Tag: Piney Branch

Hogback Mountain Loop (Shenandoah National Park, VA)

On By Andrew WojtanikIn Moderate Hikes, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia3 Comments

At 3,474 feet, Hogback Mountain is the highest peak in the North District of Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park. Although the summit is not accessible by trail, the modest Hogback Mountain Loop offers fine vistas looking north across Shenandoah Valley to nearby Massanutten Mountain. There is also a pleasant creek crossing at Piney Branch to top …

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Piney Branch Loop (Rock Creek Park, DC)

On By Andrew WojtanikIn District of Columbia, Moderate Hikes, Rock Creek Park2 Comments

Situated just north of today’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood in Washington, DC, Piney Branch carves a wooded valley that was a longtime source of quartzite and boasted the first road through what would become Rock Creek Park. A smattering of trails zig-zag across the steam valley, but the description below covers a 1.5-mile loop around the …

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