October 16,17 2023 Three hikes in Shenandoah National Park

 Shenandoah National Park

Mark, Seth, and I spent a couple of days exploring the north part of the park and while there we did 3 hikes: 

Stony man Overlook, 

Dark Hollow Falls

Rapidan Camp.

Stony Man Overlook

length:  1.5 miles

elevation gain: 321 feet

We parked at the Stony Man parking lot and set out on the Appalachian Trail.  The Appalachian Trail goes thru the park and we were able to hike on it a little ways.  

There are blazes on the trees to tell you what trail you are on.  They are a vertical rectangle painted on the tree at eye level.  The color corresponds to the trail it is on.  

  At the intersection we went on to the Stony Man trail to get to the overlook.  You end up on a large rocky area and you can see for miles.  I

This was a good hike to go on.  We got to do a bit the Appalachian trail, it looked like the rest of the trails in the area, and the overlook was amazing.

Dark Hollow Falls

From a parking lot by Skyline Drive we hiked down a utility road, a fire road, to get to the falls.  It was an easy walk, and there were other families with young kids on the trail.  We got to some falls and it was pretty then we headed up the hill to some other falls.  

The falls were beautiful although busy, but we got a photo.  

We took one for someone and they took one for us.  

After leaving these falls we took a different trail back, the Dark Hollow Falls Trail.  This was a steep trail.  This section doesn't show it, but we seriously wondered if some of the other hikers were going to make it.

Look!  We saw a deer! From the Dark Hollow Falls trail we followed 

the Skyland Big Meadows Horse Trail back to where we were parked.  

Rapidan Camp

The next day we hiked to Rapidan Camp.  I thought it sounded interesting and I'm so glad we went! Rapidan Camp was the summer home for President and Mrs. Hoover during his presidency.   We started at the Milam Gap Trailhead and took the Mill Prong Trail. The colors were beautiful on this trail.  The leaves on the ground were like colorful confetti.  It was about 3.7 miles, 748 elevation gain.  

One of the unique trail markers.

The  trail goes through the forest.  Lots of it is flat 

like this but there are definitely some ups and downs.

Here are some of the beauties along the trail.

On the left you can see some small falls we passed.

The bridge over the creek.

Rapidan Camp was the summer home for Herbert and Lou Hoover while he was president.  This was just before it was Shenandoah National Park.  The Hoovers had lots of money and he didn't accept a salary as president.  They paid to build the camp. (1929ish) It isn't fancy by today's standards but it was a lovely place.  Not everything is still standing but we were able to tour his cabin and one other.  We also hiked up Camp Hoover Road a ways.  The Hoover's cabin was called The Brown House and there was a tour guide to show us through.

                            The Brown House (instead of the White House!)

Exploring near the camp. Then we took the same trail back to our starting point.

It was a beautiful hike through the forest and interesting history at Rapidan Camp.  It was nearly 4 miles plus the time we spent there, but I'm glad we had time for it.