Confession: this was my first hike in the GW National Forest this summer. Strange considering that I was down in Shenandoah a handful of other times, and hiking elsewhere in MD/VA on other weekends. The GW National Forest is nice for its free admission and relatively lighter crowds as opposed to the more popular Shenandoah.
Anyway, I picked this hike because it was a) somewhat long, and b) it wouldn't put me over zipcar's max 180 miles roundtrip (i think the trailhead was about 86 miles from my address in Northwest D.C.). I have heard from friends who've done it on Saturday that it is fairly crowded for a National Forest hike, but I went on a Thursday (perks of having a free week to chill in D.C. after my internship ended), and only saw two mountain bikers the entire time. The trail is somewhat narrow so if there are mountain bikers on a busier weekend, I could see that being a bit annoying.
The trail is extremely well-marked, which is saying something because I am terrible at finding trails. The loop mapped out on hikingupward has you on the Orange Massanutten trail for the first half, and then looping around on the Blue Tuscarora trail. There are two ascents during this hike-- the first is gradual but sort of lasts forever. The second is really short-lived but quite steep, and at that point you're 6-7 miles into the hike and are sort of like "whyyyy." or at least, that's how I felt. It was a great hike though-- the lookout point at Signal Knob is almost exactly halfway into the hike. Definitely not as nice of views as Hawksbill Mountain, Old Rag, or some of those others, but nice nonetheless. Also, even though I was hiking in August, the colors in the forest were still pretty spectacular- trees in full bloom, lots of orange and pink going on.
I finished the hike in just about 4 hours even, far below the hikingupward recommendation of 5.5 hours. I was moving pretty quickly, which is easier when by oneself, but I'd say you'd be hard-pressed to spend much more than 4.5-5 hours even if you're being more leisurely about the whole thing. Definitely recommend this hike because it's strenuous but not too much so, and pleasantly quiet (although I can't speak for the weekend).
Trail Name: Signal Knob
Distance (RT): 9.9 according to hikingupward, about 10.5 according to the trailhead map
Elevation change: 2,680 feet
Time: 4-4.5 hours
Anyway, I picked this hike because it was a) somewhat long, and b) it wouldn't put me over zipcar's max 180 miles roundtrip (i think the trailhead was about 86 miles from my address in Northwest D.C.). I have heard from friends who've done it on Saturday that it is fairly crowded for a National Forest hike, but I went on a Thursday (perks of having a free week to chill in D.C. after my internship ended), and only saw two mountain bikers the entire time. The trail is somewhat narrow so if there are mountain bikers on a busier weekend, I could see that being a bit annoying.
The trail is extremely well-marked, which is saying something because I am terrible at finding trails. The loop mapped out on hikingupward has you on the Orange Massanutten trail for the first half, and then looping around on the Blue Tuscarora trail. There are two ascents during this hike-- the first is gradual but sort of lasts forever. The second is really short-lived but quite steep, and at that point you're 6-7 miles into the hike and are sort of like "whyyyy." or at least, that's how I felt. It was a great hike though-- the lookout point at Signal Knob is almost exactly halfway into the hike. Definitely not as nice of views as Hawksbill Mountain, Old Rag, or some of those others, but nice nonetheless. Also, even though I was hiking in August, the colors in the forest were still pretty spectacular- trees in full bloom, lots of orange and pink going on.
I finished the hike in just about 4 hours even, far below the hikingupward recommendation of 5.5 hours. I was moving pretty quickly, which is easier when by oneself, but I'd say you'd be hard-pressed to spend much more than 4.5-5 hours even if you're being more leisurely about the whole thing. Definitely recommend this hike because it's strenuous but not too much so, and pleasantly quiet (although I can't speak for the weekend).
Trail Name: Signal Knob
Distance (RT): 9.9 according to hikingupward, about 10.5 according to the trailhead map
Elevation change: 2,680 feet
Time: 4-4.5 hours
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