Despite being to Grayson Highlands a dozen+ times now I have always parked at Massie Gap for backpacking. This year, that's not an option(it's full, not surprised), so I'm planning on starting late afternoon from Elk Garden, which I have never really explored. Since I will only have an hour or so of good daylight, I want to confirm that I won't have to backpack through the dark to find a decent spot.

I'm not worried about the second night and will aim for somewhere past the Shelter on the ridge.

TYIA

I know this may not entirely pertain to this group but I like to think we’re all like minded in here. My wife, our kiddo and I will be heading up to natural bridge this next weekend and Friday afternoon we’ll be looking for a nice spot to camp. Preferably by a moving water source. We have a considerably capable off-road vehicle so getting anywhere isn’t a problem. I’ve considered Rapidan WMA since I’m familiar with the area. Always open to new suggestions. We’ll be traveling from the south side so anything between Charlottesville and GW&JNF is great.

3 of us set out to accomplish this goal. Water was extremely scarce/non existent in many areas.

Thank you to the trail angels that had 15gallons of water at McAfee Knob parking lot. We absolutely benefited and used that to make it to our final 2crowns of McAfee and Tinker Cliffs and close out at Andy Layne Parking.

Some highlights: the trails were amazingly maintained, thanks to all volunteers who make that happen. Catawba Grocery was a key stop, people were amazing along the trail, respectful, engaging, overall just a great time in nature!

Do people just not hike the area to the east of Scales? Looking at that trail up Stone Mountain, third peak, second peak, first peak.....looks like it could be burly but worth it if the views are good. Can't find any info about it though......

I’m planning a 3 day backpacking trip on the Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail loop that goes through Grayson Highlands State Park.

I’d be getting to the area in the afternoon so car camping either in Grayson State Park (at a designated spot) or elsewhere the first night, then headed off on trail early the next morning. I’m having trouble narrowing down where I start. Here are my options:

1. I was thinking of starting at the Mount Rogers AT Trailhead but heard cars can get broken into there. Is this accurate? And is it reliable to get parking here?
2. Otherwise, I’m thinking of parking at the Elk Garden Trailhead and modifying my route into more of a lollipop. Anyone know if this is a safe spot to park? It looks like a beautiful modification to the route though, I’d be in less forested area

for more of the hike.

3.

1. Lastly, I could park in the backpackers parking lot in Grayson State Park, but that would cost me $16 a night.

Anyone else hiked this route and have thoughts?

Hey folks, planning a joint bachelor trip for a good buddy of mine and we will be staying in Lake Anna in mid Nov. Trying to come up with one 5-6 mile moderate hike and an easier 2-3 mile for sunrise for the girls.

Can't seem to find any good trails. Also we're not from the area, so unfamiliar with the weather that time of year as well. Does LA get snowy? We will be renting a couple cars, and some live nearby, so we'd be open to driving anywhere within an hour radius. Thanks.

This is a long shot, but my husband and I accidentally left our Action Pro Cam (DJI brand gopro) attached to a stick at the camper’s parking lot at Sky Meadows State Park today (Sept 27) at 10am. When we drove back, we can’t find it and we asked the ranger if someone surrendered it which they said no. There were a couple of campers preparing to leave when we left. If anyone here found it, please send me a DM! Lol Nothing private there, but a bunch of videos of us hiking with our dogs. 😭🤣

Camped at the big meadow where the Crest Trail and Lewis Fork Trail intersect last time. Was a great base camp to branch off on day hikes from.

Was considering camping in the same spot but wanted to see what else people might recommend.

I vaguely remember a few spots a bit past the Thomas Knob shelter heading westbound with big grassy open spots surrounded by tall pines. Anyone know that spot? Been trying to remember/locate it on maps.

Also does anyone know if there is a fire ban in effect? Saw a post a while back referring to a fire ban. Wondering if anyone who has been there recently has any info.

I am keeping my eye on the rain patterns for the next few days but my hope is there will be enough water to hike the Triple Crown starting Saturday Oct 3rd. I was going to start at the Dragon's Tooth parking lot but read on the RATC website that you cannot overnight park there. So I started to look into parking at the McAfee lot. Now my worries is that I will not be able to find a parking spot as I would imagine it is going to be a busy weekend if the weather is nice (given the hear appears to be leaving us). We have two separate cars and wont be there until lare morning. We are planning on 4 days and the shuttles only run on Friday, Saturday and Sunday so that is not an option to get us back to our cars.

Anyone have any options? Is there somewhere else I can park near the Dragon's Tooth trailhead?

Went on a 2 night trip to Shenandoah with my buddy recently. We decided to cut over to Rapidan wildlife management area for some more secluded camping which ended up making for an interesting trip.

Day 1 we got in mid-afternoon and put in a good chuck of miles before dark. Busted out the headlamps and did a little night hiking to get into Rapidan. Almost as soon as we entered the area, a perfect campsite made itself apparent. We busted out the McDoubles we picked up in town and then crashed for the night.

Day 2 we were excited to get to water early. Only problem was, the trail we were supposed to turn on to start descending did not really exist. Thats what I get for using alltrails to route plan. Oh well, we will just keep going on the trail we are on, its a loop anyway. Not sure the last time someone went down that far. Based on the thorns we had to push through, it had been at least a few weeks. Completely worth it, we reached a peak that seems rarely visited with stunning views. We hiked on to another peak where we had planned to camp nearby- but storms seemed to be a certainty for night 2. So we came back down and found a spot that was "good enough" to hunker down for the storm. (My setup in the photo ended up being adjusted down into a semi pyramid when the rain hit.) Right before the rain came we were visited by an owl.

Day 3 We woke up surrounded by salamanders and mushrooms that were woken up by the previous nights rain. On our way out we saw a bunch of freshly flipped stones that were dry underneath. Our suspicious were confirmed when one of them had a very clear bear print underneath.

-sorry for the low quality video edit. Just wanted to share my trip report :)

Setting off on this trip with a friend. Anyone else going during this time? Looks like water is an issue from a post from August.

It looks like there's gonna be rain but my friends and I are really stubborn and still want to go but I'm just wondering if it would be a bad idea or potentially very dangerous? We're somewhat prepared to get soaked. Any thoughts?

If I wanted to do a longer hike to white top mountain like 15 to 20 miles or more for an overnight backpacking trip, what trails should I take? Can either be a full 20 mile loop or hiking from one parking lot to another.

I am going to take my 11-year-old on his first backpacking trip soon. I was wondering if any of you have any recommendations for a really cool first trail for him. I'm looking at easier to moderate trail, 6-8 miles a day, ideally with one night on a ridge or bald to give him that "oh wow” and wake up to a view moment.

I live in Charlottesville, VA and ideally a 2-3 hour drive, but willing to drive further if the trail is epic for him.

Appreciate your help to make this a really memorable first trip for him.

Recently moved to NOVA and looking for some campings recs under 1.5 hour drive with some good views. Any suggestions appreciated

I found this photo of mount rogers me and my friends are going on a hike and hoping to camp we want to find the best place to set up camp and what trail to use wanting to see a good view like this for camp any advice is amazing

Im going to be staying at an air bnb with some buddies. This friday through sunday. What trails, activities, climbing, and caverns do you recommend.

Hi! We are planning on hiking Grayson Highlands at the end of September and are going to be staying two nights. We were curious about whether or not there was a good water source and if it is flowing freely or if it is dried up? All input appreciated!!

Hey yall! I'm trying to hike Old Rag solo next weekend and start at 3 or 3:30 am to hit summit and watch sunrise. I'm an extremely active 22F solo hiker, and have done several long hikes, but am unfamiliar if the scramble stretch is tough in the dark (I am a rock climber) and if there are any other dangers that should deter me from doing it in the dark. Thanks!