Skip to content

how to hike old rag

i’ve actually received several emails from different people asking for advice about hiking ye olde’ ragge’; i’m happy to comply by providing a bit of semi-solicited advice. laura and i are proud card-carrying shenandoah members (annual pass is definitely the way to go), and we’ve hiked the majority of the loops and peaks in the northern half of the park.

if your looking for a nice weekend daytrip, then the fabled old rag is the seminal shenandoah experience for you. you can get lots of advice and reviews of the trail with a mere google, but most people tend to be wimpy. judge their comments accordingly. in truth, the trail itself is not particularly challenging. the climb and descent are both fairly gradual, as compared to some of the other hikes in the region. but, of course, the mountaintop boulder scramble is absolutely wonderful. the following are some essential lessons that we’ve garnered from our wilderness wanderings.

  1. though tempting, don’t hike old rag from the parking lots along skyline drive. skyline is absolutely beautiful…it’s true. by all means, drive the road sometime. enter the park through the port royal gate, and buy an annual pass. but don’t do this on the same day as your old rag hike. laura and i made this mistake on our first trip to the park. it’s absolutely possible to use the network of fire roads to hike down the east side of shenandoah and access the old rag trailhead, but this route ends up costing you a lot of time and distance. done this way, the loop is 16-18 miles, which is entirely feasible. but it’s not really good distance, as it entails a fairly boring 4 mile access hike in and out. i’m not detering the distance; we’ve actually done 20 milers in the park. just give yourself the benefit of fun and scenery while you’re at it.
  2. the trailhead parking lot is located at 38.57036 -78.28705. punch this into your gps (or google maps). if you haven’t bought an annual pass, then you need to stop here to pay the entrance fee. it’s an honor system, but be kind to our nation’s fledgling park system. once you pay, continue up by car into the woods. you’ll dead-end at the more western parking lot in about 1/2 mile. stop there. here’s a map of the trails in the immediate vicinity – picture-1
  3. go early. seriously, old rag sucks when populated. you want to be the only one(s) on the mountain. leave dc at 6ish to be there at 7:30ish, and you’ll be golden.
  4. hike the loop counter-clockwise. it’s way more fun to descend the boulder scramble.
  5. include a hike up robertson mountain on your way. it’s situated right next to old rag, and very few people climb it. it’s easily accessed from the fire road as you start your hike. the summit is not nearly as scenic, and there’s no real bouldering. nonetheless, it’s a crazy place scarred by recent forest fires. it’s much steeper, too.
  6. follow this route and you’ll be happy.picture-2 i included a screenshot of our favorite method. i also uploaded the route to usatf, and you can access the link here.
  7. pet old rag dog, and give him a snack if he hikes the entire thing with you ;)

Post a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.