Most people driving I-81 through the Shenandoah Valley keep their eyes on the Blue Ridge. That’s where Skyline Drive runs, and where Shenandoah National Park draws its crowds. Look the other way, toward the long ridges stacked along the West Virginia line, and a different kind of mountain country comes into view. Much of it belongs to George Washington National Forest, and on a fall Saturday its overlooks hold a fraction of the people you’d meet at Stony Man.
The forest covers about 1.1 million acres across Virginia and West Virginia. The Forest Service manages it together with the Jefferson National Forest to the south, and the combined holding reaches 1.8 million acres. Shenandoah County alone claims 178 miles of trail inside the forest. The Lee Ranger District oversees the stretch closest to Woodstock, Edinburg, and Luray, which takes in the Great North Mountain ridgeline on the state border and Massanutten Mountain, the long spine separating the Shenandoah Valley from the Page Valley.
The trailheads in this article charge nothing. Shenandoah National Park charges $30 per vehicle for a seven-day pass. The trade-off comes in maintenance and signage. Blazes fade, junctions go unmarked, and cell coverage drops out across much of the backcountry. Download your maps before you leave the pavement.
A Castle on the State Line
Big Schloss | Wolf Gap Recreation Area, Shenandoah County | 4.4 to 4.5 miles round trip | About 1,000 feet of gain | Moderate
German settlers looked up at the white sandstone crown on this ridge and saw a castle, which is what schloss means. The summit stands at 2,964 feet on the Virginia and West Virginia line. Stand among its boulders and the name makes sense.
The hike begins at Wolf Gap Recreation Area. From I-81 Exit 279 at Edinburg, the Forest Service sends drivers west on SR 675, across VA 42, and up the mountain to the entrance, a drive of roughly 10 miles. The route follows the Mill Mountain Trail, and the work comes early. Grades run between 11 and 23 percent through the first half, easing near the two-mile mark once the path gains the ridge.
Glimpses of Virginia open through the trees along the crest. At the top, a footbridge spans a crevasse in the rock, and the outcrop offers roughly 270 degrees of view across both states.
Wolf Gap keeps a small campground at the trailhead. The Forest Service lists it as open year round, with no fee and no potable water, so carry in what you’ll drink. A night there puts you a little over two miles from the summit at sunrise.
Tibbet Knob, Across the Road
Wolf Gap Recreation Area | 3.1 to 3.2 miles round trip | 830 to 1,090 feet of gain | Moderate to Hard
The trailhead sits across Route 675 from the campground, which makes Tibbet Knob an easy second hike on the same morning. Yellow blazes lead about a mile and a half to the top. Within the first half mile, an overlook frames Big Schloss and Mill Mountain from the opposite side of the gap.
Near the summit, two short scrambles of 20 to 30 yards each may call for hands as well as feet. Families with small children will find Big Schloss the gentler choice. The view from the knob spans a little more than 180 degrees of ridges and hollows in both states, and far fewer people make the climb to see it.
Strickler Knob and the Pink Blazes
Scothorn Gap trailhead, Massanutten Mountain near Luray | 5.5 miles round trip | About 1,600 feet of gain | Hard
Virginia Tourism’s bucket list hikes guide does not soften this one. Strickler Knob, reached from an area known as Scothorn Gap, is “not maintained and not suitable for dogs or young children.” Getting there means turning off Route 211 near Luray onto Crisman Hollow Road, also signed as Forest Road 274.
The route follows orange blazes on the Scothorn Gap Trail for close to two miles before branching onto the Strickler Knob path. From there the markings get creative: pink paint on rocks, red or purple rectangles on trees, and stretches where the next blaze takes some hunting. A rock scramble covers the final tenth of a mile. Bring a downloaded map and the skills to read it. A screenshot of a trail app is not enough.
The top delivers a 360-degree view of New Market Gap and the Luray side of the mountain, with the Blue Ridge rising beyond. Most visitors to Luray never see their surroundings from this angle.
Halfmoon Mountain’s Long Approach
Lee Ranger District, Hardy County, W.Va. | About 6 to 6.6 miles round trip | 1,200 to 1,300 feet of gain | Moderate
Halfmoon Mountain sits on the Great North Mountain ridge in Hardy County, West Virginia, close to the Virginia line. Its summit reaches 2,836 feet. Summitpost describes two ways up. The Halfmoon Mountain Trail runs 6.6 miles round trip with about 1,200 feet of gain, following yellow blazes for 2.5 miles before a white-blazed lookout trail and a steep final tenth of a mile. The second option links the orange-blazed Bucktail Trail to the pink-blazed German Wilson Trail and the lookout spur, about 6 miles round trip with 1,300 feet of climbing.
The lookout faces Mill Mountain, Long Mountain, and Trout Run Valley, with ridge after ridge folding west. Getting there takes most of a morning. The reward is an overlook you may have to yourself.
Notes From the Trailhead
The national forest asks more of hikers than the national park does. Parking can mean a gravel pullout with no sign. Springs and streams run through these mountains, but filter anything you plan to drink, and remember that Wolf Gap has no potable water at all.
Massanutten carries motorized traffic too. The Peters Mill Run and Taskers Gap trail system near Edinburg runs 36 miles of routes for Jeeps, ATVs, UTVs, motorcycles, and e-bikes from early April through early January. Those trails belong to machines. Hikers after quiet should choose a different corner of the mountain during riding season.
For closures and current conditions, the Forest Service’s George Washington and Jefferson National Forests site has the final word, and the Lee Ranger District office takes questions at 540-984-4101 on weekdays. Shenandoah County’s tourism office keeps its own trail page for anyone planning a weekend in the county’s share of the forest.