Live and Let Hike hit its stride in 2016, nearly tripling the number of visitors and page views seen in 2015. I also passed a new milestone—my 200th blog post—and greatly expanded the geographic breadth and depth of hike descriptions, including posts from Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, DC, and Quebec. Taking a break …
- Revolutionary War Series - Forming a 1.1-mile circuit starting and ending at the Visitor Center, I’ve dubbed this hike in Virginia’s Prince William Forest Park—for lack of a better label—as the “Visitor Center Loop.” This is an ideal walk for those looking for a short and convenient stroll near the park entrance—perhaps an afternoon …
Continue reading Visitor Center Loop (Prince William Forest Park, VA)
More than a dozen hiking trails crisscross northern Virginia’s Sky Meadows State Park, situated on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains—and there is perhaps no better hike in the park than the moderately strenuous circuit described here. Scenic vistas abound as hikers make their way up South Ridge, head northeast along a section …
Continue reading South Ridge-Ambassador Whitehouse Trail Loop (Sky Meadows State Park, VA)
The area between Virginia’s Sky Meadows State Park and West Virginia’s Harper’s Ferry boasts a section of the Appalachian Trail (AT) billed as the “Roller Coaster,” one of the AT’s toughest, up-and-down grinds. This 5-mile out-and-back to Raven Rocks covers a piece of the Roller Coaster, a hilly affair that ends at a scenic vista …
Continue reading Appalachian Trail to Raven Rocks (North Blue Ridge area, VA/WV)
From the northern entrance of Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park, it takes more than 10 miles to clear Dickey Ridge and reach the “real” mountains of the Blue Ridge by car. 2,909-foot Compton Peak, situated 10.4 miles up Skyline Drive, is neither the park’s tallest promontory nor the prettiest, but it is the first of the …
Continue reading Appalachian Trail to Compton Peak (Shenandoah National Park, VA)
Like most marshy environments, the defining feature of the Mason Neck peninsula is, of course, the water that surrounds it. Despite being well upstream of the ocean, the Potomac River at Mason Neck still ebbs and flows with the Atlantic tides, and the inlets of Belmont Bay and Kane’s Creek give life to freshwater wetlands …
The Meadow View Trail in northern Virginia’s Mason Neck State Park features an excessive string of bridges to nowhere, monotonous woods, and a less-than-exciting finale: an overgrown patch of tall grasses that supposedly passes as a “meadow.” That said, it is the park’s newest trail and I suppose may be of interest to bird watchers …
Continue reading Dogue Trail & Meadow View Trail (Mason Neck State Park, VA)
Today, Kane’s Creek is a quiet and peaceful estuary in Virginia’s Fairfax County that provides a habitat for dozens of species of birds, including bald eagles, ospreys, and great blue herons. Going back in time to 1964, however, and Kane’s Creek was under threat: a pair of local landowners had just proposed turning the estuary—as …
Continue reading Kane’s Creek Trail & Eagle Spur Trail (Mason Neck State Park, VA)
Buzzard Rock, situated at the northeast corner of Virginia’s Massanutten Mountain, is not a singular monolith as the name implies. Rather, it is a razor-toothed spine of sandstone more than a quarter mile long, perched high above Fort Valley and Passage Creek. While it lacks the heights of the nearby Signal Knob Loop, this 4.5-mile …
Continue reading Buzzard Rock via Shawl Gap (George Washington National Forest, VA)
Today, Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park is beloved by picnickers, nature-goers, and adventurers on America’s East Coast. While few dispute the merits of conservation to protect majestic lands like the Blue Ridge Mountains, it is important to recognize, however, the costs of seizing land for federal protection. Shenandoah’s Fox Hollow Trail—situated across Skyline Drive from the …
Continue reading Fox Hollow Trail (Shenandoah National Park, VA)
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