Being that we live in Maryland, we have spent quite a bit of time in Shenandoah National Park. My favorite hike in Shenandoah is the famous Old Rag.
Distance: 9.1 miles
Elevation gain: 2,415 feet
Difficulty: Strenuous
Trailhead Location: 2509 Nethers Road, Sperryville VA
Due to its popularity, this hike gets extremely crowded, so it’s best to get a very early start. We went on a summer weekend, so we spent the night at an airbnb pretty close to the Old Rag entrance so we could get an early start. We were parked and ready to hike by 8:30 am and there were already a lot of cars in the lot. The hike took us about 5-6 hours including time for lunch at the top.
We did the route that takes you up Ridge Trail to the summit and then descends on Saddle Trail. The first 3 miles or so are within the forest and nothing all that special in my opinion. But then you’ll reach the rock scramble! This is not an easy scramble. There are some narrow cracks and passages, small caves and climbing that requires a decent amount of upper body strength. There were several parts where I actually needed a boost from Chris!
As tough as it is, the scramble is a lot of fun and so worth the views when you get to the top. We even got to see a bear walking around a nearby summit – it’s nice to watch them from afar!
It’s also worth a quick side trip to see the Balance Rock near the Byrd’s Nest Shelter before descending on Saddle Trail.
Interested in hiking Old Rag? Pin it for later!
