Top Trails: Shenandoah National Park. Johnny Molloy
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the best and worst conditions for the trails you plan to hike.
Difficulty
Every trail has an overall difficulty rating on a scale of 1–5, which takes into consideration length, elevation change, exposure, trail quality, etc., to create one (admittedly subjective) rating.
The ratings assume you are an able-bodied adult in reasonably good shape, using the trail for hiking. The ratings also assume normal weather conditions—clear and dry.
Readers should make an honest assessment of their own abilities and adjust time estimates accordingly. Also, rain, snow, heat, wind, and poor visibility can all affect your pace on even the easiest of trails.
The Elevation Factor
Cumulative Elevation Gain and Loss
The at-a-glance info in the margin of each Top Trails entry includes a pair of numbers labeled Vertical Feet. The numbers represent the total gain and/or total loss of altitude as you negotiate the trail’s ascents and descents between the beginning and ending points of the hike.
For hikes that start and end at the same spot—that is, a loop or an out-and-back trail—the elevation gain matches the elevation loss because you’re essentially retracing your route. (Exceptions—which are reflected in the numbers—might include, for instance, an optional spur that you take outbound but not inbound.)
1 A short trail, generally level, that can be completed in 1 hour or less.
2 A route of 1–3 miles, with some ups and downs, that can be completed in 1–2 hours.
3 A longer route, up to 5 miles, with some uphill and/or downhill sections.
4 A long or steep route—perhaps more than 5 miles or with climbs of more than 1,000 vertical feet.
5 The most demanding route: both long and steep and more than 5 miles long, with climbs of more than 1,000 vertical feet.
With a point-to-point, or one-way, route, the elevation gain and loss will most likely differ. In either case, for matching or differing figures, the author provides both sets of numbers, preceded by a plus or minus sign.
Example: Picture an out-and-back trail that starts at 1,500', climbs to 1,700', descends to 1,500', and climbs to 2,800' at the turnaround point. The hiker reverses course and descends 1,300', climbs 200', and descends 200'. Coming and going, the elevation gain and elevation loss each total 1,300', represented as Vertical Feet: +1,300'/–1,300' for this hike. If, however, at that 2,800' turnaround point, the hiker has arranged for a shuttle and this is a point-to-point hike, then the cumulative elevation change would be +1,500'/–200'.
Elevation Profile
To show these incremental ups and downs, each Top Trails entry includes an elevation profile. This graphic element provides a visual guide to the rises and falls you can expect along the hike. For example, one trail’s cumulative elevation may total +1,300'/–1,300', and the elevation profile shows that the gain and loss occur as you climb and descend only one peak. Another trail’s cumulative elevation may be identical (that is, +1,300'/–1,300'), but its elevation profile may reveal many small rises and falls all along the trail to reach that total.
Thus, you’ll want to review both the cumulative elevation number(s) and the elevation profile to know whether your climbs and descents will be many small ones or a few long and arduous ones.
Introduction to Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park is a scenic mountain haven of the Eastern Seaboard, a glittering jewel in the Appalachian range. What makes Shenandoah so special? First, consider panoramic views from overlooks scattered along lofty Skyline Drive, which runs the length of this 300-square-mile sanctuary. Beyond Skyline Drive lies another Shenandoah, where bears furtively roam the hollows and brook trout ply the tumbling streams. Quartz, granite, and greenstone outcrops jut above the diverse forest, allowing far-flung views of the Blue Ridge and surrounding Shenandoah Valley.
You must reach this other Shenandoah, beyond Skyline Drive, by foot. The rewards increase with every footfall beneath the stately oaks of the ridgetops and in the deep canyons where waterfalls roar among old-growth trees spared by the logger’s axe. In some places your footsteps lead past what once were pioneer farms. These homesites reveal another era of Shenandoah. This rich cultural history found settlers squeezed into the narrow valleys and apple orchards lining grassy fields atop the ridges, where lives were made in the craggy Appalachian highlands.
This meld of natural and cultural history is fitting in Virginia, where so much of this country’s story has been played out, from the battles of the American Revolution and Civil War to battles in Congress regarding the very establishment of this park. Since its inception, Shenandoah National Park has also seen the cutting down and reforestation of the park, the building of Skyline Drive, the return of the deer and bears, and the invasion of exotic pests that threaten the mountain trees. It has seen park facilities built, fall to disrepair, and become new again. And through it all, Shenandoah has shone.
Shenandoah National Park continues to undergo changes. And in nature, changes come quickly—as in the Rocky Mount Fire of 2016, the prescribed burns to preserve Big Meadows, or the thousand-year flood of 1995. But changes also come slowly, such as the recovery from the gypsy moth infestation of the 1990s and the demise of the hemlock at the hands of the hemlock woolly adelgid in the early 2000s. In any case, Shenandoah continues to display its mountain beauty and come back better than ever. Air quality continues to improve since a low point in the 1970s, allowing for more extensive views year-round.
Choosing Shenandoah as a place to spend your free time is a wise decision. And yet the park can be intimidating, especially for the first-time visitor. Not only are there hundreds of miles of trails running like veins down and along a narrow mountain spine, but with millions of guests annually, Shenandoah National Park is a heavily visited destination—quite intimidating indeed. This book was conceived to make the backcountry majesty of Shenandoah more accessible to visitors.
With this national park’s many trails and people, discovering its beauty and solitude can be a hit-or-miss proposition. Where are the spectacular vistas? Where are the waterfalls and the old settlers’ homesites? Where can I find solitude? Leaving it all to chance doesn’t offer good odds for an all-too-brief vacation from the rat race. Weeks spent daydreaming of a fleeting slice of freedom could culminate in a 3-hour driving marathon or a noisy walk up a crowded trail. Fortunately, with this book and a little bit of planning and forethought, you can make the most of your national park experience.
May this book be as beneficial to your Shenandoah experience as it has been to mine. I’ve been hiking Shenandoah since the 1980s and have had a Shenandoah guide in print since 1998, with multiple updated and improved editions, including the one in your hand. Penning and then updating this guide for Wilderness Press gave me the chance to rehike all the trails and write another guide to what I think is one of the most beautiful places in the United States. You’ll find this very accessible book a marked improvement over my previous Shenandoah guides, and further improved for this latest edition.
This guide presents 50 hikes with plenty of variety. The majority steer you toward the most scenic areas, giving you the opportunity to enjoy your time on the trail instead of behind someone else’s