Hiking Old Rag Mountain

Welcome to Travel Tuesday! Old Rag Mountain is located near Speryville in Madison County, Virginia. It’s part of the Blue Ridge Mountains and its peak is nestled within Shenandoah National Park (aka the closest national park to me)!

(Spoiler alert: we made it to the top!!!)

Hiking Old Rag Mountain

Old Rag is Shenandoah’s most popular (but also most dangerous) hike. When we went (back in 2018), no permit was required. Now, if you’re going between March 1 to November 30 via the Saddle, Ridge, and Ridge Access Trails, you’ll need to obtain a day-use ticket in advance.

Distance: 9 miles
Duration: 5-7.5 hours
Elevation: 3284 ft
Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult
Admission: $30 (free during National Park Week!)
Parking: Free
Trailhead Address: 38.57082,-78.29359

I’d definitely recommend getting there early since the parking lot is pretty small. We had a late-ish start to our day, partly because we realized the night before that Old Rag Mountain was 3 hours away (vs 2) from us (sigh), so we ended up starting our hike at 11:30 am. There were no parking spaces left, but the lady who owns land next to it opened up her lot for $10/car. She probably made at least $1.5k in cash on that day alone.

Since the upper lot is no longer available for parking, the hike from the lower lot is roughly another 0.5-0.7-ish miles.

We went up the Ridge Trail, which goes up the mountain and passes through a series of what we thought of as fake summits (and lots of pretty overlooks).

Fake summit #1!

Since we got there later in the day, by the time we got to the rock scramble part (I wish I had more photos, but I [a] didn’t fall/hurt something, and [b] didn’t drop my phone), there was a longgg line. There are parts where you’re pretty much in a single-file line and can’t pass anyone, so there was a good amount of waiting involved.

All in all though, the rock scramble part was really fun! Definitely more on the challenging side than easy, but it made for a really fun adventure. :]

There are two shelters along the way down–the Byrds Nest shelter (#1) and the Old Rag shelter (#2)–we stopped at the latter for a snack!

After that, we followed the Weakley Hollow Fire Road (~2.5 mi) to get back to the parking lot.

The website recommended reserving 7.5 hours to finish this hike, but we finished the hike in 5 hours! This was with breaks every 30-45 minutes or so, either for photo stops, snacks, or to just really take a break.

Apparently, this would also be a pretty cool place to climb! I’ve only been climbing outdoors once, but I’d love
to come back here someday to try em’ out! The climbs range from 50-100 ft high and difficulties from 5.4-5.12+. It also has lots of bouldering challenges!

Tips:

  • Get there early! Finding parking may be difficult.
  • Dress in layers and avoid wearing any bulky jackets if possible.
  • Try to go on a weekday if possible; there are a lotttt of people on the weekends and you may have to wait for a long time during the rock scramble portion of the hike since you basically have to go one by one.
  • The last part of the trail isn’t strenuous but when you’re hungry and thinking of ice cream/your return to civilization meal, it can be somewhat of a drag, especially after all the excitement from climbing through the rock scramble!

Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park | fairyburger.com Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park | fairyburger.com


  • Have you ever been on a hike where you had to climb things?
  • Have you ever been to Shenandoah National Park? :O

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16 comments

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  1. Awesome pics! Gosh I love hiking so much now that the weather is getting so much better! :)

    1. I’m so glad the weather’s finally looking better! Can’t wait to go on more outdoor explorations! :D!
      Farrah recently posted…One Pot Creamy Hummus Pasta with VegetablesMy Profile

  2. This post is making me miss hiking! We haven’t done a ‘real’ hike (like up to the top of an overlook/mountain) in quite a while but I definitely need to make an effort to do that asap!

    1. Aww, sorry! I hope you get to go hiking again soon! :]!!
      Farrah recently posted…One Pot Creamy Hummus Pasta with VegetablesMy Profile

  3. Wow such a beautiful park! So fun to discover new lands!

    1. Most definitely! I hope I get to do more exploring soon! :]!
      Farrah recently posted…One Pot Creamy Hummus Pasta with VegetablesMy Profile

  4. The view up top always makes it worth it in the end! Hoping to do some hiking myself this summer, this is gorgeous!

    1. It definitely does! I hope you get to do some hiking this summer too! :]! Let me know if you find any cool places around here that I should check out too! :P

  5. Awesome trip Farrah! The pic of you sitting on top of the mountain is my favorite!

    1. Thank you! <3!
      Farrah recently posted…One Pot Creamy Hummus Pasta with VegetablesMy Profile

  6. What a gorgeous hike!! I feel like when I have to climb/navigate objects on a hike it feels more like a “real” hike 😜
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    1. haha, me too! I feel like I actually worked for it then! :P
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  7. This is a challenging hike. It is not your typical hike either. There are multiple boulders you will have to maneuver through. My husband is not flexible and it was very difficult for him. Often, you need to anchor part of your body while reaching/stretching your leg to another area. This is not ideal for young children. There are amazing scenic views, but you need to be comfortable with mountains and heights. When the hike is over and you’re finally done with the boulders, there is still a two mile walk back to your car.

    We hike on a Tuesday and there were a few people out there with us; a very manageable amount of people. I heard if you go on a Saturday, you could be waiting at the bottom of a boulder for 30 minutes waiting for your turn to climb.

    1. We definitely experienced that on the weekend while we were there too!! The rock scrambles made it more challenging + fun, but I can definitely see how it wouldn’t be ideal for young children!

  8. Yes definitely. And thanks for the reply :)
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    1. Anytime! (Sorry for the delay! :P )

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