West Virginia's Dolly Sods Wilderness might be the most popular hiking and backpacking destination in the state. The Wilderness offers more than 17,000 acres with nearly 50 miles of trails. The area is comprised of a high plateau with elevations reaching over 4,000'. Red Creek carves out the center of the Wilderness with long ridges rising above the valley.
Despite living in West Virginia for more than a year, I only recently visited the Wilderness for the first time. It's more surprising that it took me so long to check out the area since I live only about an hour from the southern access point at the Red Creek Trailhead. If you regularly read my website, you'll know I had good reason. I have backpacked about 1,400 miles in that time, much of it out of state, so my focus wasn't too much on local day hikes.
As the summer rolled into August, I finally decided to hit the Dolly Sods. Even though there are great opportunities for backpacking trips, I decided to make my first trip a day hike. I planned on hiking to two popular rock outcroppings in the southern end of the Dolly Sods, Lion's Head and Rohrbaugh Cliffs.
I set out on August 7th for the Red Creek Trailhead. This trailhead sits at the southwest corner of the Wilderness between Canaan Valley and Harman, WV. Arriving from the West, this trailhead requires very little travel off the paved road. I believe this is also the low point of the Wilderness where Red Creek leaves the Wilderness boundary at about 2,700'.
I began my hike around 10AM. I began on the Red Creek Trail, which as it name implies, follows its namesake creek. I followed the Red Creek Trail nearly two miles before turning onto the Big Stonecoal Trail. While there are no blazes in the Wilderness, it seemed like all the junctions I encountered were signed. There was quite a bit of trail braiding however along Red Creek with some herd paths leading to the creek itself and to nearby campsites.
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| Entering the Wilderness |
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| Red Creek Trailhead |
I recommend taking time to check out Red Creek where side trails provide easy access. The creek looks more like a small river and is a rugged, wild stream. You often get a nice view upstream of the higher terrain on the lower reaches of the trail.
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| Looking upstream at Red Creek |
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| Rhododendron flower |
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| Nice tread near the trailhead |
The trail itself is pretty well tread close to the trailhead. It passes through sections of rhododendron. I was surprised that a few flowers were still blooming. Not much rain fell in the weeks before my hike and the trail was generally pretty dry.
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| Dense rhododendron |
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| Orange mushroom |
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| A bluff over Red Creek from the trail |
I turned onto the Big Stonecoal Trail. There aren't bridges in the Wilderness and the trail crosses Red Creek just after the junction. Because of the dry weather, the creek was pretty low. I easily crossed on rocks, keeping my feet dry.
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| Start of Big Stonecoal Trail |
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| Easy crossing of Red Creek |
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| Looking upstream during ford |
The Big Stonecoal Trail climbs away from the Red Creek and follows the drainage of Big Stonecoal Creek. The climb didn't seem to steep. I followed it for a little over a mile before turning onto the Rocky Point Trail
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| Rocks along Big Stonecoal Trail |
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| Turnoff to Rocky Point Trail |
The Rocky Point Trail parallels the southern ridge of Breathed Mountain without much elevation change. I wasn't on the Rocky Point Trail too long before I reached a cairn at unsigned junction. This was the herd path to Lion's Head. There isn't a sign here, so pay attention for the obvious path to the left. I wouldn't count on a cairn, as it's not unusual for them to be removed. Even though this trail is not an official trail, it's well worn and generally easy to follow. Although relatively short, this is the steepest climb up to this point as it climbs to the plateau of Lion's Head.
The climb levels off in spruce trees that provide almost a tunnel like feel. Numerous dry campsites are established along this plateau. There's also a grassy clearing along the spruce as well.
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| Passing through a tunnel of spruce |
There isn't a sign or marker that directs you to the open cliffs at Lion's Head. Just follow one of the herd paths near the last campsite. They all seem to lead to the outcroppings. After following one of the herd paths, I soon reached the long line of cliffs with views over the Red Creek Valley.
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| Reaching the wall of cliffs on Lion's Head |
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| Hazy view |
Initially I reached a long wall of cliffs. Continuing along the wall, I soon realized the cliffs and rock outcroppings stretched pretty far. The view stretched over Red Creek. Across the valley, the white rocks
of the Rohrbaugh Cliffs stood out. Up the valley, you see higher terrain further north in the Wilderness. To the south stands the higher terrain of the Roaring Plains rose in the hazy sky. Even though it was clear west of the mountains in Elkins in the morning, low clouds clung to the higher terrain of the Wilderness.
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| The rock outcropping expand pretty far |
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| Plateau near Lion's Head |
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| Looking south |
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| Zoomed in view to the south |
It didn't take too long to stumble on the namesake feature of the area. As I moved south along the main cliff band, I passed a slightly jutting point on the wall. This is the Lion's Head. When you look at the face from the south, the point does look surprisingly like the profile of a lion with with its eyes closed. The rock slopes down to form its snoot and nose. Below the nose a crack, positioned just right, looks like its mouth.
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| Lion's Head |
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| Lion's Head from lower vantage point |
I explored the various rock outcroppings for a while. If you choose to wander, be aware. It's easy to find yourself facing some scrambling and even some brief climbing. Be careful with dogs and small kids. There was even a pretty large tectonic cave in the rocks with a long drop into the earth.
After exploring the Lion's Head area, I followed one of the herd paths back to the campsites. Returning to the Rocky Point Trail, I turned onto a different herd path than I came up on. It wasn't as well defined, but traveling downhill will get you back to the main trail.
Once on the Rocky Point Trail, the terrain becomes pretty rocky below the cliffs on Lion's Head. There are a few views from the nose of Breathed Mountain's ridge to the south into the Roaring Plains. The trail continues to wrap around Breathed Mountain before finally descending back down to the Red Creek Trail.
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| Bright mushrooms |
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| View from the Rocky Point on Breathed Mountain |
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| The point is in fact rocky |
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| Looks like an old road be with how flat it is here |
Back on the Red Creek Trail, I hiked downhill about 3/4 of a mile to the creek itself. The trail crosses the creek again. I encountered a fairly large group camping at the creek. With the campsite, there were several paths leading to the creek. It wasn't immediately obvious which one was the actual trail. Since the creek was shallow, I was again able to cross the creek on rocks and keep my feet dry.
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| A phallic mushroom |
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| Ford on Red Creek |
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| View upstream |
After crossing the creek, I passed several campsites. With several trails leading to the creek and campsites, It took me a moment to figure out which one was the actual trail. I had to backtrack at one point to get on the right path. After I was on track, I soon found my next junction and headed onto the Fisher Spring Run Trail.
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| Cluster of mushroom |
The Fisher Spring Run Trail climbs away from Red Creek on switchbacks before leveling off on an old forest road. At one point the trail crossed Fisher Spring Run. At this crossing, more braiding caused a little route finding the follow proper trail. I followed the Fisher Spring Run Trail for a little over a mile before reaching the junction for the Rohrbaugh Trail.
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| Onto the Roahrbaugh Trail |
The Rohrbaugh Trail was the final trail on my loop. I would follow it for more than 3 1/2 miles. The Rohrbaugh Trail would also take me over 4,000' and the highest part of the loop.
The Rohrbaugh Trail traveled through a variety of terrain. At times I passed through dense thickets of rhododendron. Then at times the trail went back into a spruce forest. I even crossed some grassy meadows. Even though the trail gradually climbed, the elevation gain was pretty subtle.
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| Dense section of rhododendron |
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| Passing through a meadow |
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| Tiny red mushrooms |
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| Closeup of the mushrooms |
The main highlight of the Rohrbaugh Trail are the Rohrbaugh Cliffs. While not as vast as the cliffs at Lion's Head, the Rohrbaugh Cliffs provide nearly just as good of a view since they are located directly across the valley from Lion's Head. About two hours had past since I left Lion's Head and the mountain tops were less obscured from Rohrbaugh Cliffs. I ate some snacks and hydrated while taking the time to enjoy the views from the cliffs.
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| Looking north from Rohrbaugh Cliffs |
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| Looking south |
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| Looking down the Red Creek Valley |
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| Looking west with cliff of Lion's Head visible |
The final 2 1/2 miles of trail went by quickly after leaving the cliffs. The terrain was relatively flat I passed through a mix of laurel and hardwoods. This section was probably the muddiest of the entire loop and a few muddy patches slowed me down a little bit. With caution, I could pick my way through the worst of the mud by finding rocks and branches to step on and avoided getting my feet wet.
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| Moss lined trail |
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| Passing a grassy clearing |
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| Coneflower I believe |
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| Muddy section |
I reached the end of the Rohrbaugh Trail at a Forest Service road around 3PM. To close my loop, I turned right onto the road to get back to my van at the Red Creek Trailhead. The road looses significant elevation from the Rohrbaugh Trailhead to the Red Creek Trailhead over three miles. To speed up the final three miles on the road, I decided to run. I reached my van about 330PM.
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| Another variety of mushroom |
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| Mix of rhododendron and spruce |
My loop totaled about 14 miles including some exploration around Lion's Head. the final three miles were on the road. I enjoyed my first trip into the Dolly Sods. I'm glad that I decided to visit both Lion's Head and the Rohrbaugh Cliff on one big loop. Even though the hike covered 14 miles, it wasn't too taxing of a hike. If you're looking for a shorter trip, it's possible to hike to Rohrbaugh Cliffs on a five my roundtrip hike. Lion's Head can be reached as an out and back or loop of 8-9 miles. Both destinations provide nice views over the south end of the Wilderness.
I recommend the Purple Lizard Dolly Sods/Seneca Rocks map if exploring the Dolly Sods. You can also find a map at the Monongahela National Forest
website.
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