way to the summit.

Berry Hollow Fire Road — Adam walks the fire road on a perfect fall day. Below: Ascending the Saddle Trail; Large boulders as we climbed; The first viewpoint along the Saddle Trail.

The Saddle Trail is more narrow and rocky, but is mostly a moderate climb. The steepest part of this trail comes between 1.2 and 1.5 miles as you gain about 300 feet of elevation in .3 miles. At 1.4 miles, you will pass by the Old Rag shelter which is only available for day use. At 2.15 miles, the trail gets another steep push to the summit. Continuing up the trail, you will also pass the Byrds Nest Shelter at 2.25 miles, another day use shelter. The trail does start to open up to some views along the way as you’ll pass a couple of rock outcroppings that give you nice views or a good excuse to stop if you need a breather.

You arrive at the base of the summit which is marked by a sign. A short path leads up to the rocky summit. At this point, you can decide how adventurous you want to be at the summit. There are lots of nice ledges to enjoy the views, but some will want to scramble up the boulders to try to get even higher vantage points. Be very careful at this summit, especially if you have kids. People get injured often on this trail, most often at the rock scramble or at the summit.

The wind was incredibly strong on this day at the summit. It is usually quite windy at the summit, but with the colder temperatures, it was freezing at the top. We ate some snacks at the top, trying to shelter us from the wind, but decided quickly to get away from the exposed ledges to try and stay a little warmer.

We headed back the way we came. When we arrived back at our car, the lot was still at capacity, so we did luck out with a spot. After our hike, we went to one of our favorite places to eat, The Barbeque Exchange, in Gordonsville, VA and then hit Horton Vineyard for wine sampling on our way back home.

We were so pleased with this alternate route up Old Rag. I think we will probably use this as our go-to route for future hikes up the mountain.

Christine Says…

I make no secret of the fact that I am not a huge fan of the Old Rag Ridge Trail. Scrambling is not my favorite, but my primary issue is simple trail overuse. I think the park lets too many people hike the trail each day and that the mountain is becoming damaged beyond repair. We’ve hiked Old Rag on days that people are queued up all across the ridge, waiting in line for the people ahead of them to tackle obstacles. I wait in line in daily life enough that I’m simply not willing to wait in line on a mountain trail. It feels wrong! I also don’t prefer the significant amount of road walking necessary to complete the route via Weakley Hollow. In the end, more than half the trail is road walking. That said, I did really enjoy this ascent via Berry Hollow.

It was our anniversary weekend, peak fall color, and a perfect bluebird day to boot. We were sort of nuts to try hiking any of the park’s most popular trails, but somehow we were lucky enough to score a parking spot.

The walk up Berry Hollow fire road was gorgeous. The sun filtering through the fall leaves made a canopy of warm golden light. The road was carpeted with leaves of every color. We really didn’t see many people at all until we reached the junction of the fire road and the Saddle Trail.

The Saddle Trail is a moderate ascent. There are rock steps and interesting boulder jumbles to admire along the way. Through the trees we could see the rocky summit looming ahead. As we climbed the views became more impressive. After passing the second shelter (Byrds Nest), the trail passes out of tall hardwood forest into stand of stunted, windblown trees and tangled rhododendron.

Golden Trees — All we had to do was look up to see all the fall glory! Below: One last view before descending; Trees near the top were already bare from the brisk wind; The shelter closest to the top – Byrds Nest – is also day-use only.

There are a couple nice views from the trail before you reach the actual summit. We took time to enjoy each of them. At the summit, there was a large crowd already congregating. Most people posed for photos and then found places behind the boulders to shelter from the wind. We stayed and enjoyed the summit until it became too crowded.

The way down was quick and easy! We even did our traditional ‘Old Rag Jog’ – it’s basically a slow run to make the fire road terrain pass quicker. On our way out, we stopped by Graves Mountain to get apples, pumpkin, and cider. Then we headed for a big barbecue feast and a wine tasting. It was a perfect fall day and a great way to celebrate our anniversary.

Trail Notes

Distance – 5.4 miles
(Check out the stats from Map My Hike)*
Elevation Change – 1725 ft.
Difficulty – 3. This is a solid, moderate hike.
Trail Conditions – 4. The trail was in great shape in most places. There were a few muddy, mucky places between Byrds Nest and the Old Rag Shelter.
Views – 5. Gorgeous views at the top and several nice views along the way.
Streams/Waterfalls – 1. There is one small stream along the fire road.
Wildlife – 2. We didn’t see anything but squirrels, but there is apparently a nuisance bear near the Old Rag shelter.
Ease to Navigate – 4. There is just one well-marked junction.
Solitude –0. It’s Old Rag… expect to see many, many people.

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: From Madison, VA on Route 29, take US-29 Business Route into Madison, VA. Turn on to VA-231 north. In 5.4 miles, take a slight left on VA-670. Follow this for 3.6 miles and take a slight right on to state route 643/Weakley Hollow Road. Follow this road for about 5 miles, which becomes a gravel, fire road and ends at the parking lot for the trailhead.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Veach Gap – Morgan’s Road

January 4, 2015January 4, 201511 Comments

This hike is easy for a 7-miler! Gentle grades along an old roadbed take you to a lovely view of the Shenandoah River and mountains beyond!

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Veach Gap Hike — The Point overlook on the Veach Gap hike offers nice views of the bends of the Shenandoah River and the mountains of the national park beyond. Below: Adam crosses the closed gate at the beginning of the trail; Christine hikes the Veach Gap trail; The main trail junction on this hike.

Christine Says…

Throughout fall 2014, our employer (and alma mater), James Madison University, participated in the Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge. Basically, students and employees accrued points for outdoor activities. The school that compiled the most points in the end won a prize of cash and outdoor gear. One component of the competition was completing a collection of eight local hikes. The list included many hikes we had already done (Old Rag, Humpback Rock, Fridley Gap, High Knob Fire Tower). Veach Gap was one of the only hikes on the list we hadn’t done, so we decided to check it out.

From the end of Veach Gap Rd. in Fort Valley, the hike begins along the Veach Gap Trail (blazed in gold), which is an old road bed. Supposedly, this trail is what remains of the historical Morgan’s Road. General George Washington requisitioned the road during the Revolutionary War. It was built to be used as a path of retreat from Yorktown. As we all know from history, the war went America’s way, and the retreat route was never needed. The road was still used locally for many years before falling into disuse and transitioning into a trail.

At one mile in, the Veach Gap trail crosses Mill Run. This is really the only potentially confusing spot to navigate on the hike. The trail crosses at a diagonal, so look carefully for the gold blazes on a tree slightly upstream. Shortly after crossing the stream, you may notice a rock formation in the shape of an upside down ‘U’. This is called an anticline, and it’s a very unusual geological feature in our area. I’m kind of ashamed to admit this, but we didn’t even stop to look at the anticline. I forgot it was there, and my mind was more focused on fall colors, lofty views, and potential wildlife sightings. But, if you’re a geology buff – don’t miss this feature!

Crossing Mill Run. You can see the blaze on the tree on the opposite bank. Below: Pretty fall leaves on the water; Blazes for Veach Gap, Tuscarora, and the Massanutten Trails; After the main trail junction, the Massanutten Trail became a little steeper and rockier.

A short distance after crossing the stream, the Veach Gap trail merges and becomes jointly blazed with the orange-blazed Massanutten Trail and the blue-blazed Tuscarora Trail. The three trails share the route for (at most) a couple tenths of a mile. AT 1.2 miles, you’ll come to another trail sign. To the right, the trail heads in the direction of the Little Crease Shelter. Stay to the left (blazed orange and blue), headed up Little Crease Mountain and toward Sherman Gap. About a half mile after this intersection, you’ll pass a marked group campsite on the right.

Continue meandering uphill along a gentle grade. At three miles, the trail becomes a bit steeper with switchbacks. There was a significant forest fire here in 2012, so the canopy is thin and allows nice views along the climb. We saw lots of charred stumps and blueberry bushes along the increasingly rocky trail. Eventually, the trail leveled out along the ridge. We soon reached The Point Overlook – a small outcropping of rocks overlooking a sweeping bend on the Shenandoah River.

We had a snack, took a few photos, and spent some time chatting with a fellow hiker (Hi, DJ!) before heading back down the way we came. Veach Gap was really a lovely hike to enjoy at the peak of fall foliage season. After getting back to our car, we made the short drive into Front Royal so we could enjoy burgers and shakes at Spelunkers. Great day!

Adam Says…

When we were reviewing the peakbagging hikes that were listed for JMU students/faculty to try for the Outdoor Nation competition, we were surprised to see this one on there. My guess is the coordinators looked up hikes that were close to Harrisonburg without thinking of what would be seen on the hike. We initially thought this wouldn’t be that nice of a hike, since we hadn’t heard anyone mention it before to us, but the views made this a pleasant surprise.

When we pulled up to the parking lot, we saw a few cars already in the parking lot and a group getting ready to hit the trail when we did. Of course, we saw vehicles for hunters, so we were a little worried about how this trail was being used overall. We were glad that we had brighter clothes on, which is always a precaution to consider during hunting season. We started off on the gold-blazed Veach Gap trail by crossing through the gate and walking on the fire road. The trail was very flat and passed through some younger forest. We were greeted with sights and sounds of Mill Run to the left of the trail.

Opening Views — The higher we hiked, the more views we got through the trees. Below: Adam takes in the view; The ridge was burned by a forest fire in 2012. The damage is still fresh and evident; Adam descends.

We soon came across two bow hunters, that seemed to be milling around, more about enjoying the outdoors than they were about hunting. At .35 miles, the fire road turns into trail. At 1.2 miles, take a left at the junction and join the blue and orange-blazed Massanutten Trail. The trail continued a slow, gradual climb heading northeast. At 3.0 miles, the trail takes a sharp, southern route and at 3.2 miles, it switches back to the normal northeastern direction. On our climb up, we passed by a large group of boy scouts that were covering some miles over the weekend, but were looking to camp near the crossing at Mill Run. The slightly-obstructed views of the mountains beside us were so colorful in this peak fall setting.

As you climb up to the ridge, you start seeing a lot of the forest fire damage. Since this happened in 2012, you start seeing some of the plants starting to grow in place of those that burned. We reached the ridge and followed it for about .15 miles. At 3.5 miles, we found a pile of rocks marking a short climb to the overlook where we stopped. The true highlight of the view is seeing the bends of the Shenandoah River from this rocky perch. There wasn’t a ton of room at the top that was unobstructed, but it was enough for a few people to take in the view.

If you feel like you would like a view hike with a good amount of solitude, this may be a great selection.

Trail Notes

Distance – 7 miles
(Check out the stats from Map My Hike)*
Elevation Change – 1100 ft.
Difficulty – 2. This is an easy hike to a nice viewpoint.
Trail Conditions – 4. The trail was in great shape in most places. Dry, fallen leaves made some of the descents slippery.
Views – 3.5. The view of the bends of the Shenandoah River is nice, but slightly obstructed.
Streams/Waterfalls – 2. The stream along the early part of the trail is really pretty.
Wildlife – 2. We didn’t see anything but a few birds and squirrels.
Ease to Navigate – 3. There are a few junctions and a few unmarked trails that cross the route, but you should be fine if you follow the blazes.
Solitude –4. We did see a troop of Boy Scouts and a handful of others hiking in this area on a perfect fall weekend near peak foliage color, but generally this area is very quiet.

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: From Luray, VA, take SR 675/Camp Roosevelt Road. Go .8 miles and take a left to stay on SR 675. In 2.2 miles, take a right to stay on SR 675. In 7.8 miles, take a right on to SR 678/Fort Valley Road. Follow this for 9.7 miles and then take a right onto SR 774/Veach Gap Road. Follow this about .75 miles to the end of the road, where you arrive at a parking area. The trail starts after you walk around the gate.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Appalachian Trail – Hog Camp Gap to Punchbowl Mountain

December 8, 2014August 26, 20153 Comments

This 17 mile overnight backpacking trip had beautiful views from Cole Mountain within the first two miles of the hike. The rest of the hike was less scenic – mostly walking through quiet woods and along seasonally low streams. The Lynchburg Reservoir and the swinging bridge over the Pedlar River were noteworthy features on the second day. Adam will cover day one and Christine will take over with day two!

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Adam Takes in the View from the Summit of Cole Mountain — Adam takes in the view from the summit of Cole Mountain. Below: Coming out of the woods onto the grassy meadow is always breathtaking; Great views from the top of Cole Mountain; Hints of fall color near the summit.

Day One (8.1 miles)…

We started off our trip by leaving one car where the AT crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Punchbowl Mountain overlook. From the lot, we could see the AT southbound, but we didn’t see where we would return to our car from the north. It turns out it was just below us on the other side of the parking lot, but the morning fog made it a little hard to spot. We dropped our car off and then headed to Hog Camp Rd, to start our journey.

From Hog Camp Gap, we headed south on the Appalachian Trail. The trail started off through a wooded section uphill, fairly steeply in some parts. Around 1.1 miles, the trail opened up to the beautiful, wide-open bald clearing that is Cole Mountain. We have hiked Cole Mountain before as a loop and I do think it is one of the more under-appreciated hikes in Virginia. The panoramic vistas make this look like something you would picture in an outdoors magazine. You can’t help but want to stop and take a look at the scenery around you. The way we split this section might not have been the best plan for enjoying vistas. We knew we had the best views of the trip done in the first 1.5 miles of the hike. But that is one of the biggest lessons I learned from hiking this section – you have to hold on to what you may have just seen, because there is no certainty about what is to come ahead.

Climbing Bald Mountain — The climb of Bald Mountain wasn’t terribly long or difficult. Bald Mountain also is not Bald! Below: Adam checks out the map at our lunch stop – a clearing near the top of Bald Mountain; A little snip of a view through the trees along the top of Bald Mountain; Huge tree!

After reaching the summit of Cole Mountain, the trail descends and again enters the forest. Around 2.5 miles, we reached a junction with a spur trail that led to the Cow Camp Gap overnight shelter and a water source. We continued on the trail which starts an ascent up Bald Mountain. We reached the summit at 3.5 miles and were hoping for some nice views at the top, but found that Bald Mountain wasn’t very bald (there were a few obstructed views through the trees). We found a clearing and camp spot and had our lunch there before continuing on. The rest of the day, the trail was a descent so our climbing was done (at least until tomorrow).

We crossed over USFS 507 at 5.5 miles and eventually came to US 60 and the Long Mountain wayside at mile 6.3. We stopped at one of the picnic tables and took a break to eat a snack and give our backs a relief from the weight. Local people just park on the roadside here and have a picnic at this spot. It is also a way to do a longer out-and-back to Cole Mountain without parking or driving on a rough, gravel road. After resting, we crossed US 60, spotting a sign for the continuation of the Appalachian trail to the right. We continued our descent and at 7.1 miles, we reached Browns Creek, a reliable water source for a good stretch of trail. At 8.2 miles, we reached the Brown Mountain Creek Shelter, our stop for the night.

The Brown Mountain Creek area is interesting from a historical/archaeological standpoint. Much of the land along the creek was part of a large plantation predating the Civil War. After the war, the land was primarily a settlement for freed African-Americans. Houses, farms, orchards and even a gristmill could be found along the creek. You can still see stone walls/stairs, pieces of metal, and other artifacts along the creek.

When we first got to the shelter, there was still a smoldering fire in the fire pit, so we realized someone had been there recently. We also noticed a large pile of fresh bear scat next to the shelter. While we didn’t think a bear had been roasting marshmallows by the fire, we felt it may be wise to not set up camp directly at the shelter. We found a nice campsite right by the creek and decided that would be a better spot. There was a boy scout troop that was camping on the other side of the creek. We worried about them being too loud over the course of the night, but they were fairly well-behaved (except for trashing the privy – but that’s another story). We set up our tent, filtered water for tonight and tomorrow, and began to unwind.

We cooked dinner up at the shelter (Good To-Go Herbed Mushroom Risotto)* and played Zombie Fluxx, a card game where the rules and objectives for winning constantly changed. I always enjoy bringing a card game along the trail – the weight isn’t too bad for the entertainment it can provide. We played a few hands (I recall Christine being better at killing zombies than I was) and then went back to our campsite after I hung our bear bag. We started off reading books by headlamp outside our tent (continuing with the zombie trend I was reading Night of the Living Trekkies), but the bugs were awful. We retired to our tent probably around 7:30, read for a little while longer, and went to bed very early. We always typically go to bed around nightfall when backpacking, but hiking with the extra weight always makes you feel a little more physically exhausted.

* Good to Go is a new backpacking food manufacturer. They use healthy ingredients and much less sodium. We thought it was one of the best dehydrated meals we’ve had on the trail! We added a foil packet of chicken breast to our dinner.

Games — We arrived at camp fairly early, so after the tent was pitched and water collected, we spent some time playing Zombie Fluxx. Below: A group of 14 Boy Scouts camped along the opposite bank; Collecting water for cooking and drinking; We tried a new brand of dehydrated meal – Good to Go (tasty!)

Day Two (9.1 miles)…

Day two started earlier than expected (and with the added bonus of a huge, swollen mosquito bite on my eyelid – I looked like I’d been punched!) Like most Boy Scout troops we’ve met along the trail, the one camping near us on this trip was awake, packed up, and on their way before sun-up. This had pros and cons. One con was all the crunching boots and headlamps moving around our tent in the dark. A pro was the opportunity we had to enjoy the creekside in peace and solitude before starting our hike for the day. The solitude also meant I could find a place to dig a cat hole in complete privacy without having to worry about Boy Scouts spotting me! I would have used the privy near the shelter, but let’s just say the privy turned out to be another con of camping near a big scout group. One of them had completely defiled the privy and there was no way I was going in there!

Breakfast was instant oatmeal, honey buns and coffee. I’ve learned the hard way after running out of gas on past backpacking trips that one packet of instant oatmeal (140 calories) is not enough to fuel me across nine miles. The Little Debbie Honey Bun has been a revelation for me. I think it has the magical balance of fat and sugar I need to power through my morning miles. They also hold up great in my pack – no smushing and no crumbling. Some people like a healthier, protein-packed breakfast, but give me a honey bun!

Morning on Brown Mountain Creek — The morning was beautiful and quiet (after the Scouts left). Below: When water is running higher, this is probably a pretty little waterfall; Adam hikes along the Appalachian Trail: One of several small stream crossings.

The first five miles of our second day were easy. The terrain was a very gradual overall descent with a couple brief uphill climbs. The first mile or so followed Brown Mountain Creek. The trail followed roughly parallel to the stream for much of the way. I kept thinking how beautiful this area would be when water levels were higher. We eventually crossed the creek via a wooden footbridge. At this spot there was a small, but pretty, waterfall cascading into a plunge pool. The flow was down to a trickle, but it was still a lovely spot.

Departing Brown Mountain Creek, we walked through serene, quiet forest for a couple more miles. There were two small stream crossings along the way. The first didn’t seem to have a name, but the second was Swapping Camp Creek. Both of these creeks end up flowing into the Lynchburg Reservoir. At around 3 miles into our hike, we started seeing glimpses of the reservoir through the trees. We followed an off-trail footpath steeply down to the shores of the water for a couple photos. We saw several herons hunting in the mud. There were ‘no camping’ signs posted everywhere, but there were also several well-used fire rings. I’m guessing there are quite a few people that ignore the regulations and attempt to stealth camp in this area.

The trail skirts around the Lynchburg Reservoir. Below: The dam at the south end of the reservoir; The Pedlar River; The Pedlar River footbridge.

We climbed back up to the Appalachian Trail and continued south, skirting the eastern side of the reservoir. At around 4.8 miles we came to the lowest elevation point of our hike – the Pedlar River crossing. The trail crosses the river on a picturesque, bouncy suspension bridge. From the middle of the bridge, we could see early fall colors reflecting from the trees onto the water’s surface. After crossing the bridge, we came out on gravel-surfaced Reservoir Road. We followed that briefly until we spotted another white blaze for the Appalachian Trail.

At this point, we began our toughest climb of the whole 17 miles. The 2-mile ascent of Rice Mountain begins pleasantly enough. The trail follows parallel to Little Irish Creek (which was running low and barely noticeable) and passes through a small plot of old growth forest. There is an extremely weather-beaten sign explaining tree sizes in the area and how the area is used to study the local watershed. Early parts of the climb are well-graded and moderate, but about .75 mile in, the trail pretty much goes straight up the mountain without the moderating benefit of switchbacks. I wanted to push through the climbing and put it behind me, but Adam was ready for a snack. We found some big rocks about 1.5 miles up the mountain and took a candy break. After a half mile more climbing, we reached the ridge of Rice Mountain. The forest was especially pretty along the top of the mountain – very open with lots of nice shade trees.

Climbing Rice Mountain was tougher than it looked on the topo map. Below: Another little peek at a view through the trees; A curly laurel thicket; The finish line!

On the descent of Rice, we had one nice view through the trees. We also saw more brilliant red fall colors and a lot more thickets of rhododendron and mountain laurel. There really wasn’t anything remarkable to see or say about our last couple miles of hiking. The terrain was rolling – there was a general uphill trend, but with small downhills as well. There were no views or streams to speak off. The lack of scenery gave me lots of time to fret over my feet. Two toes on my right foot had dislocated earlier in the day and were becoming increasingly painful. With each step, it got a little harder to bear my weight plus the weight of my pack. I think if there had been waterfalls or great views, I would have been more easily able to distract myself. But on this particular day, all I could think was ‘Ouch – when will this hike be over?’

At almost the end, we had one final road crossing at the junction of Robinson Gap Rd. and Panther Falls Rd. After just another third of mile, we came up a small hill and found ourselves back at the parking area for Punchbowl Mountain on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I don’t think I’d ever been so happy to end a hike. It felt great to take my boots off and change into a pair of Oofos. While I enjoyed the great weather, the opportunity to be out, and the nice views from Cole Mountain, this wasn’t one of my favorite backpacking trips.

Trail Notes

Distance – 17.2 miles [Day One] [Day Two]
Elevation Change – About 2900 ft.
Difficulty – 4. Mostly for distance, but the descent of Bald Mountain is a real knee-grinder and the climb up Rice Mountain (Day 2) is surprisingly challenging.
Trail Conditions – 4. The trail is in nice condition all across this stretch of AT.
Views – 5 (for Day 1) – The views from Cole Mountain are indisputably spectacular. Enjoy them early in your hike… they’ll be the last real views of the trip.
Streams/Waterfalls – 3. This was hard to judge because of the unusually dry late summer/early fall. I think under normal circumstances, Brown Mountain Creek would be beautiful with lots of small cascades and rapids.
Wildlife – 2. We didn’t see any wildlife beyond a cute bullfrog in the creek. But, there was LOTS of bear scat around Brown Mountain Creek Shelter.
Ease to Navigate – 4. Just keep following the white-blazes and pay attention at road crossings/trail junctions to stay on the Appalachian Trail.
Solitude – 3. We saw quite a few people around Cole Mountain and spent the night at Brown Mountain Creek with a Boy Scout Troop. We saw only one person along the trail on the second day.

Directions to trailhead: Requires a shuttle. We parked one car where the AT crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway near Punchbowl Mountain. This is mile 51.7 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, about 6 miles south of where the Blue Ridge Parkway meets with US 60. From this point, we drove our other car back north on the Blue Ridge Parkway for 6.0 miles and took the exit leading us to US-60 East. We headed 4.3 miles on US 60 E before taking a left on SR 634/Coffeytown Road. Follow this for 1.6 miles before taking a right on SR 755/Wiggins Spring Road. Follow this gravel, bumpy road for 2.7 miles until you reach the parking area where the AT crosses the road. Follow the white-blazed Appalachian trail heading south.

House Mountain

July 26, 2014July 28, 20141 Comment

This tough 8.75 mile hike follows a vaguely Y-shaped route to two outstanding viewpoints. There are ample opportunities for backcountry camping on this route. If you’re lucky, you may be joined on part of your hike by the famous House Mountain hiking goat!

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

The view from Goat Point on Big House Mountain. Below: Parking on this hike is limited and clearly marked; Early portions of the hike take place along a fire road through private property; Some nice views from the fire road.

Christine Says…

Like most hikers in Virginia, Adam and I are fans of Hiking Upward. It’s one of our primary resources for route information. We’ve been in touch with Bryce and Tony (the creators of HU) off and on the past few years. We had casually tossed around the idea of meeting up for a hike or backpacking trip, but our schedules never seemed to work out. Finally, in June, we found a date that suited everyone and made plans to meet up for a hike of House Mountain. The HU guys were working on updating information for the re-routed trail up Little House Mountain and we were hiking the area for the first time.

The morning started off gloomy and gray. I was a bit worried about missing out on views, but we got in the car and hoped for clearing skies. Everyone got to the trailhead around 8:30 a.m. We made our formal introductions and started the hike right away. Our hiking party was made up of Adam and me, Tony and Bryce (HU team), and two of Bryce’s friends from work – Wayne and Bharath. It was a great group to hike with and we all fell into easy conversation on the hike up.

The first couple miles of this route follow the Saddle Ridge Trail. This portion of the hike starts off as a gravel road and passes a number of private residences. After the first half mile, the route becomes more trail-ish and passes through shady woods. There is one decent view of rolling hills and field on the right side of the trail.

At about two miles in, you reach the saddle between the Big House and Little House summits. The saddle was historically a homestead and a fruit orchard before being turned over to public use. There is still plenty of open pasture space for tent camping in the saddle. Take a few minutes to read the informational signs about the area while you’re at the saddle. They provide information about the area’s history and the conservation efforts that made these trails possible.

Little House Trail — The Little House trail was recently re-routed to make the climb more gradual. Below: Christine and Adam at the trail board for the new route up Little House; Adam checks out the other informational board in the saddle between Big & Little House. You can see Big House in the background; The ascent of Little House is still pretty steep.

When we visited, we decided to hike Little House first. The trail to the summit is a recent re-route. The old trail was extremely steep, climbing straight up the mountainside without the amelioration of switchbacks. The new trail is still quite steep, but the switchbacks definitely ease the climbing. The trail was just blazed in spring of 2014, so if you hike anytime soon you’ll see plenty of fresh blue blazes marking the way.

We caught some nice views through the trees on the way up before finally gaining the ridge. The ridge made for more moderate walking and included lots of interesting rock formations. There were several small campsites along the ridge walk, too.

Eventually, we reached the end of the trail and a beautiful viewpoint. It was still pretty overcast, but the low clouds had lifted enough to give us a view of the valley below and surrounding mountains. We took time for a snack and a few photos before making our way back down to the saddle. On the return trip, Tony and Bharath decided to take the old trail back down. They beat us back to the saddle by a few minutes.

With everyone regrouped, we headed up the trail to the Big House summit. Within the first couple tenths of a mile, we passed the House Mountain backcountry shelter. It was a nice spot with a new privy and a side trail leading to a spring. We found the shelter stocked with lighter fluid, plastic silverware and other often-forgotten necessities. This hike would make a great beginner backpacking trip! You’d have a couple miles of hiking with a pack. But then you could set up camp and visit the two summits pack-free.

Most of the climb to Big House is along a rugged ATV trail. It’s straight up the mountainside until you reach one large switchback. At the switchback, look carefully for a very rocky, less-worn footpath departing the trail. Depending on the vegetation, this might be an easy spot to miss. If you take the switchback and continue the trail in that direction, you’ll just have a longer walk in the woods and no views.

View from Little House Mountain — Nice views from the summit of Little House Mountain. Below: Walking along the ridge was rocky; There were some interesting rock formations; We saw a small eastern box turtle.

We started scrambling up the rocks when all of a sudden a black and white animal wearing a red collar bounded out of the woods. At first, I thought it was another random hunting hound that was lost in the mountains. But no… it was a GOAT! She hiked with us the rest of the way to the viewpoint.

At the summit, she followed us around – begging for food and vigorously licking the salty sweat off our arms and legs. It was a hoot and we really enjoyed such a friendly and novel companion on the trail. We ate more snacks, took more photos and spent time hanging out with our new goat buddy.

On the hike down, the goat left us shortly after the switchback. She gave us several loud farewell bleats before she bounded back into the woods. The return hike to our car was all downhill, passing the saddle one last time before retracing our steps on the Saddle Ridge Trail. Near the end of the hike, we had the privilege of meeting Brian. He lives in one of the houses along the trail and is one of the primary people who works on building/maintaining the trails on these mountains. If you see him, be sure to say thanks!

At our cars, we decided to head into downtown Lexington for some post-hike food and beers! As Bryce put it ‘Every good hike should end in a pub!’ We had a good meal and more fun conversation at ‘The Palms’. It was mid-afternoon and not very crowded when we visited – probably a good thing to not subject too many fellow diners to the smell of dirty hikers. 🙂 After lunch, we made our farewells and parted ways. We had a great day and can’t wait to hit the trail with these guys again.

Adam Says…

It was great to finally meet up with Hiking Upward. We do most of our hiking with just the two of us, so there is always a little anxiety about hiking with new people. Because of all the miles they have covered, I wondered if we would be able to keep up or were going to get left in the dust of their hiking boots. Along with our pace, I also wondered what we’d talk about. However, within a few minutes, I knew we were quite the kindred spirits. We talked about many things from hiking experiences to favorite microbrews. As we were sharing some of our favorite trails, we were bringing up names of trails as if we were consulting maps. I guess when we all write these hiking entries, that knowledge sticks with us. I know this was the first of many adventures we will share together.

We started off from the parking lot (pay attention to the sign to know where to park and respect the boundaries). We made our way up the road and at .3 miles, you reach a gate that begins the official trailhead. Past the gate, you start a gradual ascent up a fire road, passing by a residence to the left. At 2.25 miles, you reach the saddle between Big and Little House Mountain and the junction between the two trails.

The Group on the Summit of Little House Mountain — It was great to meet the guys from Hiking Upward. Below: Another nice view from a different rocky outcropping on Little House; The old route up Little House was blocked by a bramble of sticks; Making the steep descent; A view through the trees along the trail.

We started off by hitting Little House Mountain first, taking a right at the information signs and following the blue-blazed trail. The trail starts off relatively flat, but as you round the mountain the trail is very narrow and requires you to be mindful of where you step. At 2.5 miles, the trail then begins to climb up the ridge very steeply and you begin a series of switchbacks until you gain the ridge at 3.1 miles. The trail at this point goes through a thick area of rhododendron and remains slightly flat or downhill until you reach the viewpoint. Along the way, you pass through some areas of larger rocks. At 3.6 miles, the trail opened up to breathtaking views. We paused here for a while to eat a snack and take some photos. There are a few different places to get views from the rocks nearby.

We made our way back to the junction and saddle area, which we reached at 5.0 miles. Now, it was time to take on Big House Mountain. We took the opposite trail at the junction (as you were originally climbing up the trail, it is the trail to the left), making our way through some grassy areas before the trail opened up. Within a short distance, we passed a nice overnight shelter to the right. This shelter had it all – there was a sleeping bag someone left behind and even some cans of Yuengling for someone else to enjoy (if warm beer is your thing). There was a privy building a short distance away. We noticed another blue-blazed trail, which we were told later (by Brian, the trail maintainer) leads to a water source.

After we passed the shelter, the trail opened up to a larger fire road again which kept up a steady, tough climb gaining 400 feet in .4 miles. The trail came to a junction with a switchback trail to the right that leads to the true summit of Big House Mountain, but the views are gained by staying straight on the trail. The trail becomes very rocky at this point and we were soon joined by our goat friend. Her nimbleness on the rocks amazed us and she led us to the rocky Goat Point viewpoint at 5.9 miles. There was an upper perch and a lower perch for taking in some of the gorgeous views. As I was heading to the lower outcropping, I spotted a geocache behind one of the rocks. As I was signing the log, the goat jumped down from the high perch, scaring me and almost making me fall down the mountainside. Be careful out there, especially when there are salt-craving goats waiting to pounce.

We Met a Goat — This cute goat joined us on the final climb to the summit of Big House Mountain. Below: The goat was a strong and agile climber; In the end, she mostly wanted food.

We headed back after taking in the views for a while (and being thoroughly licked by the goat). I will say that I think I was the favorite of the goat. This wasn’t the first time I had been amply licked by a goat while hiking – the other time was when we hiked the Massanutten Ridge trail. Maybe the salt from my sweat tasted the best or I was the most agreeable to being licked – I’m not sure. But, as we headed back down the goat followed us until we reached the rocky junction with the switchback to the summit. She stared at us from the top as if to beg us to come back to his place for more licking. We said our goodbyes to the goat and then made our way back. We reached the saddle junction again at 6.6 miles and made it back to our car at 8.75 miles.

Friendly Goat — She was a friendly goat! Below: More nice views from Big House summit; It was a hazy, mostly cloudy day; The goat liked the salt in Adam’s sweat.

If you are interested in geocaching, there are 17 different geocaches to find on the Little House Mountain and Big House Mountain trails. I won’t list them all here, but here are the two at the summits:

After we arrived back at our vehicles, we decided to hit The Palms in Lexington for some great food and a few beers. We had such a great day with our new friends! I can’t believe that we had not heard much about this hike before. This is a true gem of a hike with so many panoramic views!

Trail Notes

Distance – 8.75 miles
MapMyHike Stats*
Elevation Change – 2850 ft.
Difficulty – 4.5. There is some pretty serious climbing on this hike. Not many hikes of this length in Virginia have quite so much elevation gain.
Trail Conditions – 4. The trail was in great shape and the hard work put into maintaining this trail is evident. The newer trail to the summit of Little House Mountain is narrow and steep with some loose sections. We recommend a hiking stick or trekking poles to help keep yourself upright!
Views – 4.5. Gorgeous! I’d love to visit on a crystal clear fall day sometime!
Streams/Waterfalls – 0. None – but there is a small piped spring near the camping shelter.
Wildlife – 3. Any trail that has a wild(ish) goat gets a few wildlife bonus points!
Ease to Navigate – 4. The trails in this area are very well-marked. The one tricky spot might be finding the viewpoint on Big House Mountain. If you miss the rocky path departing the trail at the hairpin turn, you might miss the views altogether.
Solitude –3. We saw a fair number of hiking groups along the trail, but had both overlooks to ourselves.

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: From I-81, take the I-64 exit 191 toward Lexington/Charleston. Follow I-64 for six miles to exit 50 (US 60 East). Follow US 60 East for 2.2 miles, turn right on Route 639. Go .8 miles and bear left onto Route 638. Follow 638 for 1.1 miles. Turn right on Route 641, go 1.1 miles. Turn right onto Route 643. Parking is on the left side of the road in .3 miles. Make sure you follow the parking signs on private property.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Bear Church Rock – via Bootens Gap

July 19, 2014May 12, 20225 Comments

This 10.2 mile hike to Bear Church Rock from Bootens Gap (on Skyline Drive) is a great alternative to the route that begins down in the valley at Graves Mill. While this route doesn’t include the scenic Staunton River or the Jones Mountain Cabin, it crosses some of the deepest, least traveled parts of Shenandoah National Park. And in the end, you reach the same great viewpoint. While this route is a little longer than the alternative, it has less climbing and feels a little more moderate.

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

View from Bear Church Rock — The view from Bear Church Rock reveals nothing but wilderness. The Staunton River flows through the valley below. Below: The hike begins on the AT northbound at Bootens Gap; Christine passing large boulders on the Laurel Prong trail; Mountain laurel starting to bloom.

Adam Says…

Bear Church Rock really impressed us when we hiked it a few years ago, approaching it from Graves Mill. However, we were thinking it would be nice to take a different route that would be more accessible from Skyline Drive. This approach is a bit longer, but it has 400 fewer feet of elevation gain, making this an overall easier climb.

We started off from the Bootens Gap parking lot at Mile Marker 55 on Skyline Drive in the Central District of Shenandoah National Park. We took the Appalachian Trail from the parking lot, heading north. In .5 miles, we reached the junction with the Laurel Prong Trail. We took a right to join this trail. The Laurel Prong Trail ends up going through a relatively steep decline through a loose, rocky section. The trail eventually bottoms out and you reach a junction with the Cat Knob Trail at 1.5 miles. We took the Cat Knob Trail and began a steep incline. The trail hits another junction with the Jones Mountain Trail at 2.2 miles. Take a right on the Jones Mountain Trail. At this point, the trail is relatively flat or downhill for most of the way to Bear Church Rock. As you near your goal, you’ll see some pretty amazing standalone boulders along the trail. You will know you’re getting close to the viewpoint when the trail takes a sudden, precipitous downhill drop. At 5.1 miles, you will reached an unmarked side trail that takes you up a about ten feet through the laurels onto a large rock outcrop with majestic, wilderness views. Return the way you came to make this a 10.2 mile out-and-back.

Adam Hiking the Jones Mountain Trail — The Jones Mountain Trail traversed an expansive bed of lush, green ferns. Below: Adam climbs Cat Knob – one of the few steep portions of the trail; Park boundaries were well marked; One of many pink ladys slippers along the trail.

One thing to note on the trail is you do come across several times where the National Park crosses back and forth across boundary lines with the Rapidan Wildlife Management Area. You may see some US Boundary markers in several places that marks the portion that is under National Park control versus Virginia control.

When we reached the highest point of the Cat Knob Trail, we found the largest concentration of pink lady slippers I have ever seen. Everywhere we turned, we kept seeing more and more and they were at the peak of their bloom. That was such a nice reward by coming this route.

Many Lady's Slippers — Usually photos of lady’s slippers are close-ups. This wider shot gives a better idea how these wildflowers are situated in the forest. Below: The portion of the trail outside the park is blazed differently; The Rapidan Wildlife Management area; Adam makes the last final, steep descent to Bear Church Rock.

Somewhere along the Jones Mountain Trail as we were making our approach to Bear Church Rock, my knee buckled and gave me a lot of pain for the rest of the day. One hard part about hiking is if you get injured, you don’t have a lot of choice but to keep going. I stopped about .25 mile before we reached the summit and rested. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it all the way. Christine went ahead to scout the way and see how much further. Not wanting to be separated too long, I pushed myself onward and found her at the rock overlook. We stayed there to rest for a while and we had the rock all to ourselves. We were joined in about 20 minutes from a man from China who had come up the route from Graves Mill. He didn’t speak English and we heard him on his walkie-talkie talking to someone that we presumed to be his wife. We were guessing she was farther behind and he was assuring her he made it. The climb the other way is quite steep, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she had either turned around or was just taking longer to get to the rock.

The views were spectacular. While we had a bit of a cloudy day, it was nice to see the shadows from the clouds creeping along the mountain ridges in the distance.

We decided to make our way back. I felt like the time at the viewpoint allowed me to rest my knee enough to make the return trip. I was hobbling slowly, but I had to keep pushing forward. We got back to the car and I was glad to not have to take any more steps.

Christine Says…

It was National Trails Day, the weather was great – and even though neither of us was in the mood to go on a long car ride to a distant trailhead, we had to get out and hike! We settled on the hike from Skyline Drive to Bear Church Rock – mostly because it was close to home, but also because we’d never hiked it before. A few years ago, we hiked from the valley bottom in Graves Mill up to Bear Church Rock. That was a challenging and beautiful hike, so we thought it would be fun to visit the rock from the other approach.

From the parking lot at Bootens Gap, we headed north on the Appalachian Trail, gradually ascending Hazeltop Mountain. I was amazed by how lush and green everything in the park looked. It almost looked as green as the Smokies! Our last hike in the park had been in late April, before the leaves fully emerged. Spring always take a long time to fully arrive in the mountains.

After a short, easy stretch on the AT, we reached the junction with the Laurel Prong Trail. We turned right onto the trail and followed it downhill, over many rock jumbles along the shoulder of the mountain. In a saddle between two mountains, we reached the junction with the Cat Knob Trail.

Taking in the View at Bear Church — Adam takes in the view at Bear Church Rock. Below: You’ll pass these rock formations on the final descent to Bear Church; The rocks were covered with blooming mountain laurel; There were also lots of ripening blueberries.

That trail climbed steeply over Cat Knob before reaching the junction with the Jones Mountain Trail. The Jones Mountain trail bears to the right. This section of trail actually departs Shenandoah National Park and enters the Rapidan Wildlife Management Area. You’ll notice park boundary signs and different orange/red blazes (as opposed to Shenandoah’s blue blazes) when you’re on this part of the hike.

This section of trail is incredibly beautiful! We enjoyed the expansive understory of ferns and countless pink lady’s slippers. The mountain laurel was just starting to bloom. The terrain along the Jones Mountain trail was rolling – lots of ups and downs, none of them too steep. This route to Bear Church is probably less popular than the route from Graves Mill, so the trail was narrow and overgrown. Tall grasses brushed our legs all along the way. Adam said, “All I can think of is ticks. I feel like I’m crawling with them!’ Luckily, the permethrin we’ve been using on our clothes and gear really seems to be working. Neither of us found any ticks during a thorough post-hike check.

Around 4.9 miles into the hike, the trail took an incredibly steep downward turn. We lost about 200 feet of elevation in just over a couple tenths of a mile. We passed a few rocky outcroppings that looked like they might potentially have views, but they all turned out to be obscured by trees. Watch carefully for the spur trail to Bear Church Rock. It’s not a marked spur, so one could easily miss it.

On the hike, Adam had begun to wonder if we passed the view or if maybe it had been closed in by trees. I told him that it was a really open, spectacular view and that it had to be nearby. I told him I’d scout ahead and shout back if I found it. I ended up walking almost another half mile before I reached the spur trail! The distances in our guidebook were way off on describing the last mile of the hike to the viewpoint. Other sources I checked afterwards all put the distance anywhere between 9.5 and 11 (rather than the 8.5 miles indicated by our book).

Lush Green — Everything was so abundant and green on this pretty June day. Below: Adam makes the steep ascent on the return from Bear Church Rock. Fortunately it is only this steep for a short time; Coming off Cat Knob; We spotted a doe and fawn in the understory. The fawn was pretty well hidden.

There was a large hiking group on the rock, so I felt weird about shouting for Adam. They told me they were headed out the way we came and would send Adam down when they passed him. But, just as the final hiker departed, Adam arrived.

We had lunch on the rock and enjoyed the unspoiled, pristine views of the park. One of the nice things about Bear Church is that you really don’t see civilization from the viewpoint. You get great views of Fork Mountain, Cat Knob and the Staunton River Valley – but no roads or houses or farms. It’s beautiful! The mountain laurel around the rocky viewpoint were in full bloom and quite spectacular!

After a nice rest, we hiked back the way we came. Most of the return trip was uphill, but other than a short section of climbing right after leaving Bear Church it was very moderate, gradual climbing. The last little bit along the AT was smooth downhill. We saw a doe and fawn hiding in the ferns right before we got back to the car. Once we were back in the car, we decided to head up to Big Meadows for blackberry milkshakes (yay!) and to say hello to our PATC friends. We were glad to catch up with the pair of PATC volunteers who led our Backpacking 101 course several years ago. Good day!

Trail Notes

Distance – 10.2 miles
Elevation Change – About 1800 feet
Difficulty – 4. The climb down and back up are not overly tough, but the distance gives it an above average difficulty.
Trail Conditions – 2.5. The rocky slope climbing down the Laurel Prong trail did have some loose rock. The Jones Mountain Trail was quite overgrown along the way and we were walking through a lot of knee-high grassy areas. Wear bug spray and check for ticks afterwards.
Views– 5. Great mountain views from Bear Church Rock.
Streams/Waterfalls – 0. Non-existent.
Wildlife – 2. We didn’t really see much wildlife on this trail. We thought much of it would be a great place to spot a bear since it is in a very wide part of Shenandoah National Park and not as well-traveled.
Ease to Navigate – 3. You do take four different trails to get to Bear Church Rock, so pay attention at the junction markers.
Solitude – 3. Most of the people we saw on the trail were on the Laurel Prong portion (typically making their way to the Rapidan Camp). I would expect that you would see someone at Bear Church Rock.

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: Follow Skyline Drive to mile marker 55. Park at the Bootens Gap parking area on the east side of the drive. The AT departs from the end of the parking lot.

Strickler Knob – via Massanutten Trailhead

June 1, 2014August 26, 20158 Comments

This 9.1 mile hike is challenging, but offers wonderful view payoffs and a fun rock scramble. There is a shorter option for this hike for people wanting to skip the toughest part of the climb.

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Crowds on Strickler Knob — Crowds gather on one of Strickler Knob’s perches. One person we met at the summit had a Cavalier King Charles spaniel in her backpack. If you look closely at the photo, you can see the dog’s head sticking out of the pack. Cute! Below: The Massanutten Trailhead on Crisman Hollow Rd.; Adam, Suzanne and Anthony begin the hike; Native pink azaleas.

Christine Says…

Strickler Knob was the second hike we posted on Virginia Trail Guide… way back in May of 2009. In the years since we first did this hike, there was a bad forest fire in the vicinity, the Forest Service painted over the purple/pink blazes to the knob (and then someone put them back), and the trail became vastly more popular.

On this particularly beautiful morning, we were planning a hike in Shenandoah National Park, but at 7:45 a.m. a text popped up on my phone. It was from our friends, Suzanne and Anthony (we met them at PATC’s Backpacking 101 workshop several years ago). They had made a spur of the moment decision to drive down from Maryland to hike Strickler Knob and wondered if we might want to join them. We don’t see them often enough, so the answer was clearly YES!

However, I had a few concerns going into the hike. The first was the possibility of swift/deep streams and run off from the deluge of rain we had received a day earlier. Roads and bridges were washed out all over the area. The second was the fact that the MMT 100 was being run that weekend. I wasn’t sure if the trail would be crowded or have limited access due to the race. We decided to put those concerns aside and go for it.

We met our friends at the defunct Massanutten Visitor’s Center on Rt. 211 near Luray. From there, we proceeded in one car to the Massanutten Trailhead on Crisman Hollow Rd. Right as we arrived, a carload of six was also unloading at the trailhead. We ended up playing leap frog with them along the trail all day long.

Lady's Slipper — We spotted this beautiful pink lady’s slipper orchid along the trail. Below: Anthony and Suzanne make the steep descent of Waterfall Mountain; Mountain laurel is starting to bloom; Streams were running high.

The trail initially crossed a flat, open area and a view into the valley. But soon, the trail dropped very steeply downhill on Waterfall Mountain. I’m not really sure why it’s called Waterfall Mountain. We didn’t see any waterfalls along the way – maybe they’re someplace else, or maybe ‘waterfall’ just refers to the extremely quick drop in elevation. Along this section of trail, we all joked about what a tough climb uphill this would be at the end of the day. I enjoyed the flowers blooming along the trail. We spotted mountain laurel starting to bud and even a pink lady’s slipper!

Eventually the trail leveled out near a stream. We passed a large campsite near the water just before coming to our first stream crossing. The water was pretty high and fast, but some well-placed logs made the crossing doable. From there, the trail followed a series of ascents and descents with lots of little stream crossings along the way. Most of the small stream crossings are probably dry under normal circumstances. We soon came to a second large stream crossing. After that crossing, the trail followed the stream – literally. Due to the 4-5 inches of rain the area experienced, the trail was completely underwater. It didn’t even look like a trail, and the only way we were sure it was the trail was the presence of a blaze on a tree about 50 yards ahead. We walked for more than a mile in ankle deep water. It was fun, but it was also wet, sloppy and muddy!

We reached trail junction 408. This is where the folks coming up from Scothorn Gap join the trail. At this point, we turned right and followed the orange-blazed Massanutten Trail uphill in the direction of the Gap Creek Trail. This part of the trail is really easy – wide and very gently graded. There were lots of pink native azaleas on one side of the trail. On the other side, the area burned out by a forest fire stood, charred – but slowly growing back.

When we reached the ridge, there was an obstructed view where the trail continues over the crest and then downhill. If you find yourself going downhill on the orange-blazed trail, you’ve passed the turn to Strickler Knob! At the top of the ridge, look carefully for purple/pink blazes on rocks and a reddish disk stapled to a tree. This is the way to Strickler Knob.

The walk to the knob starts off as a rocky but easily passable trail. But gradually the rocks become bigger, more jagged and trickier to traverse. It’s easy to lose the blazes as you pick your way along the rocks. You’ll come to one stunning viewpoint and think you’ve reached the end, but you still have the most intense part of the scramble to go! There are several steep, tall rock faces to negotiate before you finally come to a collection of towering rock stacks overlooking the Page Valley, Fort Valley and the Shenandoah River. The view from the knob is majestic!

On this particular day, Strickler Knob was packed. There were so many people at the overlook, it was hard to find a spot to sit. I think part of it was because the presence of two hiking clubs. But in addition to the clubs, there were also a number of couples and foursomes. Honestly, I’m shocked that this trail has become so popular! The crowds rivaled what I expect to see on a nice day on trails like Dark Hollow Falls or Hawksbill Mountain (in SNP).

We spent some time at the overlook eating lunch and taking photos. The hike back went really quickly. We walked in the water, we crossed the streams, we did all the little ascents and descents… and then we came to the base of Waterfall Mountain.

That climb was every bit as brutal as we all expected – gaining over 800 feet in about half a mile. The section isn’t climbed with mediating steps or switchbacks – it’s pretty much straight up the mountainside. We were all pretty glad when we got back to the flat, grassy section again!

When we got back to the car, the parking lot was much more crowded than when we had left it. We made the short drive back to the Massanutten Visitor’s Center and bid farewell to Anthony and Suzanne. It was a great hike and great to see them!

Burned Area — This area was burned by a forest fire several years ago. There is still a lot of black char, but new growth is starting to emerge. Below: The beginning of the Strickler Knob trail; Adam enjoys the first nice view; The scramble begins!

Between the two routes to Strickler Knob, I would probably recommend the shorter route from Scothorn Gap to most hikers. You get all of the excellent scenery, and only miss the extremely challenging descent/ascent of Waterfall Mountain. The section on Waterfall Mountain doesn’t really offer any remarkable scenery, but it’s a great training hike if you’re looking for a cardio challenge or practice on elevation change. We probably benefited from the longer, tougher ascent to prepare for our upcoming Smokies Trip.

Adam Says…

Normally, when I describe the hike to Strickler Knob, I tell people that it’s an introductory rock-scrambling hike to see if you are ready for Old Rag. While there is not as much rock-scrambling and navigating as Old Rag, there are a few spots towards the summit that will test you enough to see if you can pull yourself up some of the rocks and let you gauge your comfort-level with scrambling over some drops. If you’ve already done Old Rag, this should be easy, but if you are intimidated by Old Rag from stories you’ve heard, try Strickler Knob first. I would agree with Christine that this hike has become more popular over recent years. When we had done the hike five years ago on a beautiful day, we only ran into one other couple on the entire trail; this time, it was crawling with people.

This is also a hike where people often get lost. You won’t find the purple-blazed summit trail on any maps currently, so I would suggest bringing a copy of the map I’ve provided below. I had a co-worker that tried to find the trail a few years ago (possibly when the blazes were still removed) to no luck. We also came across a larger hiking group from Northern Virginia that had missed the trail completely. When we gave them better directions, they turned around to attempt it again. Part of this also has to do with what few blazes are actually on the trail. You’ll know you are on a trail, you may just not be entirely sure which trail.

We started off the hike from the small parking area on Crisman Hollow Road. The orange-blazed Massanutten trail starts off on nice, level terrain through a wooded area. The trail soon opens up to more of a brushy, open field. As the trail winds around through this area, there is even one spot that has a view into the valley below at .2 miles. Shortly after this point as the trail winds around, the trail begins its very steep descent down Waterfall Mountain at .5 miles. The entire time that we were hiking down, I was thinking this was going to be a pain to hike back up at the end of the hike. The trail does have a few switchbacks, but the overall descent is tough on the knees as you descend about 800 feet in that half mile. At the 1.0 mile marker, we finally reached the bottom of the descent and a junction with the Massanutten Connector Trail. Take a left at this junction to stay on the main, orange-blazed Massanutten trail. The trail begins to climb slightly at this point and at 1.2 miles, you will reach a nice back-country campsite along the side of the Big Run stream. You’ll soon cross the stream (usually by balancing yourself along logs that have been laid across) and continue your climb. After the second stream crossing, the trail begins a steeper climb with a large switchback to help ease the elevation gain.

Summit Crowd — The summit was very crowded, but the views were still fantastic!

Eventually the trail met the stream again and due to the heavy rains, the trail was completely submerged. We ended up hiking what felt like almost a mile through a submerged trail by rock-hopping or just getting our feet wet and muddy. The trail finally separated from the water and leveled out and we reached the junction with the yellow-blazed Scothorn Gap trail at 3.0 miles. Take a right at this junction to stay on the orange-blazed Massanutten trail. The trail feels more like a fire road at this point, as you’ll climb up slightly. We were able to see a lot of the fire damage to the trees around, so there is little more than some lower brushy, understory on the trail at this point. At 3.6 miles, you reach the crest of the trail and can see some obstructed views straight ahead. At this point, look around to your right. We found a small cairn on the ground and were able to see some red and purple blazes higher than eye-level on a few trees to mark the beginning of the purple-blazed trail to the summit of Strickler Knob. The purple blazes at this point are typically marked on the rocks where you step. The trail is very rocky at this point and you will be walking the ridgeline until you reach the summit. The trail can also be a little hard to follow, but if you keep looking for the blazes and just remember you are walking the crest of the ridge, you should be fine.

At 4.2 miles, you reach a very nice viewpoint where you can get great views to the west. Keep pressing forward and you’ll soon need to climb up a larger rock wall and then pass by a primitive campsite. Just a few 100 feet away, you will reach the larger boulders of Strickler Knob at 4.5 miles. You’ll see a large rock overhang that you’ll climb under. There is a small area to take in a few views to the right. For those that are most adventurous, the best views are to the left where the overhang is. If you feel comfortable, you will need to navigate a crack between the two larger rock formations and hoist yourself up to the top of the rocks. The views from both rock formations are absolutely breathtaking as you have 360-degree views from all around the valley.

Climbing Down — The climb down is as challenging as the climb up! Below: More views from the top; The hike down; One final stream crossing.

After eating a packed lunch, we made our way back the way we came. We did have to face the waterlogged trail again. We came across several groups on our way back that were also looking for directions. One girl asked me if there was any other way back to the car other than going back up Waterfall Mountain. I suggested that they make their way back through Scothorn Gap and then walk Crisman Hollow Road back. We all definitely wished we didn’t have that steep trek back up Waterfall Mountain to do. It is a very steep trail almost straight up the mountain and it takes quite an athlete to do this without taking a breather at some point on the return. When we finally reached the top, we congratulated our success and then made the last .5 miles back to our car.

When we were hiking the trail, I kept thinking about the MMT 100 racers that were running this trail. We had come across one of the race-workers and he told us that most of the fast runners were coming through this area near Waterfall Mountain around 8 p.m. So, if you were a little slower than that you would be running this trail in the dark with a headlamp. I can’t even imagine how tough this would be and how any of them would escape injury from running into a tree, twisting an ankle, or falling down the trail.

Brutal — The brutal ascent back up Waterfall Mountain at the end of the hike.

I would also recommend for most people to do the hike from Scothorn Gap instead of the route we took. It is a lot of extra effort with nothing overly impressive to see along the way.

It was great to see our friends again. We were all getting ready to head to the Great Smoky Mountains soon, so this was great training before we had to handle some of the tougher terrain that the park had to offer.

Trail Notes

Distance – 9.1 miles
Elevation Change – About 2250 ft.
Difficulty – 5. This rating is earned by both the hike length, the scramble to the knob, and the ascent of Waterfall Mountain that comes right at the end of the hike. For an easier version of this hike, start at Scothorn Gap.
Trail Conditions – 2. No switchbacks, soggy streambeds, a couple crossings that can be challenging in wet weather, and a tough scramble. This is not a beginner’s hike.
Views – 5. Views from the knob are spectacular.
Streams/Waterfalls – 2.5. The usually low streams were beautiful and running high when we visited, but they’re probably usually less impressive.
Wildlife – 0. This trail is popular enough to scare away most wildlife.
Ease to Navigate – 2. Trails are sporadically blazed and can be hard to follow. The junctions for trails leading to to the knob do not mention Strickler Knob. We suggest bringing a map on this hike.
Solitude – 2. This trail has become extremely popular!

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: From I-81, take exit 264 heading east through New Market. Head east on West Old Cross Road for .2 miles. Turn left on to US-11/N. Congress Street. In .3 miles, turn right on to US-211/Lee Highway. Go 3.6 miles and turn left on to Crisman Hollow Road (it is right before the green building on your right that is the Massanutten Visitors Center). Follow Crisman Hollow Road for 2.2 miles (passing by the parking lot for the Massanutten Storybook Trail) until you reach where the orange-blazed Massanutten Mountain Trail crosses the road and the small parking area. Park here, cross the road and start the trail.