|
From time to time, circumstances may necessitate the closing of trails or other actions to ensure visitor and resource safety. As part of your planning, visit this page to get special alerts and information. If you are a frequent visitor, you may want to bookmark this page.
STONY MAN TRAIL (June 1, 2020) The Stony Man Trail parking lot at the north entrance to Skyland is closed for paving. The trail itself is not closed so it can be accessed from other areas. However, Skyland is still closed and at this time we are not allowing shoulder parking. So, please plan to explore areas other than Stony Man until we are able to open additional areas.
UPDATE MAY 23, 2020 Shenandoah National Park has begun Phase One of its phased reopening plan. During this phase Old Rag, Whiteoak and their associated trails, as well as all boundary trailheads and picnic areas remain closed. Skyline Drive and other trails will be open from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Entry fees apply and restrooms are limited. For important information about what’s open and what’s closed and what you need to know, visit https://www.nps.gov/shen/phase-one.htm The National Park Service (NPS) is working servicewide with federal, state, and local public health authorities to closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and using a phased approach to increase access on a park-by-park basis. Based on guidance from the White House, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local public health authorities Shenandoah will continue to monitor and evaluate our ability to increase access beyond Phase One. We will announce additional openings as soon as we know about them. We cannot, at this time, predict when campgrounds, lodges, or other facilities will open. 
These trails remain closed:
Additionally, in coordination with Albemarle County, the City of Charlottesville, and the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority, as a public health precaution, the recreational area around Sugar Hollow Reservoir is closed. Updates will be posted to the RWSA website: www.rivanna.org 
The Old Rag Mountain and Whiteoak Canyon trails, the boundary access roads, Nethers Road and Weakley Hollow Road, are closed by authority of the Madison County Sheriff's Office. Only local residents will be able to access these roads. Please stay away from this area at this time. Skyline Drive and other park trails are open. If you do choose to visit Shenandoah National Park, please keep CDC social distancing recommendations in mind. PARK UPDATE March 21, 2020 The health and safety of our visitors, employees, volunteers, and partners at Shenandoah is our number one priority. The CDC guidance for this pandemic includes social distancing. We are concerned that Saturday’s visitation patterns were in violation of CDC recommendations. If you are coming to the Park, please choose to visit areas that are not crowded to allow for adequate social distancing. This would include NOT hiking at Old Rag, Whiteoak Canyon, Dark Hollow Falls and other high-use trails. The Old Rag and Berry Hollow area became so congested on Saturday that local authorities had to close the road. Use this opportunity to explore different areas of the Park. Download our app and visit our website to plan hikes to lesser known areas. If you encounter a crowded trailhead, go elsewhere. Many trailheads have panels with hike directions and maps. Snap a photo of it so you have it with you. App: https://www.nps.gov/shen/learn/photosmultimedia/app.htm Hiking maps: https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/hiking-safety.htm We are closely monitoring COVID-19 with the federal, state, and local authorities. Outdoor spaces remain accessible to the public in accordance with the latest health guidance, in addition to entry fees being waived for visitors. The National Park Service (NPS) encourages people who choose to visit Shenandoah during this pandemic to adhere to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local public health authorities to protect visitors and employees. As services are limited, the NPS urges visitors to continue to practice Leave No Trace principles, including pack-in and pack-out, to keep outdoor spaces safe and healthy. For full information about operational changes at Shenandoah: https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/alerts.htm 
Changes are coming to the visitor experience at Old Rag Mountain. This post is lengthy, so if Old Rag is your jam, settle in. It’s not a secret that Old Rag is crazy popular, and sometimes the crowds adversely affect the visitor experience. Research and conversation about how best to provide for safe enjoyment and resource protection at Old Rag are ongoing and park management is looking at alternatives. In the meantime, we’ve been working on one of the biggest challenges at Old Rag: parking. The current lot is on leased land and its location requires hikers to walk along Route 600. A parking area closer to the trail and on Shenandoah National Park land has been a goal for some time. The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, The Shenandoah National Park Trust, park staff, and contractors worked together to acquire land for a new parking area nearer the trail, do the required archeology and environmental assessments, build new trails, and so much more! The new parking area is near completion. We are happy that hikers will be off the road and have safer access to the trail. And, having parking on park-owned land helps guarantee access in perpetuity. The new parking area is actually two lots connected by a walking bridge. The upper lot has dedicated RV and horse trailer parking; the lower lot connects with the trailhead. There’s a new addition to the Ridge Trail that takes hikers from the parking area to the original loop. The loop of the Ridge and Saddle Trails to Weakley Hollow Fire Road is the same. Where Weakley Hollow Fire Road connects with Route 600, the new Old Rag Access Trail takes hikers back to the parking area. For those of you concerned about crowding on the trail, this improvement does not increase vehicle capacity. For now, we will continue to use the former lease lot for some overflow parking, but the majority of the space will be used as a staging area for emergency services and a helicopter landing zone. The area is still under construction, but we anticipate being ready mid-April. 
Many trails in Shenandoah National Park are accessed from the park boundary on public right of ways that pass through private property. We ask that you please respect the landowner’s property by staying on the blazed trail. There have been continued issues on some of these trails with trespassing, littering, illegal fires, camping, fishing, and a general lack of respect for the private property. This kind of behavior puts future trail access at risk. We are currently working with the some landowners to install signs (like the one shown) to give visitors guidance about staying on the trail when they are crossing private land.
BOUNDARY PARKING AT WHITEOAK (October 10, 2019) Shenandoah National Park has reopened the boundary parking area at Whiteoak Canyon Trail off Route 600 in Madison County. The bridge across Cedar Run was severely damaged during heavy rains in 2018. The new bridge was constructed as a collaborative effort between the Piedmont Environmental Council, Trout Unlimited and the landowner, Jimmy Graves of Graves Mountain Lodge. The new bridge will allow fish to pass underneath which will improve the stream habitat.This will restore the 90 parking spaces that were available at the boundary prior to the closing of the bridge. However, visitors should expect the lot to fill on busy weekends and be prepared with alternate plans. Beldor Fire Road/Horse Trail (7-25-2018)
WHITEOAK AND OLD RAG BOUNDARY ACCESS Whiteoak Canyon and Old Rag can be accessed from the Park's boundary off Route 600. At each of these boundary trail accesses there are Shenandoah National Park-managed parking lots (for about 90 vehicles at Whiteoak and about 265 at Old Rag). Parking in these lots is free.You are required to purchase an entrance permit. Landowners with property adjacent to the Park are charging a fee for parking on their property near both of these areas. Paying a private citizen to park does not affect the entrance fee. Be sure to check the Shenandoah lot for availability before paying to park.
Jeremys Run Trail Boundary Access (October 31, 2017) The boundary access to Jeremy's Run Trail across private property at State Route 611 is temporarily closed by the landowner. The park trail remains open. We ask that visitors respect the landowner's wishes and avoid this private property until further notice. The park is actively working to resolve the access situation.
Boil Water at South River and Dundo Picnic Grounds (1-18-17) The water supplies at South River and Dundo Picnic Grounds may contain disease-causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses, and parasites which can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and cramps. People with weakened immune systems, pregnant women, infants, young children, and older adults are at increased risk of illness. Do not drink the water without boiling it first! Bring water to a boil for one minute. Boiled water should be used for drinking, cooking or any food preparation, handwashing, brushing teeth, and washing dishes. BOUNDARY ACCESS ALERT-SUGAR HOLLOW ACCESS TO MOORMANS RIVER: OFF-PARK ROAD CLOSED AND REDUCED PARKING NEAR CHARLOTTESVILLE RESERVOIR Virginia VDOT recently closed a section of Route 614 to vehicles due to a road washout. This closure prohibits vehicle access to the road past the Charlottesville Reservoir parking area (outside the Park's boundary) used by hikers and horse enthusiasts to reach the North and South Forks of Moormans River in Shenandoah. The vehicle restriction does not prohibit hikers or horses from using the corridor up to the Park boundary. Please note that no overnight parking is allowed at the reservoir. In addition, if there are vehicles parked there during the day, there my not be space to turn around with a horse trailer.
TRAIL IMPACTS DUE TO FRAGILE VEGETATION POCOSIN HOLLOW AREA (8-25-11) The recommended access to Pocosin area trails is via Skyline Drive from the parking area at mile 59.5. |
Last updated: June 1, 2020