We continued our mid-October 2020 visit to Shenandoah National Park with another short hike on the Appalachian Trail. However, it wasn't the hike we had planned, but it was still on the AT. Even better, it was away from the crowds.
When we first talked about hiking segments of the AT, we decided that we would self-shuttle by having two vehicles available to us. This was many years before the pandemic and has proven to save us time and energy by allowing us to hike one-way and ride back to our starting point. Rental vehicles are fairly inexpensive considering all our costs when planning our trips. Before the pandemic, we stayed in motels or lodges and often ate at restaurants when traveling as camping is beyond our abilities at this stage of life. On this trip, we stayed at Skyland and ate at the socially-distanced restaurant. While this may not work for you, it has worked for us and allowed us to visit most of the national parks in the United States.
We had planned to hike from Skyland Upper Loop (North) to Stony Man Mountain Overlook, also known as Hughes River Gap, but we couldn't find legal parking at the Skyland Upper Loop (North). We could have started hiking from our room or the restaurant, but realized that a full parking lot of forty or so vehicles meant a trail full of people that we should avoid due to COVID-19 restrictions. So we decided to postpone hiking that segment of the AT and drove north on Skyline Drive looking for another segment to hike. Parking was plentiful at Stony Man Mountain Parking, so we planned to start hiking from there and kept driving north looking for our next parking opportunity. We found one vacant spot at Corbin Cabin Cutoff Parking and took it. There are seven perpendicular parking spots here including one designated for disability. This parking lot is in a small ess-curve on the west side of Skyline Drive, so visibility is limited when backing out onto the parkway. We drove back to Stony Man Mountain Overlook and started our hike north to the Corbin Cabin Cutoff Parking area.
The hike starts at the south end of the massive Little Stony Man Parking area. This paved lot does not have paint striping designating parking, but it should as people park in a variety of creative ways. The 270 foot access trail has alternately paved, gravel, and natural surfaces. At the AT, we turned right and headed north for a 1.2 mile hike. The trail descends about 50 feet in the first quarter mile (less than -4% average grade) before climbing 150 feet (11%) in the second quarter mile. From there, the trail descends 175 feet (-13%) in the third quarter mile. Finally, the trail climbs another 150 feet in 0.22 miles (+13%) before dipping 60 feet and climbing 20 feet in the final 0.2 miles. At the trail junction, we turned right and walked about 180 feet to our vehicle.
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| Topographic map with GPS route |
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| Elevation profile |
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| Stony Man Mountain Overlook, aka Little Stony Man Parking and Hughes River Gap |
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| View of Shenandoah Valley from the parking area |
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| AT access trail |
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| Stay right onto the gravel path to reach the AT |
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| Approaching the AT |
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| AT trail junction (turn right to head north) |
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| Looking back at the steep access trail |
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| Typical trail conditions below the parking area |
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| Entering a tunnel of vegetation |
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| Back out in the sunshine |
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| Side-hill climbing |
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| Passing a boulder field |
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| Downed tree across the pathway |
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| Fairly level stretch about midway up the first hill |
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| Double blaze and a signpost for Nicholson Hollow Trail |
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| Resuming the climb |
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| Understated summit of the first hill |
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| Another double blaze and a signpost for a second junction with the Nicholson Hollow Trail |
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| Side-hill descent |
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| Continuing the descent |
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| Hughes River Gap |
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| Climbing the second hill |
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| Enough rock for stone stairs |
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| More climbing |
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| Still more climbing |
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| Open forest |
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| More climbing |
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| Trail junction for Corbin Cabin Cutoff |
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| Access trail |
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| Skyline Drive and the parking area |
A Shenandoah National Park entry fee of $30 per vehicle, $25 per motorcycle, or $15 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 ($80 for a lifetime), Access Pass (free with a documented disability), and Military Annual Pass (free for active-duty personnel). Also available is a Shenandoah Annual Pass for $55.
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