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With all the trails available to hike, including the famous white-blazed Appalachian Trail dominating in popularity, there’s something unique about the orange-blazed Massanutten Trail. I rarely see other hikers, compared to the more popular trails. The Massanutten Trail is a George Washington National Forest loop trail system. It is a rugged 71-mile trail that encircles Fort Valley in Shenandoah County.

When you turn onto Forest Road 374 from State Route 675, the forest road bears right, and to…

Big Schloss is a peak in the Great North Mountain range of the Appalachian mountains, with an elevation of 2,964 feet. The peak is in George Washington National Forest and borders Virginia and West Virginia. There are several different routes to hiking this mountain and Mill mountain. I opted to hike from Wolf Gap and do an out-and-back hike. I grabbed my pack, locked the car, and was on the trail by 7:59 am. The first part of the trail coming out of Wolf Gap is where I would pick up most of my…

This was a fun hike, sitting north of Buzzard rock, which I had hiked a few weeks prior. I had read up on this loop hike, and what I was able to determine was it was a mix of conditions from river crossings, rock gardens, and steep and obscured views from the summit. I found all but the steepness to be accurate.

The parking area for Meneka Peak and or Signal Knob is quite large. When I arrived, there was a handful of vehicles already in the parking lot; all but one was covered in frost. I had…

I had heard mention of this hike previously, and a friend recently posted a memory of hiking it, and I thought, why not today? I read that the trailhead parking was limited, so I got a reasonably early start, leaving the house around 7:00 am. it was still dusk when I left, arriving at the trailhead parking area around 7:45 am. There were three other cars in the lot when I arrived.

I threw on my pack, grabbed my hiking poles, and was on my way. There are no sign-in trail registers in Virginia,…

I was looking for another hike that would push my limits a little further, both physically and mentally. Little Schloss mountain is just one of the many hikes in the Great North Mountain area, George Washington National Forest. This hike can be part of a loop hike with Big Schloss, creating a strenuous hike (this is something I would love to do at some point). Today I would only hike Little Schloss. The hike typically starts at the FDR92 parking area, across the road from the trailhead.…

This hike is just under four miles round trip. The trail offered me lots of solitude and excellent, obstructed views, and I would not see another person all day. The only drawback is that the area is also known for dirt bikes and ATV use, which have their trail system. You could find engine noise distracting at times on this hike. I never heard any vehicles once the trail veered away from the road.

The trail up to the ridge of Waonaze Peak is part of the Massanutten Trail, which runs 71 miles in…