Old Dominion Wildlife

A circuit hike down the Cedar Run Trail and back up through Whiteoak Canyon is an excellent and challenging hike in Shenandoah National Park. There are numerous waterfalls along the route and hikers can enjoy the numerous swimming holes in the summer, if they don’t mind cold mountain water.

Opposite the Hawksbill Gap Parking area, the Cedar Run Trail descends 2.7 miles past cascades, pools, and waterfalls to an intersection with the Cedar Run-Whiteoak Canyon Link Trail. After descending on rocky trail for some time, the 0.8 mile Link Trail is pleasant to walk on before arriving at the Whiteoak Canyon Trail. A left turn onto the Whiteoak Canyon Trail begins the ascent back up the Blue Ridge. In addition to more waterfalls and pools, there are some nice overlooks from the canyon wall. After 2.1 miles up on the Whiteoak Canyon Trail, you arrive at an intersection where you cross Whiteoak Run and turn left onto the Skyland-Big Meadows Horse Trail. From there, the horse trail follows the Whiteoak Fire Road for 1.6 miles before turning left for another half mile back to the Cedar Run Trail. Turn right on Cedar Run Trail and follow it a few feet to the parking area.

Wildlife

On a recent Cedar Run-Whiteoak Canyon circuit hike with my wife, we saw a ringneck snake, black bear, raspberry bush, and Turk’s Cap lilies.

Directions

The Cedar Run Trailhead at the Hawksbill Gap Parking area is located between Mileposts 45 and 46 on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.

It is also possible to hike a similar circuit, omitting the Link Trail, starting from the bottom of the ridge instead of the top. There is a parking area outside of Shenandoah National Park along route 600. To reach the parking area from Sperryville, Virginia (U.S. Route 211), take Route 231 South, make a right on Route 643, and make another right on Route 600 and continue to the Whiteoak Canyon parking area on your left.

Resources

The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club maintains hundreds of miles of hiking trails in the Mid-Atlantic region, including many in Shenandoah National Park. The club also publishes maps and guidebooks available online for purchase. The Cedar Run and Whiteoak Canyon areas are shown on their map #10.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 at 5:46 pm and is filed under articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.