Shenandoah National Park – Central District – Big Meadows
Time: 48 hours (camping + hike)
Length: Big Meadows hike is variable
Gear: your usual weekend gear
Difficulty Level: 1 paw
Scenery: 3 paws
Pack: You and your dog or a whole pack
This past weekend the OBH crew again headed west to the Shenandoah National Park for a weekend of camping at Big Meadows (mile 51.2).
Karma and I were able to leave a few hours ahead of Cannon and Katina who were stuck at their day jobs until the week’s official end. No matter, it gave Karma and I a chance to set up and open the wine before their arrival.
Karma has a broken toe and the vet’s instructions are to keep him resting – no agility class, no playing, no running, no hiking – so we altered our plan for the weekend and did not include our normal big, three-hour hike. Instead we mostly hung out at camp and had a delightful weekend.
We had stayed at the Big Meadows campground in July and again we scored one of the walk-up sites since we didn’t have a reservation. It seems it was a good thing I got there early because the campgrounds filled up. I also learned that you could leave a note for your friend on the message board at registration in case you have to communicate your campsite. (Not knowing this, I used the payphones to let Katina know where we were.)
When Katina and Cannon arrived, they set up their new, fabulous tent and then attention turned to dinner which was grilled chicken that had been marinating all day. Yum. We stayed up later than usual catching up while the dogs hung out (mostly) on their tie-outs.
The next morning we made breakfast burritos and hot chocolate as the weather definitely had a fall feeling to it. We then spent the morning telling stories and finally took the dogs to the Big Meadow after lunch. We could tell they were ready for their adventure!
The Big Meadow is actually on the east side of Skyline Drive or opposite the entrance to Big Meadows campgrounds. We loaded the dogs into my SUV and drove to the parking lot for the meadow only because of Karma’s toe. I imagine it would take about 15 minutes one-way to walk.
One at the meadow, it really is as the guidebook describes: there are multiple paths and you just wander until you are ready to go back. There are 134 acres of meadow and what struck me was how much the meadow changed throughout the walk. It was really beautiful in a really subtle way.
Because we had to do a more laid back weekend, Katina thought that we should make it a photo weekend and we did just that. We made a concerted effort to really notice everything around us –the monarch chrysalis hanging near the restrooms; the small moments with the dogs at camp; the variety of plants that inhabited the meadow.
After about 45 minutes we headed back to the car. Back at camp I iced Karma’s foot while Cannon snuggled up under a blanket as the day cooled off. Katina made an amazing Jambalaya and dessert was the classic s’mores with hot chocolate. Cannon elected to curl up in his warm car while Karma was thrilled with the fall-like air. Silly dogs.
In the morning we ate a leisurely breakfast and took our time breaking down camp, ever aware this may be our last overnight trip of the season.
Shenandoah National Park – Central District – Big Meadows
Time: 48+ hours
Gear: Camping checklist!
Difficulty Level: 1 paw
Scenery: 3 paws
Pack: You and your dog or a whole pack
We set out in the afternoon on Friday, putting us just ahead of the DC traffic on 66 heading west. Our destination was the Big Meadows campground in the central district of Shenandoah National Park and this time we showed up without a reservation as the “reserved” spots were already taken.
Most campgrounds set aside so many spots for “walk-ups” and we were told there were more than 60 of those available on a first come, first serve basis. Our home for the next two nights would be close to the amenities – bathroom, shower, host camper, entrance, small store and even a “restaurant” of sorts touting its fried chicken. I was worried it would be a busy spot in such a large campground but it turned out to be great.
Learning our lesson from our previous trip, we parked the cars and took the dogs for a leisurely hour-long walk all around the campground. Truth be told, we didn’t completely read our guide and thought we were heading toward the actual meadow but instead walked in and around the amphitheatre, picnic areas, cabins, trails and campgrounds. Regardless, mission accomplished, the dogs were happy to settle in – mostly.
Once back, we set up our site with all the trimmings. I had made great progress since our last adventure and now had a dedicated bin that was packed with all things kitchen-related including a red-checkered tablecloth, tinware plates and cloth napkins. All reusable and the tinware pieces were found in an antique store so all eco-friendly. I mean, why should we live like savages?
Dinner was a 5-cheese penne made by Katina and heated up on our fabulous grill. Of course there was a lovely cabernet to go along. When you think about how to pack your cooler and eat your foods in the order in which they might perish, you don’t have to survive on spaghetti and peanut butter (not that there’s anything wrong with that.).
The only downside in the evening was our inability to start a proper fire. I even brought fire starter thingies and still we gave up. We did not bring enough newspaper nor did we have kindling or twigs and so no toasted marshmallows for us.
The weather was fantastic and aided a great night of sleep. In the morning it was bacon and eggs to fuel our big hike. The dogs of course we among the earlier risers in the campground and so we were up and about early.
After our hike, everyone was tired and ready to lounge. Katina, Cannon and I took our places in the sun while Karma napped behind a car in the shade. Once the sun moved to take that shade away, we created some for him by stringing Katina’s rain fly between the tree and picnic table. Not the most elegant of solutions, but it worked – note to self: bring shade!
And then, late afternoon it rained. Hard. Katina and Cannon took to her car and Karma and I took to our tent. Unfortunately for Katina, Cannon had broken a key zipper earlier that day that was now letting water inside resulting in a wet sleeping bag and pad – ugh.
The rain stopped for a few hours – long enough to have a nice dinner, build a successful fire and dry out some of Katina’s things. But the wind picked up and embers were flying in every campsite. Cannon got cold and begged to curl up in his car but Karma was happy with the cooler temps and I just had to make sure one of the embers didn’t catch him on fire!
The rain started again just in time for lights out and Katina and Cannon decided against the tent and took to my SUV instead. (She has since purchased a new tent!) The wind was incredible that night – even Karma got a little nervous as to how much our tent was swaying!
The morning brought brief periods of non-rain and so we packed in between the drops and headed out earlier than planned. We had wanted to actually find that big meadow but decided not to wait around for the weather to clear and so we headed home. And yes, the weather ended up being beautiful!
Shenandoah National Park – North District – Elkswallow Wayside.
Just in case you forgot something when hiking, camping or just visiting the North District of the SNP, at mile 24.1 is the Elkswallow Wayside.
The Wayside is open from mid-April through fall and sells a large variety of goods in a compact space: Souvenirs, beer, wine, groceries, fuel and most importantly, firewood (remember, you cannot bring your own firewood into the park and it’s often tough to scavenge enough dry wood for a good fire!). They also have a lunch counter/deli and ice cream – a great treat for a hot day!
There is also a picnic area, staff to answer questions and a few items of clothing in case the weather changes or you need a clean, dry T-shirt!
Shenandoah National Park – North District – Matthew’s Arm
Time: Overnight
Gear: Camping checklist!
Difficulty Level: 1 paw
Scenery: 3 paws
Pack: You and your dog or a whole pack
OK, maybe “horribly” is a slight exaggeration. But let’s just say our nerves were as frayed as the ends of the 12’ web leash that Karma snapped two minutes after our arrival to our camp site at Matthew’s Arm.
But I’m getting ahead of my story, and a proper story should be told correctly.
Katina and I had decided on a quick one-night camping excursion at a site that had treated us well last year. Matthew’s Arm is about 22 miles in from the north entrance to the park. It has full bathrooms, several nearby trails and the Elkwallow Wayside store is just a few miles away for our firewood run (remember, you can’t bring your own firewood into the park).
Our little group arrived to our campsite sometime between three and four on Saturday afternoon. Our chosen site – Katina made the reservations online – was next to a couple with two dogs, one of whom seemed particularly annoyed with us, barking aggressively. Hmmm, not a great start.
So I did what I usually do, I tied Karma to the (small) tree on our site and turned to unpack the car. And suddenly, guess who’s standing next to me? Karma effortlessly broke his cotton-web long line and was now grinning wildly in front of me. When I tried to put him back in the car, he had a little tantrum that coincided with the neighboring camper with the angry dog wanting to come over to have the dogs meet. Ugh. Katina thankfully shooed her away and I wrestled Karma into the car. Whew. I was tired already. Meanwhile Cannon was patiently but excitedly waiting in his car – good boy!
So we decided to take the dogs for a quick lap around the campground to try to get the edge off our excited dogs. This lap would later prove to be not enough as we spent a good bit of the evening and next morning breaking up aggressive play among the two BFFs.
We did switch sites when we returned from our walk. Because there were open sites around us, Katina went back to the ranger station and asked to switch to a site we had noticed was empty – no problem. Our new site was against the woods and a group of boys we dubbed “Lord of the Flies” kept walking through the corner of our site in their quest for firewood. At least it gave the dogs something to agree upon – they barked and lunged in their direction every time.
When Karma busted his long line I was forced to loop three leashes together to create a decent tie out. Well – you guessed it – on one of the (last) times the Lord of the Flies crossed through the site, Karma busted another leash and met the kid at the wood’s exit. I give the kid credit, he just stood there while a hundred pounds of fur barked in his face. Ugh!
At some point before this we had opened the wine. We don’t usually drink that much, but the bottle was gone with the evening.
Oh but the fun doesn’t end there! The dogs continued to play too hard and we took turns breaking them up. They managed to break Cannon’s prong collar, at one point getting stuck together like two kids with braces. Finally, Cannon ended up in the car so we could have some peace. Oh, they also stole pieces of wood from each other, resulting in the line of the day from Katina: “It’s like buying your kid a 2×4 for Christmas.” She was right, sticks are not toys.
So finally after I ate my weight in marshmallows and Katina and I had enough, we crawled into our tents for the evening. Karma and I went quickly to sleep although some noisy campers partied late and loud into the night. Katina on the other hand ended up sleeping in her car because her sleeping bag and tent weren’t keeping them warm. Both she and Cannon (somehow) managed to curl up in the back seat of her Cavalier. She awoke to the Lord of the Flies boys staring right at her.
And so it was morning. Once Katina unfolded herself from the backseat, the dogs were ready to go – literally – and Karma drug me out of the tent after Cannon had poked his nose in to see if we were up. I was up!
At this point, Cannon is limping and Karma is pooping mulch (not kidding!) from all the wood he apparently ate the night before. A short walk nearly puts Katina in a rocky stream as Cannon decided to cross without warning. I still don’t know how she did it – in less than a second she bounded across athletically and was standing in front of me on the other side! Wow.
The dogs walked back to the site in an orderly fashion and Cannon went back into the car so as not to further injure his foot (he was fine by Monday). The original plan included a long hike this morning but that was now out of the question. Plus I had re-injured a rib so I was a mess, too. We ate one of Katina’s great breakfasts, packed and were out of the site at noon – check out time.
We survived!
As a result, we have some hints, suggestions, reminders:
- Bring extra dog tie outs! Same goes for anything else you can’t live without!
- Don’t forget you will have to buy firewood in the park because you can’t bring it in with you.
- Speaking of fire, bring newspaper or other fire starters to help the process along.
- Make campsite reservations but know that you probably can switch if your chosen site doesn’t have a tree or is next to a barking dog!
- Know that if you choose a site near a bathroom, you will get foot traffic – it’s a tradeoff so decide what’s more important to you.
- Your food must be locked up in your car if you leave your site. If you leave it out, the rangers will take your food and leave you with a note. You get the food back of course, but you have to go get it from them.
- Be nice to the rangers and all volunteers and staff you meet along the way – they make the park what it is! Say “thank you.”
- And remember, sticks aren’t toys! Bring something for your dog to do.
Shenandoah National Park – North District – 5-miler
Time: 3.5 hours
Length: 5 miles
Gear: daypack – lunch/snack – water – leash – map
Difficulty Level: 2 paws
Scenery: 4 paws
Pack: You and your dog – but trust your comfort level for hiking this distance in the woods on your own.
It’s a great thing that in little over an hour from Northern Virginia you can find yourself riding the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, along Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive. A quick drive west on I-66 brings you to Front Royal, VA and the north most entry point for the park. This beautiful mountain range offers a menu of options to those of us adventuring with our K-9 companions.
On this day Julie, Karma, Cannon and I set out to complete a 5-mile day hike that had eluded us back in April. And with a summer full of hiking and camping trips planned we each finally bought the park’s season pass at the entry station($15 fee for one week access, $30 fee for the season pass; there is no day pass). Then it was on to mile marker 21, the parking lot just past Hogback overlook on the west side of Skyline Drive. This parking area gets full on nice weekend days. We ended up parking along the road.
There are two trail markers at the south end of the parking lot, so make sure you’re headed in the right direction (I learned this lesson the hard way). We picked up the Appalachian Trail (AT) heading north, which from the start crosses the Skyline Drive. Just over a 1/4 mile in we took a right onto the Sugarloaf Trail (blue-blaze). The mile-and-a-half we trekked on this trail offered up lush woodland views and the trail was lined with blooming wildflowers. Great photo opp. Due to the rain earlier in the week, we found mountain streams running across several sections of the trail. This only slowed our progress when the dogs wanted to stop to get a drink or play in the water.
Tip: This is not the situation you want to find yourself in if you hike in sneakers. If you’re going to hike in this park you should upgrade your footwear.
From here we took a left onto the Pole Bridge Link Trail for just a half-mile and then another left at Fourway Junction, which is cleverly named for the fourway trail intersection, onto Keyser Run Fire Road. At Fourway Junction we found a nice spot to stop for lunch. There’s a portion of a downed tree that you can use to sit on for resting and eating lunch. It’s a shaded but open area at the junction – you can’t miss it. As Julie and I downed some lunch and watered the dogs a family passed with a Golden Retriever. Their dog was pulling hard to come say hello and his owners asked “is it okay if he says hello?” just as the introductory sniffing began. Though we don’t mind saying hello to friendly dogs/hikers along the way this visit meant dropping our lunches and seeing our settled dogs get amped up once again.
Tip: If you’re traveling with your dog remember to ask first if it’s okay to visit and don’t assume the answer will be “yes.”
It was a brief visit. We packed up our daypacks and headed up the fire road. This section of trail is wide enough to accommodate at truck. It was a nice break from the single-file formation we’d taken walking in.
At the top of the trail we crossed over the skyline drive for the second time. We quickly came to a T and headed left, back on the AT but this time heading south. With that last turn behind us, we ascended a short rise and were rewarded with an overlook on Little Hogback Mountain to the Shenandoah Valley and beyond. Moving on – we descended a short distance and followed the trail right (double white blaze) to descend further and then make our way up the first crest of Hogback Mountain. There are approx. 10 switchbacks here to help you up the slope. We took a short stop half-way up to get some water and then it was a quick couple more minutes until we reached the top. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any views through the trees.
The trail wasn’t without its rewards though. A little further on the AT and we came to a rocky overlook that sits next to a radio tower. Karma thought he was in heaven as he stood at the edge of the rock jetty. He was truly in his element. This is the highest point in the park’s North District and Hogback Mountain’s second crest. After several photos were taken, Julie called Karma to press on.
We descended towards Skyline Drive and crossed over for the third time. A short distance and we could see our cars and headed over the drive for the fourth and final time. The trip took us just around 3.5 hours to complete. We didn’t take much time loading the dogs back into the car and hit’n the road. After all we had to reward ourselves for the afternoon hike and so we stopped for ice cream on the way through Front Royal.
In review: I highly recommend this trip! The Hogback Mountain switchbacks were the most strenuous part of the hike. Otherwise, I’d categories this as an easy trip. If you wanted to do this hike and skip the switchbacks, you could follow the Skyline Drive south (left) when you come to the top of Keyser Run Fire Road. You can either hop back on the AT further down or walk the road back to your car. There’s plenty of grassy shoulder to keep walkers safe along the drive and the speed limit is only 35 mph. This makes for a safe walk even with dogs and kids.
Directions for this hike:
- From the parking lot after Hogback Mountain Overlook, mile 21, cross over the skyline drive on the Appalachian Trail (AT) north
- Turn right onto Sugarloaf Trail (blue blazes)
- At the T go left onto Pole Bridge Link Trail (blue blazes)
- At Fourway Junction stop for lunch or a snack and then go left up Keyser Run Fire Road
- Cross the Skyline Drive and take a left at the T to hop back on the AT, heading South
- Ascend Hogback Mountain via the switchbacks
- Continue straight on the AT and then descend, crossing Skyline Drive
- Follow the AT, cross Skyline Drive to return to the parking lot
- Celebrate with an ice cream and a treat for your pup
Shenandoah National Park – North District – Hogback Overlook
This past Saturday I had the good fortune to do my first hike of the year with two great friends, two cute dogs and on a gorgeous but windy day. I’m all about planning, so before the trek I carefully picked out a route that 1) I hadn’t done before so I could see some new sites and 2) would be just the right amount of time to scratch the outdoors itch but not leave me limping for the next three days. I made a list of gear to bring and an itinerary for the day, which I shared with my gal pals. All there was left to do was make it out to Shenandoah National Park and hit the trail.
The girls and I parked at the lot just past Hogback Overlook. The dogs were going crazy greeting each other and I just couldn’t wait to get going. Having thoroughly reviewed the map of the 5.2 mile loop and having read through the hike description several times we were off! Start at the cement marker at the south side of the parking lot, check. At the next trail marker take a right and follow the blue blazes down a wooded hillside, check. Pass by Mathew’s Arm campground… errr, wait, what? Ugh… Mathew’s Arm campground is not on the map and I should know cause I’m supposed to be the leader of this hiking party, the one who’s got all the details covered, right?
Fortunately it was a good time to stop and grab some lunch and let the dogs play. As I pulled out my map and directions and stared dumfounded I realize that there must have been a second cement marker at the south side of the parking lot, one that would take us across Skyline Drive and around our planned loop. How could I have missed this? My hiking partners were good sports about it all, though I’m sure I’m not gonna live this one down for a while (1 year, 2 years – only time will tell).
At the end of the day, we put in a good 3 hours of hiking and there’s the promise a do-over to conquer our originally planned trek. The dogs were tired. We felt somewhat accomplished and happily celebrated with some hike’s-end cupcakes :) Did I feel dumb? Yeah. Will I redeem myself next time? Definitely!!
