Mary's Rock

Mary's Rock is without a doubt the shortest hike for the best view. A mere 2.2 miles round-trip, you arrive at the top for a 360 degree view of Shenandoah National Park. To get to the trailhead, you must pay a fee. Last I checked it was $15 to get in for seven days, but a year long pass is still just $30.

To get there, take I-66 west and exit at 43 onto US-29 southbound, toward Gainesville. Stay on US-29 southbound for about 13 miles until you begin to come up to Warrenton. As you approach Warrenton, the road will get wider and if you stay to the right where US-29 joins US-211. You want to stay on US-211 through Warrenton and then right back out of Warrenton. You will follow US-211 for about twenty-nine miles to Thornton Gap. The last section of this road will lead you up the side of the Shenandoah Mountains through a series of awesome switchbacks until you reach the top where US-211 intersects with Skyline Drive.

Get on Skyline Drive heading south, after paying the outrageous park fee. You will go through a tunnel and then past three scenic views on your left until you reach a parking lot that does NOT have a scenic view. This parking lot is actually for another trail but if you cross the road and and walk south about 100 feet, on the right you will see the trailhead for Mary's Rock.

The first part of the trail is blue blazed for 0.6 miles. You will pass a destroyed building that says no camping and eventually reach an intersection with the Appalachian Trail. Take a right and follow the ridge for another half a mile when you will see another trail marker and a spur trail to your left that is a straight path up to summit. So easy!


Mary's Rock Sugarloaf Mountain

Sugarloaf Mountain is a privately owned mountain that is open to the public for the summer. There is no fee to get to the mountain but you should check that it is open before heading out there because it does close for the winter. It is also an incredibly easy hike with a great reward at the top. It does have a bit of a climb that is assisted with a staircase and there is usually a pretty big crowd at the top, too, so this is not a hike for solitude.

To get to Sugarloaf, head on I-270 northbound from I-495. Continue until I-270 narrows into a four lane highway and get off at Exit 22. At the bottom of the ramp, take a right onto MD-109, also known as Old Hundred Road. Continue on this road for about two miles until you come to Comus Road. There will be the Comus Inn on your right. Also on your right is a farmers market if you are so interested.

Head on Comus Road for between two and three miles until you reach a stop sign in the road and an open parking lot-like area. You can go straight, left, hard right or soft right. If the Mountain is not open, the soft right will be closed. Do not be tempted to take the hard right. It will take you nowhere. Follow the road up the side of the mountain until you reach the large parking lot at the top. There you will find the entrance to the short hike up to the view seen below.


Sugarloaf Mountain Old Rag

Old Rag is probably the most popular hike in Virginia. However, it is in a portion of the Shenandoah National Park that has a fee. Last I checked it was $15 to get in for seven days, but a year long pass is still just $30. The park service has also closed the parking lot that is closer to the trail head in favor of having people park at a field that adds another mile to the hike.

But to get there, take I-66 west and exit at 43 onto US-29 southbound, toward Gainesville. Stay on US-29 southbound for about 13 miles until you begin to come up to Warrenton. As you approach Warrenton, the road will get wider and if you stay to the right where US-29 joins US-211. You want to stay on US-211 through Warrenton and then right back out of Warrenton. You will follow US-211 for 28 miles until you reach Sperryville. You will know you are in Sperryville because the road will change from four lane divided to two lane non-divided highway. Right after that change in the road, take a left to continue onto US-522 which will lead you through downtown Sperryville. Continue on US-522 for half a mile until you arrive at VA-231, also known as F.T. Valley Road, on your right, which you will take for about seven miles. When you see County Road 707, also known as Sharp Rock Road. When County Road 707 turns right and you see State Route 600 on your left, turn left onto State Route 600. Once on State Route 600, you will see the parking lot on your left because the park service blocks the road and forces you into the parking lot.

The hike itself can either be a 7.2 mile loop or a 5 mile in and out. I recommend the loop because you get to do a lot of scrambling on rocks to get up. To do the loop, you take a trailhead that starts at the upper parking lot -- which is now closed. The in and out trail starts a little farther back and you will know that you are on it because you will cross a stream on a bridge first. After taking a fire road for a few miles, you will reach a juncture and take a trail to the left that heads to the summit. This is really boring.

The loop, though, is much better. It starts out flat and a little boring but it gradually gets steeper and eventually you will start to have to work your way through climbing up rocks and then worming your way through holes in those same rocks. The views at the top continue for the last several miles of the trail. Be sure to be prepared for the fact that the top of the mountain is cooler than the parking area and will be windy. Also plan to take about six hours to do the whole hike, and perhaps longer if there are a lot of people at the parking lot who will back up the trail. But there is a reason that it is the most popular hike in Virginia.

Wolf Gap

The Wolf Gap Recreation Area is the trail head to two great hikes: Tibbets Knob and Big Schloss. The former is a hike for solitude, the latter has a better view but is more popular. There is also camping here when the park is open.

To get to Wolf Gap, which is situated on the border between Virginia and West Virginia, head out to I-81 and Exit 279 to Woodstock. However you are going to head west on VA-42, away from Woodstock. After about five miles you will pass a church on your right and you will cross a stream and you will see State Route 675, also known as Wolf Grap Road. Wolf Gap Road will cross the same stream again and take a left and parallel the same stream.

You will see several forks in the road but it is not until you see one that leads Wolf Gap Road, aka State Route 675, to the right. There will be a green sign that says Wolf Gap and points to the right. Continue on Wolf Gap Road until you arrive at the Wolf Gap Recreation Area. You will know that you've gone too far if you see a sign that says "Welcome to West Virginia".

Once you are at the parking lot, you can stay on that side of Wolf Gap Road and go to the trail head for Big Schloss or you can cross the road and go to the trail head for Tibbet Knob. Tibbet Knob is about three miles of easy hiking and has a big of climbing to get to the top and as said before provides lots of solitude. Big Schloss, on the other hand, is four miles that starts out straight up on a fire trail. Once you get to the top of the ridge it is another three miles of views until you reach a white blazed spur that will bring you to a 360 degree panoramic view called Big Schloss.

Warning: Use these directions in combination with a road map, a topographical map, and a weather report to ensure that you know where you are going and that you can arrive at your destination safely.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Any instructions provided in this essay are provided as-is with no warranty whatsoever and the author bears no liability resulting from any and all uses of this work. Use at your own risk.

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