Strickler Knob

George Washington National Forest

“Similar driving distance as Shenandoah but with fewer people and lots to explore. This is a perfect entry point to DC’s closest national forest that we wouldn’t have known about without Will’s help and planning. He planned an excellent day for us.” — Michael, Bethesda, MD.

Fall is still here! The length of the fall season is one of the many perks of living in the mid-Atlantic and I recently hit one of my favorite George Washington National Forest hikes that’s also one of the closest to DC.

I’ve written a lot about GW Ntl Forest in previous posts. The combined George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, beginning just a few miles west of Shenandoah, open up many possibilities for hiking, camping, fishing, and more. Combined, these two forests dwarf Shenandoah and extend the entire length of Virginia (even spilling into WV and KY). At 1.8 million acres, these forests form one of the largest areas of public land in the East and cover vast mountainous regions comprised of: over 2,000 miles of hiking trails including large sections of the Appalachian Trail, 230,000 acres of old-growth forests, the deepest gorge east of the Mississippi River, the highest peaks in Virginia, many species of plants, black bear, white-tailed deer, bobcat, bald eagles, weasel, otter, and more.

There are many access points into GW & Jefferson National Forests but Strickler Knob is one of the closest to DC (only 2 hours) and is perfect for a weekend day hike. On this particular trip, we actually camped and I’ll include that information in this post as well. But I’m tagging this as “Day Hiking” just so folks know camping isn’t required to still make this amazing hike happen— with 360 vistas at the top of Massanutten Mountain and the Shenandoah Valley below.

Three Things You’ll Learn From This Post:

1. Expand your horizon beyond Shenandoah and get more comfortable with exploring our national forest system — on trails that are also Fun for Fido!
2. Where / how to camp in the area and the many other hiking trail ideas and places to explore in the Lee Ranger District of GW National Forest.
3. A stunning secret camping spot if you’re willing to backpack.

It’s very hard to adequately photograph the top of Strickler Knob without a drone but here’s a panorama shot to get the excitement flowing.

I should note: most of this hike is easy and well marked but the final 1/2 mile or so gets very rocky with some fairly challenging rock scrambles. There are a multiple vista points before this happens and so you don’t need to go all the way to the end to get great shots. But if you do go all the way, you will be rewarded with the best views.

Step 1: The Route

Coming from DC and heading into the mountains, make sure you plug in your GPS phone / car navigation and don’t shut it off in case you lose service. GPS will work with no service but you won’t be able to start navigation without service. This is a tip I include in all my trips because cell service can be spotty in all the mountainous regions of VA and WV.

The shortest route to the top of Strickler Knob is by parking at “Scothorn Gap Trail / Duncan Knob Trail.” You can type that directly into your GPS and you’ll have service most of the way up until the very end. Coming from DC, you’ll take 66 West to 81 South and will likely cut into the forest at Edinburg, VA on 675 / Edinburg Gap Rd.

At the juncture with Camp Roosevelt Recreation Area — the site of the first Civilian Conservation Corps camp in the nation and another excellent launching off point for trails in the area including Kennedy Peak — you’ll head onto Crisman Hollow Rd, a dirt road, which will take you the rest of the way to Scothorn Gap parking. There are additional trailheads on this road too including Lion’s Tale and Gap Creek. These are fun smaller trails to explore if you have time!

You can also head through the town of Luray, VA if you’d like to explore Luray Caverns or if you’re making a weekend of it and would like a place to rent a cabin. Whether you’re heading through Edinburg or Luray, make sure you stop to fill up on water and grab sandwiches for the hike as there won’t be anything once you get into the forest.

Step 2: The Hike

The hike itself is about 6 miles roundtrip and begins from the parking area at Scothorn Gap. Cross over Passage Creek and begin heading up an old forest road following the yellow blazed (yellow marks painted on trees or rocks) Scothorn Gap Trail.

You’ll take Scotthorn Gap Trail to the orange blazed Massanutten Trail and then onto the purple blazed Strickler Knob / summit trail. The route is dog friendly, as you can see, up until the rock scramble at the very end.

Here’s a screenshot of my Strava route which I’ll admit is not the best map. Usually I like to include forest service trail maps but I wasn’t able to find a good one for this area.

However, AllTrails and many other hiking apps and Google searches will produce detailed and easy maps for you to follow.

I also HIGHLY recommend picking up a set of Potomac Appalachian Trail Club maps for the GW National Forest region. The link for all their maps is: here.

The one you want for this region is “Map G: Massanutten Mt-North Half (Signal Knob to New Market).”

I can’t recommend these maps enough. They’re water resistant, GPS compatible, and they will show you all the other trails in the region as well as parking areas, elevation profiles, and tons of information on the back for emergency forest service contacts, Leave No Trace guidelines, the history of the forest and other recreational points of interest, and more.

As you’ll see from my basic Strava map, we completed the full roundtrip in about 3 hours and the elevation gain was about 1,000 feet over the first 3 miles going up, which is pretty moderate.

Step 3: The Rock Scramble

I’m including this as a separate section for a few reasons. First, to provide clear expectations and instructions. Two, to showcase the two different vista points at the end of the hike. Three, to mention my “secret” backpacking spot.

The rock scramble section of the trail begins at the juncture of the orange blazed Massanutten Trail and the purple blazed Strickler Knob trail. There’s a handy sign that denotes the beginning of this section, “Stickler Knob — 1 Mile Rocky” with a purple blaze underneath. You’re rock hopping pretty quickly after that but with good treads on your hiking boots it’s a lot of fun! Keep your eyes open for vistas that start opening up on both sides of the trail from here on.

Most of the “scramble” is fairly minor until the juncture of the blue blazed summit overlook trail on the left. This trail is a little hard to see but it heads down a little from the main purple blazed trail to a small clearing and absolutely stunning overlook of the Shenandoah Valley with Shenandoah National Park rising against the horizon as far as the eye can see. There is a small campsite right here.

Okay, maybe it’s not so “secret” and you’ll likely want to get there early in the day if you’re going to try and snag the spot. But imagine the stars here once the sun goes down or waking up to the sun rising over Shenandoah! This is the beauty of backpacking — and at only ~3 miles from the car, it’s an easy backpacking trip to do.

Retracing your steps back up to the purple blazed trail again, turn left for the final summit push. This is where the REAL scrambling begins. Continue to follow the purple blazes all through the summit rocks — the trail maintainers have done a really excellent job at marking the easiest and safest route through the rocks to the top so make sure to follow the purple blazes exactly.

You’ll know you’re at the end of the trail when you see something that looks like this:

It’s an actual free climb of about 6–10 feet if you want to get on top of these rocks but you are rewarded with 360 views if you do. Climb at your own risk and be very careful.

To complete the loop retrace your steps back to the car!

Step 4: Camping

As I’ve described in previous blogs, camping in national forests are pretty straightforward. You can camp almost anywhere in most places. And as you will see on this hike, there are campsites you’ll pass along the way if you’d like to camp on the mountain. You can also make it a day hike and head back down off the mountain home.

On this particular trip, we day hiked Strickler Knob but then camped along the road we came in on — Crisman Hollow Rd. If it’s nice weather, you’ll likely see many people camping along this road and there are many sites to choose from. Passage Creek parallels the road and provides tranquil creek side camping. Many sites also have fire rings that people have built up over time.

All sites as considered “primitive camping” so no tables or facilities and there’s no need to register your campsite in advance or pay for a camping permit. Just find a spot you can pull the car in that looks good for your purposes and go from there. You can throw your tent up anywhere that’s flat enough but it’s usually good to find a firepit site so that you’re sticking to sites that have already been in use by others and not damaging the landscape too much.

Additional Trails in the Area:

I’ve already mentioned Lion’s Tale and Gap Creek trailheads that you’ll pass on your way in, Camp Roosevelt Recreation Area, and Kennedy Peak. All of these trails can be found on AllTrails and Google and if you pick up the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club “Map G: Massanutten Mt-North Half (Signal Knob to New Market)” you’ll see even more. Additional trails in the area that I’d recommend:

• Duncan Knob
• Signal Knob
• Woodstock Firetower / Little Fort Recreation Area

There’s also the largest OHV (off roading / 4x4) trail complex in Virginia in this area. Another post coming on that soon!

Hopefully this post provides a jumping off point for you into the many, many wonderful areas of George Washington National Forest. Until next time!

Will Hackman, Hackman Guided Adventures

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