A few days ago, we went for our second hike through the Shenandoah National Park. This time we decided to take the Cedar Run trail down to Cedar Run Falls. We parked at the Hawksbill Parking Area (Skyline Drive milepost 45.6), and we entered the trail from behind the parking area. There were a ton of cars parked in the lot (so many in fact that we had to park on the grass beside the lot), so we were worried that the trail would be crowded, but we didn't see a single person throughout our entire hike.
The Cedar Run Trail is very steep and very rocky. You start immediately downhill, and you follow the trail downhill all the way to Cedar Run. It's easy to see why they called the trail Cedar Run when you see the enormous dead trees that lay all around (and sometimes directly across) the trail. After about a half of a mile, you reach the edge of Cedar Run. The parts of Cedar Run that you can see from the trail are very fast moving, and there are plenty of small waterfalls and water slides that you can see along the way. There are also some pretty huge rock formations and outcroppings that are interesting to see. There are also a few great places to stop and swim, and plenty of fallen trees you can use to walk across the moving water (if you have good balance).
After about 1.7 miles, you find yourself at Cedar Run Falls. You will know you have reached the falls when the trail crosses Cedar Run (there are a number of decent sized water slides along the way that you might mistake for Cedar Run Falls). The waterfall is more of a water slide, and you could probably slide down the face of the rock with the water safely (although I didn't try it). There is a pretty big swimming hole at the base of the falls, and lots of good places to sit and watch the falls (we had a little picnic, which was nice).
It's important to take your time and rest at Cedar Run Falls, because the hike back is not easy. Although it is only 1.7 miles, you gain 1,500 feet on the way back. This means that the hike is extremely steep and very rocky.
Overall, this was a pretty good hike. I enjoyed Jones Run Falls more because the trail was in better condition and it was much easier to navigate. In defense of the Cedar Run trail, it had just rained the day before and early that morning, so the trail was covered in nearly an inch of water throughout the entire hike, which made the rocks more treacherous than they normally would have been.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Jones Run Falls
My first hike in the Shenandoah National Park was to Jones Run Falls. My wife and I drove to the Jones Run parking area of Skyline Drive (milepost 84.1), which is where the Jones Run trail begins. Take the blue-blazed trail behind the parking area into the cool of the woods. I was amazed that within ten yards of the beginning of the trail, the Jones Run trail crosses paths with the famous Appalachian Trail as it winds its way silently from Maine to Georgia.
Continue a relatively steep descent toward the falls. The trail is pretty wide in some places and is surprisingly smooth. In roughly half of a mile, you should come along beside Jones Run, which adds interest to your hike. In a short amount of time, you'll pass the first in a series of small waterfalls. Finally you come to the top of Jones Run Falls 1.7 miles into your hike (you need to venture off the trail only a few feet to look down over the falls from above). There is a great view from the top of an enormous hollow area carved out by the falls. Follow the trail down to the bottom of the falls and you can stand almost directly beneath the falling water. We did this hike in early summer, but I imagine the falls would be much stronger in early spring.
We got directions for our hike online, and the directions were completely wrong. We believed that if we continued on the Jones Run trail that it would loop back to the parking lot. A simple glance at the maps provided or the huge marker at the trailhead would have told us otherwise, but we had our directions and we did not stop to look.
We continued for another 2 miles on the Jones Run trail, passing the lower Doyles River falls (which was also a great sight to see, but the falls were well off the trail and it looked to be difficult to get close to them). The ascent back up the mountain was exhausting for novice hikers like us. We stopped briefly and drank from a spring of clean mountain water. A sign nearby insisted that we boil the water vigorously, but we were intent on ignoring every sign that day. Fortunately the water was cold, clean, and delicious. We made it to the top and back to a parking lot, but not our parking lot. We were still three miles away from our car.
This would not have been a big issue ordinarily, because we are in pretty good shape, but two factors made it more of an issue:
1) We didn't begin our hike until 4:30PM, because we believed it was a loop hike that would last roughly two and a half hours.
2) We fully expected to emerge in our own parking lot. The unexpected often appears worse than it is.
The entire ordeal became well worth it though on the way back to the car. As we walked along Skyline Drive, we were fortunate enough to see a large black bear cross the road with two cubs following closely behind. We watched from about one hundred feet away, and one of the cubs took a bit of an interest in us. The mother quickly got between her cub and us, and we began moving quickly in the other direction. After waiting a few minutes, we passed the spot where the bears had just crossed the road nervously.
About an hour later we were in our car on the road back to Harrisonburg. The bear sighting made our detour well worth the extra walk.
Continue a relatively steep descent toward the falls. The trail is pretty wide in some places and is surprisingly smooth. In roughly half of a mile, you should come along beside Jones Run, which adds interest to your hike. In a short amount of time, you'll pass the first in a series of small waterfalls. Finally you come to the top of Jones Run Falls 1.7 miles into your hike (you need to venture off the trail only a few feet to look down over the falls from above). There is a great view from the top of an enormous hollow area carved out by the falls. Follow the trail down to the bottom of the falls and you can stand almost directly beneath the falling water. We did this hike in early summer, but I imagine the falls would be much stronger in early spring.
We got directions for our hike online, and the directions were completely wrong. We believed that if we continued on the Jones Run trail that it would loop back to the parking lot. A simple glance at the maps provided or the huge marker at the trailhead would have told us otherwise, but we had our directions and we did not stop to look.
We continued for another 2 miles on the Jones Run trail, passing the lower Doyles River falls (which was also a great sight to see, but the falls were well off the trail and it looked to be difficult to get close to them). The ascent back up the mountain was exhausting for novice hikers like us. We stopped briefly and drank from a spring of clean mountain water. A sign nearby insisted that we boil the water vigorously, but we were intent on ignoring every sign that day. Fortunately the water was cold, clean, and delicious. We made it to the top and back to a parking lot, but not our parking lot. We were still three miles away from our car.
This would not have been a big issue ordinarily, because we are in pretty good shape, but two factors made it more of an issue:
1) We didn't begin our hike until 4:30PM, because we believed it was a loop hike that would last roughly two and a half hours.
2) We fully expected to emerge in our own parking lot. The unexpected often appears worse than it is.
The entire ordeal became well worth it though on the way back to the car. As we walked along Skyline Drive, we were fortunate enough to see a large black bear cross the road with two cubs following closely behind. We watched from about one hundred feet away, and one of the cubs took a bit of an interest in us. The mother quickly got between her cub and us, and we began moving quickly in the other direction. After waiting a few minutes, we passed the spot where the bears had just crossed the road nervously.
About an hour later we were in our car on the road back to Harrisonburg. The bear sighting made our detour well worth the extra walk.
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