McAfee Knob
Catawba, VA · RoanokeFree
From the ledge on McAfee Knob, 3,197 feet up Catawba Mountain in Roanoke County, Virginia, the view runs 270 degrees. The hike starts across Route 311 from the lot and follows…
Photo: National Park Service (Shenandoah National Park) / Public domain · source
Mountains
Shenandoah National Park
About
Shenandoah National Park is about 75 miles from Washington, D.C., and its one public road, Skyline Drive, runs 105 miles south from Front Royal, Virginia. End to end it takes about three hours, though snow or ice can close it for several days. Fall, when color usually runs from late September through November, is the busiest season, with the longest entrance lines at Front Royal and Thornton Gap, so come in at Swift Run Gap or Rockfish Gap. Trailheads go by milepost: Stony Man at 41.7 is an easy 1.6 miles round trip, and Dark Hollow Falls at 50.7 is a steep, rocky 1.4-mile circuit, with dogs barred from both. Old Rag, a strenuous rock scramble, starts on the park's eastern edge, an hour or more from the Drive's visitor centers. From March 1 through November 30 it needs a day-use ticket from Recreation.gov on top of the entrance pass.
Highlights
Skyline Drive, 105 milesOld Rag scramble, day-use ticketDark Hollow Falls, 1.4-mile circuitStony Man and Skyland area trailsBig Meadows wildlife and wildflowersDickey Ridge Visitor Center
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