HTH_VA-36

Start: Milam Gap on Skyline Drive

Distance: 7.2-mile loop

Hiking time: About 3.5–4.5 hours, plus 1 hour at Rapidan Camp

Difficulty: More difficult due to distance and elevation change

Trail surface: Natural

Best season: Summer for interpretive information

Other trail users: None

Canine compatibility: Leashed pets only

Land status: National park

Fees and permits: Entrance fee required

Schedule: 24/7/365

Maps: Shenandoah National Park; USGS Fletcher, Big Meadows

Trail contact: Shenandoah National Park, 3655 Highway 211 E., Luray, VA 22835; (540) 999-3500; www.nps.gov/shen

Finding the trailhead: The Milam Gap trailhead is located at milepost 52.8, on the west side of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. It can be reached by driving north on Skyline Drive for 12.7 miles from Swift Run Gap entrance. The Appalachian Trail (AT) is accessible behind the parking area. Start your hike here, southbound on the AT. Trailhead GPS: N38 30.013' / W78 26.738'

The Hike

This circuit hike first takes you over Hazeltop, the third-highest peak at Shenandoah National Park, then uses the Laurel Prong Trail to access Rapidan Camp, the highland getaway for President Herbert Hoover (1929–33). The camp has much to see; you can even embark on a self-guided interpretive tour. Return to the trailhead on the Mill Prong Trail and check out Big Rock Falls along the way.

This is best as a summertime destination. The hike will be shaded in rich forests. In addition, you will see historic Rapidan Camp at the time of year when it was most often used by President Hoover. This is also when volunteers stationed at Rapidan Camp can take you on guided tours of the buildings and grounds. If the mileage is a bit lengthy, you can simply take the Mill Prong Trail directly to Rapidan Camp for a 3.8-mile out-and-back hike.

If you think things are hot in Washington, DC, today, you should have been there when there was no air-conditioning. For over one hundred years, our nation’s leaders tried to escape the swampy lands astride the Potomac. However, as the office of the presidency grew more complex, fast-paced, and challenging, it became difficult for the leader of our country to simply “break off” for the sake of weather convenience.

Our thirty-first president, Herbert Hoover, came up with a plan: Find a place in the Appalachian Mountains within 100 miles of the Capitol and above 2,500 feet to stay cool and to keep the mosquitoes at bay. Oh, and there was that little matter of trout fishing. His getaway needed a trout stream nearby. Such a place was found in the upper Rapidan River Valley, at the confluence of Mill Prong and Laurel Prong. Hoover purchased 164 acres and the US Marines commenced building the camp and the access roads to it. The camp was initially named Five Tents for the five canvas structures initially built there. This was the original dwelling site for Herbert Hoover. Ultimately, cabins grew out of these five tents. You can still see the fireplace of one of them. The camp grew further still. Eventually, thirteen structures were built, and that is not including a smaller camp for Marines nearby to protect the president, and another camp 2 miles distant for his cabinet.

President Hoover loved his camp and loved trout fishing. It is said that he would jump out of the car upon arriving at Camp Rapidan and immediately commence trout fishing, still clad in coat and tie. Yet the getaway was more than a fishing retreat. The president conducted business here at all hours of the day and night. He had a phone installed (he was the first president to have a phone installed in the Oval Office of the White House) at Camp Rapidan and conducted international as well as domestic business. He also hosted world leaders here. His detractors joked about him conducting business while tossing a fishing line or sitting in front of a campfire on a log.

Today, only three structures remain from the camp: the Creel, which today houses volunteers to conduct programs at Rapidan Camp. The Prime Minister’s Cabin stands nearby. You can tour it during the warm season without a guide. This building offers loads of interpretive information about life at the camp. The Brown House, where President and Mrs. Hoover stayed, has been restored and furnished to its appearance as it was when they used it. Visitors can only get in with a guide. Check with the Shenandoah National Park website for dates on which the Brown House can be toured. It is well worth the time in your trip to see this treasure inside and out.

After Hoover’s presidency ended, he donated the land for the establishment of Shenandoah National Park and worked toward making Rapidan Camp a permanent presidential retreat. Other presidents had different ideas. The last president to stay here was Jimmy Carter. Much of the camp was left to the Boy Scouts, who altered its appearance. Some of the outbuildings fell into disrepair, and in the early 1960s, ten of the original thirteen buildings were removed. However, the historical importance of Rapidan Camp has been recognized and today the site is well protected and chock full of interpretive information—well worth exploring. Please give yourself at least an hour down here.

Miles and Directions

0.0Hike southbound on the Appalachian Trail from Milam Gap. Note the abundance of apples trees in this area. Immediately cross Skyline Drive and reach a trail junction. To your left is Mill Prong Trail, your return trail. Keep straight on the AT on a gentle uptick.

0.4Make a sharp right turn. The AT is truly heading south toward Hazeltop. The trail grade rises slightly on a narrowing ridge. In places the AT is arrow-straight.

1.9A spur leads right to a stone prominence and vista. Soak in an unobstructed panorama west of the South Fork Shenandoah River Valley and undulations of mountains in the yon.

2.0Reach the crest of Hazeltop, third-highest summit in Shenandoah, at 3,812 feet. A gnarled oak stands next to a large embedded rock and is the actual peak. Note the small balsam fir to the left of the trail. It is a survivor of the forests thriving much farther north in New England. Its needles are flat, fragrant, and not sharp. Leave the summit and come to a left turn. To your right are two red spruce trees, another member of the Canadian forest. Its needles are a darker green, rounded, and sharp, contrasting with the balsam fir. These trees grow only in a few locations in Shenandoah.

2.4Come to a trail junction. Turn left on Laurel Prong Trail. Cross several springs flowing over the boulder-laden slope. The rocky path makes for slow going.

3.4After descending sharply come to Laurel Gap and a trail intersection. Turn left, staying on the Laurel Prong Trail. The Cat Knob Trail goes straight.

3.9Pass a spring after winding through “the Laurels,” a thicket of mountain laurel. Keep descending.

4.1Rock-hop Laurel Prong. Look for stone fences from settler farms from pre-Camp Rapidan and Shenandoah National Park times.

4.7Intersect the Fork Mountain Trail. Keep straight on the Laurel Prong Trail, which has now widened to a fire road.

5.3Arrive at Rapidan Camp. The camp lies in a lovely wooded setting. Walk around and check out the three buildings and interpretive information. There are short nature trails here too. Give it at least an hour. Imagine the president and his compadres strategizing on subjects of national import—and trout fishing too. Back then hemlocks shaded and cooled the flat. The evergreens were destroyed by the hemlock woolly adelgid, an exotic bug. Leave Rapidan Camp on the Mill Prong Trail, which starts near the Creel Cabin. Ascend along the steep-sided valley.

5.7Rock-hop Mill Prong just below Big Rock Falls. The cascade slides 15 feet over a rock face into a large, deep pool. Continue an uptick.

6.1Intersect the Mill Prong Horse Trail. Stay left, still on the Mill Prong Trail. Cross a tributary of Mill Prong.

6.6Rock-hop a now wide, shallow, and stony Mill Prong once more. Ascend through ferny forest.

7.2Reach the trailhead after intersecting the AT and turning right to cross Skyline Drive.