The Peak Hike


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Length	Difficulty	Streams	Views	Solitude	Camping
16.8 mls					N/A
Hiking Time: Elev. Gain: Links: Resources:	7.5 hours plus a half hour for lunch 3,255 ft Shenandoah National Park Topo Hike Trails Map (PDF) Sperryville Weather Forecast Garmin (GDB), Gaia/Trails App (GPX) (What's this?) 3D View of Route
From:	Park at the Gravel Springs Gap parking area. 38.76790, -78.23351 Alternately you can park at the north over of the loop on Skyline Drive at Jenkins Gap Bạn đang xem: hiking the trail to the peak

One of the toughest day hikes in the entire SNP. The Peak circuit has spectacular views along the AT and Marshall Mountain, and a grueling straight up and down climb of The Peak two thirds along the hike. You also have the option of making this significantly easier and shorter by 3.0 miles, and not doing The Peak out/back to lớn the summit.

If you are looking for a good workout with plenty of views this may be the hike for you! Also, if you plan on doing The Peak out/back make sure to lớn start early, as this makes the total hike time over 7 hours. It's a steep climb. Check out the profile at mile 11.

From the parking area at Gravel Springs Gap, cross Skyline Drive and turn right on the white blazed Appalachian Trail (AT). In 0.9 miles arrive at the first good overlook towards the west, and of the south fork of the Shenandoah River. In another 0.8 miles re-cross Skyline Drive and shortly pass a parking area on the left. In 0.2 miles the trail will make a turn to lớn the right and climb to lớn a rock outcropping where the AT turns back to lớn the left. Climb up the rocky outcrop for the best view of the hike. Continue along the AT crossing Skyline Drive once again in 1.9 miles, then in another 1.5 miles the AT will begin to lớn descend and arrive at the yellow blazed Jenkins Gap Trail.

Turn right on the Jenkins Gap Trail, pass through the parking area, and cross Skyline Drive. Turn right and continue next to lớn Skyline Drive (no trail) for 0.2 miles to lớn the Mount Marshall trailhead. Turn left down the yellow blazed Mount Marshall Trail as it winds around the mountain crossing Waterfall Branch, and Sprucepine Branch before arriving at the intersection of the Bluff Trail in 3.5 miles.

The Peak now is directly in front of you :) Again, there are no views at the summit, but it's a great workout. If you decide NOT to lớn tự The Peak out/back turn right here onto the Bluff Trail.

Xem thêm: trắc nghiệm sinh 11 bài 16

For The Peak out/back continue straight on the Mount Marshall Trail for another 0.4 miles to lớn Thoroughfare Gap and intersection of the Jordan River Trail. The abandoned xanh rờn blazed Peak Trail is directly ahead going straight up the ridge. The trail is hard to lớn locate for the first 100 yards, then climbs the ridge steeply for 0.3 miles where there is a small rock cairn indicating the turn left. Pick up the trail again and continue along the ridge for the remaining 0.5 miles to lớn the tree covered summit. Return by following your path back to lớn Thoroughfare Gap, then back to lớn the intersection of the Bluff Trail.

Turn left on the yellow blazed Bluff Trail as it winds around the mountain for 2.3 miles to lớn the intersection of the xanh rờn blazed Big Devils Stairs Trail. Stay straight on the Bluff Trail for another 1.4 miles arriving at the next intersection where the Bluff Trail turns left. Turn right uphill for 0.1 miles to lớn the intersection of the horse trail and turn right again for 0.1 miles to lớn the yellow blazed fire road. Turn right uphill on the fire road for the remaining 0.3 miles back to lớn the Gravel Springs parking area.

Early February

The Peak Hike Comments

Archived Comments

By: Ed K	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, July 6, 2019
I did this hike minus "The Peak" excursion. This leaves a nice 13.5 mile loop. I began at Jenkins Gap following the AT, traveling the loop in counter-clockwise fashion. This allowed bầm to lớn get the climb to lớn the top of North Marshall Mountain in the first hour. The views from North Marshall and South Marshall are outstanding and the most enjoyable part of the hike. I stopped at the Gravel Spring Shelter (mile 5.9 of the hike) for lunch and hydration - it is only 0.1 miles off the trail and has a privy and spring. The next 4 miles crossed numerous streams and offer the opportunity to lớn dip your feet in cold water if ví inclined. The last 3.5 miles or ví follow the old Mount Marshall roadbed and offer a rather pleasant trail with a slight rise over the final 1.5 miles to lớn Skyline Drive, especially since the trail maintainers had cleared the brush (thanks PATC trail maintenance folks!). There is a 1/3 mile road walk from the trailhead back to lớn Jenkins Gap, ví be careful. It was an extremely hot and humid day -- I carried 4 liters of water and was dry by finish. I wished I had filtered a liter along the way. I also picked 3 ticks off my legs over the course of the day - ví be vigilant!

By: Allen	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, May 18, 2019
Quick, potentially life/discomfort-saving review: The abandoned Peak Trail is, indeed, abandoned. (It is not just the first 100 yards of trail that are hard to lớn follow--but rather virtually all of it.) For the adventurous willing to lớn risk an ankle roll and undaunted by the hordes of ticks that will accompany the journey on the "trail," I would strongly counsel bringing a compass. Leaving that little sortie aside, the hike was...OK. The primary reasons to lớn tự the hike arethe distance--even 11-12 miles without the add-on to lớn the Peak--and the solitude (ran into perhaps seven people over the 17 miles). But too few views, all at the hike's beginning, and fairly boring terrain (few deviations from flats or mild ups or downs. High point was lunch down into one of the first creekbeds we encountered, roughly 8 miles in. Xem thêm: đề thi tiếng việt lớp 1

By: Tom R.	Rating:	Date of Hike: Friday, March 29, 2019
We made it up the Peak. A fun and good workout. Started from the southern over of the Mt. Marshall trail (Rte. 625). Wanted to lớn tự this before the foliage was out. At Thoroughfare Gap, the Peak trail started just to lớn the right of the Jordan River trail. We carefully and fairly easily followed the first part of the trail. Eventually, a small cairn on the left designates the split between the solid-line (go left and then directly up the ridge) and dotted-line (go straight) trails. We took the solid-line trail and immediately, looking straight up the ridge, saw two more cairns. There is really no trail, but we followed the ridge uphill, occasionally seeing a xanh rờn blaze or a cairn, and eventually reached the top of the Peak. The next time we'd lượt thích to lớn take the Jordan River trail up to lớn the Gap and then the dotted-line to lớn the summit, bushwhacking as required for the last part.

By: BONEFIXER	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, May 12, 2018
Wanted to lớn update some details on this hike. I combined The Peak with Mt. Marshall trail and Jordan River for a T out and back. Parking access at Mt Marshall trail head is easy. Nice steady climb. Jordan River is filled with Trillium and Showy Orchids this time of the year. Now, The Peak. The trail is easy to lớn find this time of year. You will see the unmarked trailhead right at the intersection of the above two trails (going up.) I walked (climbed) it to lớn 2550 feet before it became more difficult. I lost the trail at the false summit (2650ft.) I spent about đôi mươi minutes looking but as I was solo and it wasn't fun anymore, I turned around. Mother Nature is clearly reclaiming this trail. I liked it because it turned my day into 9.2 miles with 2500ft elevation gain/loss. Do not attempt without route finding skills, map and compass. I suspect it could be hard to lớn follow without undergrowth to lớn mark the trail or overgrown in a few months. Not much to lớn see up there. Do it because you are a good hiker and because hard can be fun. Always be safe.

By: Diana H	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, August đôi mươi, 2017
Arrived to lớn an empty parking lot a little before 9 AM. The trail is easy to lớn follow with the exception of the Peak. Tried to lớn tự the Peak but the trail disappears after 0.3 miles into a tangle of bush. The best (only) views are in the first 5 miles. If wanting to lớn make it harder I would suggest doing it counter clockwise. I would give this hike a difficulty rating of 5 for the length of the hike. The actual terrain is not that difficult and I would rate it 3 or 4 out of 6. Overall giving the hike a 3/5 because it gave bầm a good workout, but lack of views takes away from the hike.

By: Ash	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, June 11, 2017
Overall I enjoyed this hike. I was looking for a nice hike in the teen mileage range and this fit the bill. The non-peak portions were easy to lớn find and I thought pretty easy. While there is 2,000ft of elevation gain it is over ví long a Hike a s to lớn never be strenuous (subjective, I know). Now as for the peak itself. Well let's just say that I made it up to lớn something. I found the trail, lost the trail, lost the trail even more, found the trail, lost the trail and then just gave up. Apparently I am ill prepared for something lượt thích that. I was using GPS and following the trail, however, it wasn't working well for bầm. Nice views early on. I did not see one person on the trail the whole 16+ miles - I count myself lucky!

By: Steve	Rating:	Date of Hike: Thursday, July 21, 2016
I hiked this as described taking the option to lớn skip the peak starting from the Gravel Springs Gap parking area, then the AT, Mount Marshall Trail, and returning on Bluff Trail to lớn the parking area. I did this in a little over 6 hours including some breaks. By my measurement with a semi-accurate điện thoại thông minh phầm mềm, it was 14 miles and about 2200 feet elevation gain. In difficulty I'd rate it a high "3" or low "4". It is a great, longer circuit hike. I eyed the peak when I was close -- I made the right decision. This wasn't the day. Any day it would be a lot to lớn add that to lớn a longer hike -- someday I may just hike down to lớn the peak and back. As longer hikes in the park go this is a good one. The AT segment is in good condition and has several great overlooks not overgrown ví you can see. I saw 10-11 bears on that segment and none on the others -- never saw ví many bears before on a hike. The first 2/3 of the Mount Marshall trail is quite nice -- it's an old road and it is wide and smooth -- it gets rockier near its over. The Bluff Trail gets back to lớn the more familiar rocky trail I see in these parks, but it's not too bad. I'd tự this one again when I was looking for a longer hike.

By: Paul	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, July 10, 2016
ONLY FOR EXPERTS. This hike is dangerous and should be removed. The trail to lớn the peak is not maintained for a reason. You guys are going to lớn get people lost in a very remote part of the park. Everything else was fine, but seriously don't tự the peak.

By: Charles Y Li	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, July 3, 2016
The AT portion, the Bluff trail and the Mount Marshall sections are very pleasant and seclusive. We started around 8 am and only see a few people along the whole loop. The peak segment has been completely abandoned we took the small path right after we got on the Jordan River Trail. The path is very difficult to lớn recognize and follow. When we finally arrived at the top and tried to lớn walk toward the high ground, we could not find out way back - we lost! Finally, we used our compass, a toppo map to lớn navigate back to lớn where we started after a couple of hours. For the future comers, I strongly suggest you not to lớn try this peak hike unless the path are well marked.

By: John	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, April 16, 2016
I hiked this in two days, starting from Jenkins Gap heading down the AT and camping at the Devils Staircase campground (flat spot under a tree). Day two was the peak and the east side of the trail. It's probably ~19 miles to lớn add the Devils Staircase trail which I felt was well worth it when taking two days. Contrary to lớn what I've read here, I was surprised to lớn be able to lớn find a view at the top of the Peak. The dotted xanh rờn line trail seemed to lớn be better marked to lớn bầm, ví I took that, and it led bầm right to lớn a rock outcropping on the far east side. I would definitely recommend this hike, I was even lucky enough to lớn see two Đen bears (from a comfortable distance).

View all 42 archived reviews for the The Peak hike