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Shenandoah in fall and winter

Changing scenes in a familiar landscape

By Scott Richardson

February 9^th, 2021

After getting more familiar with the trail system at Shenandoah on a camping trip this summer, I was curious to return in different seasons to see how the landscape changed. Between the wide forested vistas, rocky outcrops, and smaller waterfall scenes, there was a lot for me to explore.

This is a journal of three trips I made to Shenandoah from the fall of 2020 to the winter of 2021.

Trip One: Early October

I left the house at 3:30 am and arrived at the park’s Thorton Gap Entrance just before sunrise. As I pulled into the Pinnacles Overlook the sun started to peek above the horizon and light up the hillsides. The trees were still very green, but some yellows dotted the tree canopy.

I parked alongside Skyline Drive and hiked the Buck Ridge Loop which provided a few small waterfalls, a simple creek crossing, and a walk through dense forest. The 1700 feet of elevation gain kicked my butt as I closed the loop and headed back up the ridge.

I brought the previous night’s dinner as my lunch and headed to a picnic area to heat it up. The picnic area was full, but I found an isolated patch of shade and heated up my barbacoa in the jetboil. Onlookers looked jealous.

After lunch, I wandered around Big Meadows, taking in the vibrant colors as Goldenrod filled the field.

I finished the day by heading further south and hiked a portion of Big Run before tiring out. The return trip was all uphill. I took in some views and found a few pops of color in the trees.

As the sunset, I drove all the way to the park’s southern boundary and contemplated my nighttime plans over a takeout burger in Waynesboro. I made the decision to drive straight home and not spend the night, arriving home just after midnight.

Trip Two: Late October

I returned to the park at the end of October, hoping to see a visible change in the foliage. Again, I left the house at 3:30 am and entered through Thorton Gap. I took in the sunrise from Buck Hollow and then returned to the Pinnacles Overlook where the trees had turned orange and red.

As the sun started to crest over the ridge, I made the short walk up the Little Stony Man cliffs and watched as clouds filled the western side of the mountains.

My goal for the day was to hike the Rose River Loop in search of a serene waterfall scene and fall foliage. It did not disappoint. After parking at Fisher’s Gap and walking down the trail, I explored the small details of the cascades downriver, amazed at how different the shapes of each waterfall were.

That afternoon I explored around Lewis Falls where I slipped in the mud and went tumbling toward the water. My foot caught a tree root which stopped my fall, but I instinctively used my hands to break the fall which sent my camera into the ground lens-first. Luckily, the polarizing filter took the impact and cracked, leaving the rest of the lens and camera in-tact.

My wife had spent the day exploring West Virginia on her way to a car cruise near Charlottesville, so we met up in Waynesboro for dinner and to find a hotel.

The following day I explored around the Doyles River Falls trail before heading back home.

Trip Three: Late January

I’d been anxious to get away from my local trails that I’d been walking all winter, so I planned to head back to Shenandoah in the winter. With the threat of severe weather in the forecast, I packed my car full of emergency supplies, and cut insulated covers for the windows to retain body heat overnight.

I left the house at 5:30 pm on a Friday, drove to the Shenandoah Valley, and camped out in my car. The outside temperature dipped to 12°f while inside the car it dropped from 70 – 28°f as I slept. I woke up warm, dug out of my sleeping bags, and headed into the park.

The sunrise was lackluster without a cloud in the sky, so I drove down to Big Meadows and watched as dozens of deer grazed in the field. Then I watched the sunrise over Skyline Drive and explored a snowy trail along the road.

My first hike was up Bearfence Mountain where I used my microspikes to navigate the slippery rock scramble, then opted to take the safer route via the Appalachian Trail back to the car.

Next was Dark Hollow Falls. In the summer, I’ve seen cars parked along the road for ⅛ of a mile leading to Dark Hollow, but on a winter morning, I was only the third car in the parking lot. The trail down to the falls was slippery and turned into a sheet of ice as it descended to the Rose River junction. The falls were full of huge icicles, and there was a thin layer of ice on the surface of the water below the falls full of ice crystals.

The cascades along the Rose River were similarly spectacular: full of icy crystals, with snowy covering the mossy banks.

I checked in with the park’s phone system for a weather update. With a winter storm approaching, they decided to close the park road at.5 pm. I had just enough time to squeeze in another quick hike, so I headed to Hawksbill and climbed the icy incline to its summit.

As I headed toward Thorton Gap, a ranger waved me out of the park as she closed the gates. They were expecting 4-8 inches of snow to fall overnight with temperatures that would dip into the low teens. Although I was tempted to spend another night in the cold, and hike from the park’s boundary the following day, I decided I didn’t want to risk getting the car trapped in the snow and headed home.