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Book Excerpt Below

ISBN: 0-89732-526-5

A national treasure since 1935, Shenandoah National Park offers 500 miles of stunning hiking trails, including 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Completely updated and featuring five new hikes, the latest edition details the best day and overnight hikes among the hundreds of available options. Day & Overnight Hikes Shenandoah National Park is loaded with details to supplement the descriptive narrative, such as UTM and latitude/longitude coordinates for each trailhead, ratings for scenery and difficulty, a detailed trail map, and a handy elevation profile.
 

Book Excerpt

Furnace Mountain via Blackrock

Key At-a-Glance Information

Once you finish enjoying the outstanding views of Blackrock Summit with other hikers, the hike to Furnace Mountain leaves the crowds behind to enter one of the park's more remote areas. Be careful, the trail is rocky. So take your time and enjoy the solitude of Furnace Mountain.

Leave the Blackrock parking area on the wide roadbed of the Trayfoot Mountain Trail. Begin climbing and intersect the narrower Appalachian Trail at .1 mile. Head south on the level-running AT to intersect the Blackrock Spur Trail at .4 mile, passing through a rock jumble with fine views into Dundo Hollow to your right. Turn right on the Blackrock Spur Trail and descend, passing between some very large boulders. Trayfoot Mountain is close up and to your left. Furnace Mountain is beyond Trayfoot Mountain and to your right. Intersect the Trayfoot Mountain Trail at .5 mile.

Turn right on the Trayfoot Mountain Trail and descend to a gap, then begin climbing a grassy ridge with many dead trees, victims of the gypsy moth. The moths defoliate trees. They were introduced to the northeastern United States from Europe in 1869. They reached Shenandoah in 1983.

At mile 1.6, you'll come to your fourth trail junction. Leave the Trayfoot Mountain Trail and turn right on the Furnace Mountain Trail. Drop down the northern flank of Trayfoot Mountain and pass through a talus slope. The loose rock makes for tough footing. The trail loses elevation steadily, making two sharp turns, first to the left, then to the right, arriving at a gap at mile 2.4. The ridge narrows here as you cross an open forest of pine and mountain laurel.

Come to the side trail to the Furnace Mountain summit at mile 3.2. Turn right on the spur trail and begin climbing. As you climb, wide views of the Shenandoah Valley open to your left. Descend slightly on the north side of Furnace Mountain to reach a rock outcrop overlooking the lower canyon of Madison Run in Dundo Hollow. Directly across the canyon is Austin Mountain. To your right is the main crest of the Blue Ridge. Relax and enjoy the view, you'll most likely have it all to yourself.

Directions

From Rockfish Gap entrance station, head north on Skyline Drive for 19.9 miles to Blackrock parking area, mile 84.8, on your left.