The Massanutten Trail runs about 70 miles through George Washington National Forest, forming a loop on the ridges around the Fort Valley, in the greater Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. There isn't a ton of information online about the Massanutten Trail. The area seems overlooked by most people flocking to the much more popular trails within Shenandoah National Park, just a few miles east of Massanutten Mountain.
While I was aware of the Massanutten Trail, it never really registered on my radar until I moved to West Virginia. While in West Virginia, the drive is less than three hours away. At 70 miles, the trail sits in a nice sweet spot for distance to get away for a few days. And the fact that it's a loop, makes the trail sound more enticing for a backpacking trip.
I originally planned on backpacking the trail in April of this year, but my busy schedule this spring made it difficult to get away. By late May, I had more time available. I thought it would be a nice to hike the trail to coincide with my birthday. I enjoy getting outdoors on my birthday and this seemed like the perfect time to hit the trail finally.
The trail has a reputation for being particularly dry and lacking of water sources. The week prior to my trip saw about five inches of rain fall in the area. This would hopefully help with water sources on the trail. My birthday falls on May 29th. The week of rain came to an end on the 27th with days of gorgeous weather forecasted to follow with clear days in the 70s and lows in the lower 50s arriving.
I headed to the area a day early and slept in my van to get a early start on the trail on the morning of May 28th. Since the trail is a loop, there area several places to start. I started at the Signal Knob Trailhead on the northeast corner of the loop. This seems to be a popular place to start. While you can hike either direction, I chose to hike counterclockwise. I wanted to hike the western half of the loop before the weekend. I read that OHV trails run through the mountains on the western half and see more traffic on the weekend. It's not uncommon to hear the OHVs droning in the distance. I wanted to get past the western half before the weekend to avoid this.
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Sign by road crossing
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Day 1
Signal Knob Trailhead-Moreland Gap Road
My hike began around 7AM on a Thursday morning. Despite rain the night before, the sun was shining brightly by the time I hit the trail. Almost immediately I was struck in the face by spiderwebs. Spiderwebs in the face would be the norm for the duration of the trip.
I quickly came upon pocket of blooming mountain laurel within minutes of hitting the trail. Within the first mile I crossed a small tributary to Passage Creek. I was surprised to see a boxed spring just off the trail.
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| A boxed spring early on my hike |
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| Sun filtering through the trees |
After crossing the creek, the trail began climbing for the next several miles. As I gained elevation, I passed several stretches that were really rocky. The Massanutten Trail has a reputation for being rocky and I think the first three miles had some of the worst sections of rock on the entire trail. Occasionally I would get a small view through the trees as I climbed.
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| The first view on the trail |
I was hoping to catch more blooming mountain laurel on my hike. I seemed to be hiking the right time of year for the blooms. The first few miles didn't disappoint. While I would see the blooms throughout the hike, this northern section near the start of my trip seemed to have the most blooms near peak.
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| Mountain laurel along the trail |
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Blooming mountain laurel
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One of the rockiest sections of the entire trail
came in the first few miles |
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| Another early view |
I reached my first big vista at Signal Knob. Sitting at the northwest corner of the Massanutten Range, Signal Knob served as communication post during the Civil War. Now the Knob has a television tower. There are views from the powerline cut by the tower. A little past the tower, rocky ledges provide views over the town of Strasburg and into the Shenandoah Valley.
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| Thankfully the whole trail wasn't like this |
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| The Fort Valley below |
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| More chunky rocks in the first five miles or so |
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| View from the tower on Signal Knob |
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| Tower on Signal Knob |
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| View from outcropping on Signal Knob |
I dropped back down to lower ground after Signal Knob and followed a section of dirt roads for a few miles. I passed by a manmade pond, Strasburg Reservoir along the road. The trail travels close to Little Passage Creek while on the road. I spotted a shy box turtle that was probably only half-grown along the road that quickly retreated into its shell when it saw me.
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| Strasburg Reservoir |
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| Shy box turtle |
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| Section of road near Strasburg Reservoir |
As I neared Mudhole Gap, I passed a piped spring. I knew I had a long water haul ahead of me. I cameled up and stocked up on three liters of water. The next sure water was at Edinburg Gap, 13-14 miles away.
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| Flooded section on the road |
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| Red-Spotted Purple Butterfly |
I left the road not far beyond Mudhole Gap, the trail left the road and gained the ridge of Three Top Mountain. On top of the ridge the trail didn't have much elevation change and the hiking wasn't too difficult.
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| Goldenstar |
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| Wild rose |
Around Mile 14, I reached another road. From the road, a short side trail climbed about a 1/4 mile to the Woodstock Tower. I had my lunch at the tower while I enjoyed the views from the observation platform.
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| View west from the Woodstock Tower |
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| Zoomed view to the west |
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| View east from the tower |
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| Another angle to the east |
After my lunch I returned to the Massanutten Trail. From the tower, I could hear a nearby weed whacker. Maybe a tenth of the mile down the trail I saw the source of the noise. I reached a hang glider launch site and someone was trimming the grass at the site. There was also a hang glider doing its final prep before launching. I sat a bench at the site and waited. I watched as the hang glider launched just a couple minutes later. These were the first people I have see all day after 14 miles of hiking.
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North Fork of the Shenandoah from the
hang glider launch site |
Hang glider launching
Although on the same ridge south of the road at Woodstock Tower, the mountain changes from Three Top Mountain to Powell Mountain. The trail had more rocky stretches beyond the hang glider launch. After continuing on fairly flat ridgetop, the trail begins a gradual climb over about five miles. I topped out on the upper reaches of Waonaze Peak around 2,600' in elevation, the highest elevation to this point. From the height of the land, the trail lost the elevation it gained as it drops about 1,000' to Edinburg Gap.
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| Not many mushrooms on this hike |
During the descent to the gap, the trail comes pretty close and parallels a few UTV roads and trails. I heard a couple UTVs through the trees. I passed a piped spring maybe 1 1/2 miles before the gap. I'm guessing this spring isn't typically reliable but was flowing with the recent heavy rain. I stopped for a short break to camel up again even though I was close to Edinburg Gap.
I walked the 1/2 mile down the road to the piped spring below the gap. Since I wasn't anticipating any more water sources for the day, I decided to cook my dinner at the spring. My original plan was to eat at the spring and top off my water, then camp back up by the trail. It was only 430PM or so. Even though I hiked over 21 miles for the day, I still had 3-4 hours of light to hike and still felt strong. I figured I could find somewhere to camp in a couple hours along the trail. I didn't have any great desire to camp close to a paved road anyway.
As I ate, several people pulled up in vehicles to fill a bunch of water containers from the spring. After my dinner, I reluctantly lugged four liters of water back to the trail anticipating a dry campsite and no reliable water for the next 15 miles. I was back on the trail a little after 5PM
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| FSR 374 above Edinburg Gap |
After a short stretch on FSR 374, the trail begins a climb up Short Mountain. Less than two miles from the gap, I reached a cairn with an unmarked path to the left. Although not shown on the map, before my hike, I saw this marked a short side trail to a viewpoint called Copernicus Ridge. I had a descent view over Kennedy Peak with the mountains of Shenandoah National Park in the distance.
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| View back to Waonaze Peak |
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Mountains of Shenandoah NP in the distance
beyond Kennedy Peak from Copernicus Ridge |
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| Kennedy Peak |
Climbing Short Mountain, the trail was pretty rocky. The rocky sections continued beyond Copernicus Ridge. The trail bounced around 2,700' in elevation along the ridge of Short Mountain for the next several miles after Copernicus Ridge. Topping out around 2,795' in this stretch, the Massanutten Trail crosses its highest point here. Despite the higher ground, there aren't really any views beyond the Copernicus Ridge side trail.
I thought I would find a spot to camp along here. The trail wasn't having it though. The terrain was either too rocky, too brushy, or both. In late May, the daylight lingered. I saw potential camping in my notes after dropping off the ridge. My feet were feeling it by now. I had hiked over 25 miles on pretty rocky terrain.
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| Passing rock features on Short Mountain |
I dropped off of Short Mountain to FSR 374. Any promise of a campsite quickly faded. This area had burned a few years back. At this point any available flat spot seemed too heavily overgrown with scrubby brush. I was starting to get worried. At this point I hiked over 28 miles. My feet felt miles of the day. The four liters that I started this stretch with weren't helping. Another mile down the trail I would pass Moreland Gap Road. My notes indicated a more reliable campsite ahead just after the road crossing.
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| Scrubby growth in old burn |
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| Approaching full moon |
The next mile, I hiked through the brushy area. I'm glad I wasn't hiking this in the full sun of the day. There was little cover overhead. I passed by some of the nicest pink mountain laurel blooms of the entire trail in here. Although the evening twilight lingered, the sun had long past behind the ridge. A nearly full moon added a little light to the sky. Although I didn't need any water, I passed a nicely flowing stream through here too. I think it would typically be dry had it not been for the five inches of rain the week prior.
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| Mountain laurel blooming in the old burn |
Not long before 9PM, I reached Moreland Gap Road, which is another dirt FS road. I crossed the road and reentered the woods. I didn't see any obvious campsites. The area was at least flat and more open. An old tote road off the trail was flat and wide enough for my tent. With not much usable daylight, I didn't have time to be picky. It was good enough. I spooked a deer that was watching me and set up my tent. I already ate and didn't have much else to do before crashing. Including my side trip to get water in Edinburg Gap, I hiked over 30 miles (29.5 miles of the Massanutten Trail). Not exactly what I was looking to do my first day, especially with the rocky terrain.
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| Scrubby section of trail |
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| Trail between FSR 374 and Moreland Gap Road |
Although it wasn't the greatest campsite, it was good enough. I only needed to sleep there after all. A marshy area across the road provided a nice soundtrack with peepers and other frogs calling through the night. I also heard numerous whippoorwills whistling nearly nonstop through the night at varying distances from my campsite. Fortunately they weren't too close to be annoying. Pretty much every time I woke up through the night I heard a whippoorwill.
Weatherwise it was a great day for late May. I don't think it was over the mid 70s on the ridges with a comfortable, cooling breeze most of the day and no humidity. Given the brushy nature of the trail, I did pull six ticks off of me over the day, but didn't find any attached. Besides the ticks, the other hassle was spiderwebs. I only saw the two people by the hang glider site, right by a road. Nobody on the trails meant lots of spiderwebs. I never hiked very far without a fresh spiderweb across my face.
I didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked the night before. After the short night of sleep and 30 mile day, I slept wonderfully as expected. I usually can count on sleeping well when I'm back in the mountains. I had one other animal noise in the night. At one point I got up to go to the bathroom. As I unzipped my tent, I startled a deer standing close by causing it to snort at me. I could hear it wander off as I got up from my tent.
Day 2
Moreland Gap Road-Campsite 1/4 mile south of Milford Gap
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Blueberry bushes along the trail, the
berries were still quite green |
I stopped at a campsite along Big Run. This was probably the nicest campsite I had seen in nearly 30 miles. I had a snack and hydrated while enjoying a little rest by the sound of the stream. I refilled my water for the next stretch.
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| Big Run |
From the campsite the trail climbed for about 2.5 miles as it made its way to the height of the land above Scothorn Gap. I followed fairly closely to Big Run to start, crossing the creek twice. At one point the trail had water running down it from the recent rains. After the second creek crossing the trail climbed a little steeper.
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| Water flowing down the trail |
After a junction of trails at Scothorn Gap, the Massanutten utilizes an old Wagon Road for the next five to six miles. I think most of this area was part of an old burn. The trees were few and far between with lots of scrubby vegetation. Less than a mile from the gap, the trail tops out around 2,700' on Middle Mountain with a descent view toward the ridges of Shenandoah National Park.
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| Above Scothorn Gap |
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| Azalea |
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View over Page Valley toward Shenandoah NP
ridgeline at height of land on Middle Mountain |
From the height of the land, the trail had a fairly easy descent over the next five miles through Duncan Hollow on the old wagon road. Easy doesn't necessarily mean enjoyable. Even though it was probably only in the mid 70s, the sun was quite bright. Majority of this stretch traveled on the edge of the old burn. The sun was pretty intense in the midday sun. Other sections were pretty brushy from the scrubby brush along the trail. Ticks enjoy the scrubby brush. By the end of the day I pulled 11 of them off of me.
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| Dense vegetation along the trail |
The trail paralleled a stream that wasn't often accessible with the brushy vegetation. With the recent rains, parts of the trail were flooded, requiring some creativity to get by without getting too wet.
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| Flooded section of trail |
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Lack of trees in burned area along
one side of the wagon road |
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| Looking back at old burned area |
Eventually the trail crossed the creek less than a mile before the road crossing at Camp Roosevelt. With the high water, the crossing was a little tricky and I slipped on a rock soaking one foot. I anticipated another dry campsite this evening, so I decided to cook for lunch instead of dinner at the creek crossing. This also allowed me to dry my wet sock and shoe while eating and soak my feet in the cool stream.
Rather than restock my water for the day at the stream, I decided to wait until I got to Camp Roosevelt campground, less than a mile ahead. The campground had water fountains that didn't need to be treated. Camp Roosevelt is a Forest Service Recreation Area. The site was the location of the first CCC camp it the nation during the Great Depression.
The campground sits about a 1/4 mile off the trail at the road crossing of VA 675. I arrived at the campground and none of the fountains were working. The next water source was about 16 miles away. I had no choice other than to backtrack. Fortunately with all the rain in the days prior, there was a nice spring coming straight from the ground about a 1/4 back on the trail. I'm guessing this spring wouldn't normally be flowing if it hadn't rained so much in the previous days. Reluctantly, I lugged four liters of water for the next 16 miles that included a dry campsite. If nothing else, I was able to get rid of some trash at the garbage bins at the campground.
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| Old chimney at Camp Roosevelt |
Beyond the road, the trail crosses a powerline clearing several times enroute to Edith Gap in less than a mile. Edith Gap sits along the road with another clearing for a hang glider launch site. I didn't see any hang gliders this time, but I enjoyed the view for a moment overlooking the Page Valley toward Shenandoah National Park as well as several bends in the South Fork of the Shenandoah.
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| Edith Gap view toward Shenandoah NP |
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Edith Gap view with South Fork of the
Shenandoah below and the National Park beyond |
Now on Massanutten Mountain, the trail left the paved road at Edith Gap and headed north. The trail starts out on an old road before reverting back to trail. I saw a trail runner along this stretch, the first person on the trip on the trail and not at a road crossing. The terrain became rockier the further away I got from Edith Gap. I climbed gradually enroute to Kennedy Peak.
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| Rocky section beyond Edith Gap |
A little over two miles from Edith Gap, I reached a junction for Kennedy Peak. Here a side trail leads 1/4-1/3 of a mile to the top of the peak with an observation tower. Although not that long, the side trail is fairly tough and rocky. The side trip rewards you with great views over the South Fork of the Shenandoah and the ridges of the National Park. There's also a shelter under the observation deck that could be use for an overnight stay. There did seem to be some trash around the tower though, so I wouldn't be surprised if rodents would visit you overnight if you slept there.
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| Kennedy Peak view over the South Fork |
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| National Park ridgeline from the tower |
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| Kennedy Peak tower with small shelter area |
Even though I was in store for another long day of 27 miles, I made up my mind to hike another seven miles beyond Kennedy Peak to Milford Gap. I had plenty of daylight left and knew there was definitely a proper campsite there. On paper, I didn't appear to have any big climbs as the trail stuck to the ridge of Massanutten Mountain.
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| Nice look at the South Fork of the Shenandoah |
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Cairn at the junction of the
Massanutten and Stephens Trails |
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| Rocky spine on the ridge |
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| Lots of views north of Kennedy Peak |
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| The river is often visible |
Despite passing 20 miles for the day, I was enjoying this section of the trail. Even though the trail stuck to the ridge, it was fairly challenging. The top of the ridge is pretty narrow and made up of a series of sawteeth. I'd climb one short, punchy section of ridgeline on rocky terrain after another. The elevation changes weren't big, but they were steep for short stretches. The rocky terrain was tiring after a long day. There were frequent views along the ridge as well. The South Fork of the Shenandoah traveled just below the mountain and is often visible in clearings. The ridges of the National Park rose across the valley to the east and were easily seen at many points. Occasionally I could look behind me and see the profile of Massanutten Mountain back to Kennedy Peak. The Fort Valley to the west was even visible a couple spots with the western ridges of the Massanutten Trail rising over the valley.
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Looking back along Massanutten Mountain
with Kennedy Peak's point summit |
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| Beardtongue |
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There are lots of wild roses but this one
looked like a cultivated rose up on the ridge |
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Looking back at the western side of the
loop over the Fort Valley |
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| More rocky ridgeline |
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Hard to see in the picture but the ridgetop
was pretty narrow along this spine |
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| Another look over the Fort Valley |
I reached the campsite just before Milford Gap around 810PM. While I was tired from 27 miles and about 56 miles over the last two days, I felt pretty good. In fact, I think this might be the most I hiked in two consecutive days on any backpacking trip ever. With side trips to water and such, I covered at least 57 miles the two days. Although tough, I think the interesting terrain and scenery helped take the sting out of the challenge. Or perhaps I felt good because it was my birthday and I was spending my birthday in the mountains.
As promised in my pre hike research, this was a nice campsite with plenty flat ground and spots for a ten, a pleasant change from the previous nights site. With full darkness not arriving until a little after 9, I had plenty of time to unwind before turning into my tent for the night.
Shortly after 9 I turned into my tent for the night. Just like that, the whippoorwills made their presence known. At one point, a whippoorwill seemed to be a few feet from my tent and was quite loud. I had service and thought I'd call a couple people to let them hear what I was hearing since it was so loud. I recorded the bird and shared the audio below. Fortunately, the nearby bird moved on after five or ten minutes. I could hear still some birds in the distance though. I heard them a few times at night, but nothing like I did at my campsite the previous night.
Whippoorwill serenading me
Day 3
Campsite 1/4 south of Milford Gap-Signal Knob Trailhead
As expected, I slept wonderfully again after a couple high mileage days. I got up around 6AM, feeling refreshed, and was hiking around 645. It was another beautiful day with sunshine and a comfortable breeze. The perfect day to clear spiderwebs from the trail.
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| Mossy section of trail |
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What you can't see is the endless spiderwebs
that I would walk into |
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| Wild rose |
Since I left Edith Gap, I had been on the long ridge of Massanutten. The trail stayed on the ridge for about 13 miles before the descent into Veach Gap. From my campsite, that meant I had about four more miles along the ridge. The last few miles on the ridge were less rugged and the sawteeth I encountered earlier on the ridge had mellowed out since my campsite in Milford Gap. The hiking was fairly easy. Not long before Veach Gap, I saw something bright white along the edge of the trail in the vegetation. It was an old box turtle shell that had become bleached with time.
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| An old sun-bleached box turtle shell |
The trail dropped for about a mile into Veach Gap. At the beginning of the descent the Tuscarora Trail joins the Massanutten Trail. This two trails shared tread most of the way to my end point, only splitting again about 1/4-1/2 mile from the Signal Knob Trailhead where I began. Most of the drop into Veach Gap traveled over an old road that the forest reclaimed with a fairly gentle descent. Near the gap I started to see water on the trail and some runoff, the first water in about 16 miles.
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| Descending toward Veach Gap |
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On the Tuscarora/Massanutten overlap- the
Tuscarora has nice signage |
Veach Gap Shelter sits along Mill Run in the gap. This is the only shelter on along the Massanutten Trail. It was built to serve the Tuscarora, but since the trails overlap, it gives Massanutten Trail hikers an option for a shelter if needed.
I stopped at the shelter for a break. I encountered two guy that had spent the night there, out for a shorter weekend trip. This was only the second human encounter I had on the trail not including road crossings. We talked for a while, sharing stories from the trail. We had hiked a lot of the same areas and the one guy actually grew up in PA fairly close to the area I lived.
Mill Creek was basically the last water source until I got to Elizabeth Furnace, less than a mile from my finish line. Speaking with the other hikers, I found that I could travel another mile or so and refill at a good spring that crosses the trail. I still had about a half liter, so that worked out well.
From the shelter, I started a gradual climb up the drainage of Mill Run. The run itself is mostly not accessible here through the vegetation. The trail begins on a old road before reverting back to trail shortly. After nearly three miles, the trail reaches the ridge of Little Crease Mountain. I passed a worker that appeared to be with the USFS doing maintenance with power equipment along this stretch.
On top of Little Crease, the trail comes to several rocky sections. There is one good view near the start of the ridge overlooking the river below and the northern ridges of Shenandoah National Park. Without leaves on the trees, there may have been more views, but the vegetation left the other outcroppings somewhat obscured.
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| Good look at a bend in the river |
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| American Giant Millipede |
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My final view of the trip of the Ridge and
Valley ridges |
There was one section where the trail split off the ridge as the trail approached Shawl Gap. I followed the blazes that took the trail off the top of the ridge. This section was quite overgrown and rocky with poor footing as it traversed a sidehill. The elevation dropped slightly through here. Not long before I reached Shawl Gap, I saw what I assumed to be the route that stuck to the ridge, blocked off with trees. I found a lot of ticks on me at the end of my hike that probably came from this brushy section. I found out after my hike this is referred to as "the Billy Goat Section" and is used to avoid private land.
Despite modest elevations that never rise over 3,000', the Massanutten Trail stands as a pretty challenging trail. Long stretches of the trail travel over rocky terrain that rivals some of the rock on the AT in "Rocksylvania," this is part of the same Ridge and Valley Formation as the AT in PA. Water management on the trail shouldn't be taken likely with infrequent water sources requiring long carries. It's not unusual for people to cache water on this trail. Infrequent campsites also add to the trail's challenge. Between the rocky terrain and dense vegetation, I passed several long stretches with little to no camping options. There are a handful of nice established sites, but they may not line up with your itinerary. Many of the campsites I read about prior to my hike were reclaimed by the forest. Hammock campers might have slightly better luck in this regard.
I joked with some people that the Massanutten Trail aged me a year while I was hiking it. My birthday fell on the second of the three days I hiked it. Technically I turned a year older on the trail.
Even with the challenges the trail brings, it definitely has its good moments. Since I ended up hiking a bit further than I anticipated the first day, I was cursing the western side of the trail when I struggled to find a campsite. By the second day, I found the hiking more enjoyable, even though the the terrain was equally challenging or even harder on the eastern side. I think my good night's sleep and hiking on my birthday lifted my spirits.
I enjoyed the views from the ridges, which seemed more frequent on the eastern half of the loop. I encountered a fair amount of wildflowers with several groves of mountain laurel in peak bloom. While I didn't encounter a ton of wildlife, I did see a fair amount of deer, a couple flocks of turkeys, a box turtle, and plenty of squirrels and chipmunks. At night I had a choir of frogs signing to me and more whippoorwills that I probably ever heard in one trip. I definitely can't complain about the weather on this trip for late May. I don't think I saw the temperature rise above 80 with low humidity and the nights were comfortable in the low 50s.
While I won't rank the Massanutten Trail as one of my all-time favorite hikes, I'm glad I hiked it. It still has a lot to offer if you are willing to accept its challenges. If you live in the Mid Atlantic and are looking for a challenging, short thru hike, the Massanutten proves a good test with enough reward for your effort. And if you like solitude, you'll enjoy a crowd-free hike away from the flocks of people next door in Shenandoah National Park. And despite my hike taking only two and a half days, you could easily stretch this trail out as many days as you like.
Resources:
Guide to Massanutten Mountain Hiking Trails: A guide to the trail by the PATC that may help with camping and water resources, both of which are challenging on the trail. I didn't use this, but I've seen several other hikers say it's invaluable. It's also available with a set of maps as part of a
bundle.
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