Our second day of hiking the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park continued another 5.0 miles from Beagle Gap to Sawmill Run Overlook. The first 1.8 miles of our day hike, from McCormick Gap to Beagle Gap, can be found here.
From the parking area, the trail gradually climbs through a meadow and into the woods. A 2012 re-route of the trail then heads northwesterly before turning northeasterly as it climbs Little Calf Mountain. The grassy summit at 2910' is reached in about 0.9 miles and provides some great vistas. The trail then follows the ridge to the summit of 2974' Calf Mountain at about 1.6 miles before descending via a lengthy switchback toward Skyline Drive. A short spur trail to the left leads to the Calf Mountain shelter. Momentarily leaving the woods, the trail parallels Skyline Drive while passing under the Dominion Virginia Power power lines.
Just beyond the power lines, the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) sign denotes the unofficial entry into Shenandoah National Park. From what we have seen, the PATC volunteers have done a great job of maintaining the AT through the park. The trail continues to descend as it passes below Jarman Gap on its way to the South Fork Moormans River. After following the small stream for a distance, the trail climbs to an unnamed ridge that divides the Moormans River watershed on the east from the Sawmill Run watershed on the west. A fairly steep half mile descent ends as the trail crosses Skyline Drive. The Sawmill Run Overlook is just a few steps to the left of the trail and provides a nice view to the southwest.
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| Topographic map with GPS route |
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| Elevation profile |
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| A pass through keeps the pasture gate closed |
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| Upper end of the pasture |
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| Trail enters the open woods |
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| Wooden posts are used by trail maintainers outside the park |
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| Trail skirts a boulder... |
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| ...and passes a large rock outcrop... |
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| ...before switching back as it climbs the mountain |
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| Summit of Little Calf Mountain |
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| View from the summit |
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| Towers on Bear Den Mountain |
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| Trail toward Calf Mountain summit |
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| The trail crosses a three-foot high rock outcrop |
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| Swallowtail butterfly |
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| Calf Mountain summit cairn |
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| More boulders on the side of the mountain |
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| Sign marking the 0.3 mile spur trail to the Calf Mountain shelter |
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| Rocks border the descending trail |
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| Looking west under the Dominion Virginia Power high voltage lines |
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| Common blue violets (Viola sororia) under the power lines |
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| Re-vegetation project after power line construction |
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| Unofficial park entrance sign |
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| Skyline Drive is so close, yet so far |
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| Concrete post marks a spring that seeps across the trail |
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| Looking upstream at the spring |
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| The trail crosses a fire road that leads left down to Jarman Gap in 0.1 miles |
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| A trail switchback turns at a second, larger spring |
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| View upstream of the ephemeral stream above the spring |
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| The trail crosses the Moormans River fire road |
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| A 0.1 mile climb up the fire road leads to Jarman Gap |
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| The trail continues to follow the upper reaches of the South Fork Moormans River downstream |
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| A final view of the river... |
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| ...before the trail begins to climb out of the watershed |
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| A switchback on the way up |
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| View from atop the ridge at 2453' |
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| The green of the stream side is replaced with the dry leaves and sturdy mosses of the ridge |
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| The trail passes through a long thicket on the ridge |
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| Trail emerges onto Skyline Drive |
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| View from Sawmill Run Overlook |
A Shenandoah National Park entry fee of $20 per vehicle, $15 per motorcycle or $10 per person is valid for seven consecutive days. Other fee payment options include the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes including the Annual Pass ($80), Senior Pass ($10 for lifetime), Access Pass (free with documented disability) and Military Annual Pass (free for active duty personnel).
The Shenandoah National Park website is https://www.nps.gov/shen/index.htm.
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail website is https://www.nps.gov/appa/index.htm.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy website is http://www.appalachiantrail.org/.
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