A week ago I met up with some college friends and their significant others at Shenandoah National Park. This was part of a yearly tradition of week-long trips to national parks. Due to life events and Covid, it has been on hiatus since 2019 and it was great to get back into it. This year, three of us flew in to Baltimore and drove three hours to the park to stay at Big Meadows Campground. The other half of the crew met us for the weekend. Over four full days, we scrambled up rocks, tested our knees to their limit and saw the start of the changing of leaves. We didn’t intend to plan this trip during peak season, but I’m sure glad we did!
Best Warm Up Hike
Bearfence Loop Trail
After checking out the visitor’s center and having the ranger give us some hiking recommendations, we decided to warm up on the Bearfence Loop Trail. The goal is a 360 and 180 degree overlook and our trail options included a rock scramble. This would end up being the best warm up hike for our time in Shenandoah National Park. Taking advantage of an afternoon that forecasted rain, but remained partly cloudy, we took off ready to see what the park had to offer.
From the Bearfence Parking lot, we crossed the road to the trailhead. At the intersection we went straight, heading towards the two viewpoints. We had a good amount of rock scramble, but nothing we couldn’t handle. The rest of the trail was ups and downs and a rocky/muddy bottom. After the second viewpoint, we walked south a bit until the next intersection and turned right (west) onto the Appalachian Trail where it looped us back to the parking lot. We saw a few people on the trail and one large group. Besides that, we had the place to ourselves to enjoy the beautiful view. Although the leaves were not at their peak, you could tell the reds were trying to push through.
Best Waterfall Hike
Dark Hollow Falls
After a full body warm up on the Bearfence trail, we wanted to squeeze in one more hike before darkness fell. Since we were staying at Big Meadows Campground, there were a variety to choose from starting within the Big Meadows Area. We chose the Dark Hollow Falls since it did not allow pets and friends with a dog would be meeting us later on in the week. The description on the back of the map was pretty accurate. It consisted of 1.5 mile roundtrip hike that was steep and rocky.
Best Full Day Hike
Old Rag
I surprisingly never went to Shenandoah when I lived in Baltimore, but when I heard about people who did, they always mentioned Old Rag. So when we decided this was the destination for the year, this trail was on my list of to-dos. The ranger had given us a good run through of how to get there and what to expect on the trail. We would have to drive out of the park and around to a different entrance. It isn’t an official national park entrance, but a specific entrance for the Old Rag Area. It would take about 45 minute to leave the park from the campsite from the north entrance. We would wind our way through Sperryville and through a few private properties. Thankfully it is well marked once we got closer to the parking area.
We would need to register for a day use ticket ($1/person) since they limit the number of people per day on the trail. One would think they would limit the number of people during a certain time period, but the tickets are valid from midnight to midnight.
The recommended loop path is starting on the Ridge Trail to reach the peak and then coming down the Saddle Trail and meeting Weakly Hollow Fire Road to get back towards the parking area. The ranger had said she started the hike at 9:30 a.m. and finished around 3:30 p.m. which is exactly the same start and end times we had.
Before starting the hike we had to stop for coffee in Sperryville, we stopped at the only coffee shop that was open at 8 a.m. which was Before and After. I had a delicious lavender latte and a ginger scone. To get to the summit was a fun rock scramble with a mix of technical areas and steps. After the summit is a regular ole trail, but because it was so long we were ready to be over with it. As a treat we stopped at Pen Druid Brewing and Rappahannock Pizza in Sperryville on our way back.
Best Historic Hike
Rapidan Camp
Every park has as story. Before Shenandoah became a national park, President Hoover created a presidential retreat in the mountains known as Rapidan Camp. While waiting for some friends to join us for the afternoon, we squeezed in this two to three hour hike. The ranger would be there from 10 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and we started out to try to catch the program. We parked at Milam Gap parking and took the Mill Prong Trail to the Horse Trail and arrived at the camp at 11:00 a.m. just in time to hear his talk and to open up the “Brown House” for us to view. Fun Fact: Hoover’s cabin was called the Brown House as an ode to the White House in D.C. and his Red House in London.
Best Variety Hike
Rose River Falls
Once our friends arrived and set up camp, it was time to hit the trail again. We had two trails that we could do, each with different options for loop and out and backs. Based on the time of day and location we decided to hit the Rose River Falls Loop Trail. We parked at the Fishers Gap Overlook and crossed the road to the trailhead.
The ranger had suggest we take the loop in a clockwise direction. However, we weren’t paying attention (too busy catching up with each other!) and accidentally took Rose River Fire Road (horse trail) which led to the other side of Dark Hollow Falls that we had done the first day! No biggie. We did the trail in the counterclockwise direction and we’ll never know which way was more difficult. There were ups, downs, rocks, gravel, and mud. What more could we ask for?
Best Viewing Platform Hike
Hawksbill
Before heading back towards Baltimore on our last day, we woke up early to get another couple of hours of hiking in. The last recommended hike was at the Hawksbill Area. We parked at the Hawksbill Gap Parking and took the connector trail north to do the loop in the counterclockwise direction. We walked along the Appalachian Trail and slithered along the Salamander Trail up to the Hawksbill Viewing Platform. On our way down and back to the parking lot, we took the Lower Hawksbill Trail. This was the perfect distance/time for a morning hike and it was the only trail that no one said “I’m so over this hike.” However, it was also very steep to get back to the parking lot…my feet were officially sore afterwards.
