Take a close enough look and you’ll find that this little guide contains just about everything you’ll ever need to choose, plan for, enjoy, and survive a hike in Virginia. We’ve done everything but load your pack and tie up your bootlaces. Stuffed with useful Virginia-specific information, Hiking Virginia features 40 mapped and cued hikes, 38 honorable mentions, 36 unique day hikes along the Appalachian Trail, and everything from advice on getting into shape to tips on getting the most out of hiking with your children or your dog. We’ve added accessible trails for people with disabilities, GPS coordinates for trailheads, and new color photographs. And you get the easy-to-understand color trail maps. With so much information, the only question you may have is: How do I sift through it all? Well, we answer that, too.
We’ve designed our guidebook to be highly visual, for quick reference and ease of use. What this means is that the most pertinent information rises quickly to the top, so you don’t have to waste time poring through bulky hike descriptions to get mileage cues. They’re set aside for you. Yet Hiking Virginia doesn’t read like a laundry list. Take the time to dive into a hike description, and you’ll realize that this guide is not just a good source of information—it’s a good read. Here’s an outline of the book’s major components.
To aid in quick decision making, we start each hike chapter with a short Why Go? summary to give you a taste of the hiking adventure to follow. You’ll learn about the trail terrain and what surprises the route has to offer. If your interest is piqued, read on; if it isn’t, skip to the next hike.
The hike specifications that follow are fairly self-explanatory. Here you’ll find the quick, nitty-gritty details of the hike: where the trailhead is located, hike distance, approximate hiking time, difficulty rating, type of trail terrain, land status, the nearest town, what other trail users you may encounter, if there’s any accessibility for people with disabilities, whether it’s pet-friendly, trail contacts (for updates on trail conditions), trail schedules, whether fees or permits are required, and available maps. Finding the trailhead provides dependable directions from a nearby city right down to where you’ll want to park, with GPS coordinates.
The Hike is the meat of the chapter. Detailed and honest, it’s our carefully researched impression of the trail. While it’s impossible to cover everything, you can rest assured that we won’t miss what’s important. The Miles and Directions sections provide mileage cues to identify turns and trail name changes, as well as points of interest. The Hike Information section at the end of each hike is a hodgepodge of information. Here we’ll tell you where to stay, what to eat, and what else to see while you’re hiking in the area.
The Honorable Mentions for each section detail hikes that didn’t make the cut. In many cases it’s not because they aren’t great hikes, but because we simply did not have the room. Be sure to read through these. A jewel might be lurking among them.
We don’t want anyone to feel restricted to just the routes and trails that are mapped here. We hope you’ll have an adventurous spirit and use this guide as a platform to dive into Virginia’s backcountry and discover new routes for yourself. One of the simplest ways is to just turn the map upside down and hike the course in reverse. The change in perspective is often fantastic, and the hike should feel quite different. With this in mind, it’ll be like getting two distinctly different hikes on each map.
For your own purposes, you may wish to copy the directions for the course onto a small sheet to help you while hiking, or photocopy the map and cue sheet to take with you. Otherwise, just slip the whole book in your backpack and take it all with you. Enjoy your time in the outdoors, and remember to pack out what you pack in. For more information about enjoying the outdoors responsibly, visit the Leave No Trace website at https://lnt.org/.