Old Rag or White Oak Canyon Trail in Shenandoah?
Old Rag Trail or White Oak Canyon Trail...Which hike is better? Which hike is more difficult? Thanks!
If you want to swim the great holes, woosh down the water slide and cliff jump into a mountian creek then
White oak and Cedar Run trails are the thing to do. When its too cold for that then definitely its old rag. Old rag is definitely more difficult.
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Really depends on your preference, waterfalls or bald top views. Let the wind decide, if windy go low if clear go hi.
Old Rag is difficult for a very short distance. It has some rock climbing, so a newbie who is nervous of falling and using their hands to climb may have problems. Cedar Run is a long climb but with nice waterfalls. I've done both and liked the waterfalls better.
Thanks. I guess it depends on how I feel after hiking dragons tooth and McAfee knob. Still open to hear suggestions and preferences.
I did a white oak/cedar creek loop a few years back that was a really nice solid day hike... I think I followed midatlantichikes.com notes for that.
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The time of day should be considered also. 6 AM- Old Rag, 9 AM- White Oak Canyon. Old rag gets really crowded. If you hike white oak canyon, consider hiking Hawksbill also. Old Rag is definitely tougher.
Water vs. views. It's that straight-forward. I have done both multiple times. Will be in SNP in a couple of weeks with Newbie. Will be doing the Old Rag loop so that gives you my preference. Why chose one, do both, neither are killer hikes.
October too cold for a swim in SNP?
Originally Posted by Malto
+1 Quite doable for a med level hiker without a humongous strenuous factor to do a Old Rag/Cedar Run/White Oak Canyon getting it all in a one day or one nighter loop or pt to pt hike from various starting points.
Heck, on a AT thru-hike, with so many thru-hikers seeking to aqua blaze or dash hurriedly through Shenandoah NP, I instead chose to spend two extra days in SNP hiking not only the AT but enjoying other very worthy hikes. Heck, it's a NP a rather special and unique place. Why rush it when I was already there? I was in thru-hiker shape but reigned in that typical thru-hiker mentality of get er dun gotta be somewhere else gotta always be cranking out a daily max of AT mileage.
From Skyline Lodge I hitched to the end of SR 600 at the Weakly Hollow Fire Road/Ridge Tr Junction getting there at 9 a.m. after stopping at a store for b-fast along the way. Did Ridge Tr/Saddle Tr/ Old Rag carefully in an all day downpour to Berry Hollow Fire Rd past Berry Hollow Parking area to Cedar Run Tr taking the Cedar Run Tr up to The Slide where I retraced back to the Cedar Run CONNECTOR Tr over to the Robinson River/White Oak Canyon Tr. Took the WC T to the Limberlost TH near Skyline Dr crossing over Skyline to the AT on a use trail that isn't marked on most maps and taking the AT north back to Skyline Lodge at 4 p.m. in time for dinner.
After three days of torrential downpours the highlight of the hike was experiencing the waterfalls and especially WOC with water pouring over the edge of the canyon walls everywhere, which according to two others that I talked who regularly hike WOC, had never witnessed. GLORIOUS!
The rag!!!!!! tuffer!!
eveready
I would say yes.
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