With waterfalls, mountain views, and a giant meadow, Shenandoah’s Big Meadows is a hiker’s paradise.
Located at Milepost 51, Big Meadows is at the midpoint of Shenandoah National Park‘s Skyline Drive. It’s known for its giant meadow, lodge and campground. I spent three nights at the Big Meadows Campground. The area is also known for its abundance of wildlife, such as deer, squirrels, skunks, and black bears. I’m glad I didn’t have a run in with the last two. The deer, however, were everywhere in the campground, evidenced by all the deer poo around my campsite and the deer that wouldn’t leave me alone.
I saw this lady chomping away at her breakfast on my way out of the campground. She was eating some sort of seedpod-like thing and just carried on like I wasn’t there.
The first hike of the day, Dark Hollow Falls, was just a short drive from the campground. Since I apparently don’t sleep anymore, I got had the trail completely to myself until I was heading back to my car.
Being alone on a trail can be risky in bear country, especially if you don’t make any noise, but you do get to see deer in their natural habitat.
The trail follows the lovely Hogcamp Branch. Weird name though.
I saw at least 10 deer along the trail. They didn’t want to stay still for photos though.
Sunlight reaches the valleys late in the morning, if at all.
There were many little waterfalls along the trail.
Another mini waterfall. They are wonderful.
Looks like there is going to be a big waterfall!
Dark Hollow Falls drop nearly 70 feet over a series of cascades. Thomas Jefferson even made the trek to see these falls. Does that make waterfall admiring an American tradition? I think so.
Where does this waterfall go?
Oooooooooooooooo…….
The same waterfall a bit further back. Just wonderful.
Chute fall!
So much pretty!
The last waterfall. Thank goodness. My heart couldn’t handle more pretty.
Next trail was the Lewis Falls Loop, which includes part of the Appalachian Trail. The trail starts conveniently from the Big Meadows picnic area. I again went against travel guide advice and started with the Appalachian Trail, instead of the Lewis Falls Trail. I’m not sure if it really made a difference.
It didn’t take long to see some views.
That’s not creepy at all. Nope, not at all.
Another mini waterfall. The Appalachians are full of them.
A bit of a view.
Lewis Spring Falls from an overgrown overlook. I had to stand on a wall to get this shot. Lewis Springs Falls is the 4th highest waterfall in the park at 81 feet in height. I wish we could see more of the falls, though.
The Lewis Spring Falls trail is not the easiest. Bring good shoes, closed-toe shoes.
You could barely tell it was a trail in a few places. Luckily, there are trail blazes on the trees.
Off the trail, now it’s time for an overlook.
The last trail that I hiked in the area was Bearfence Mountain. It’s rated moderate but if you are short and have problems scrambling, this hike is definitely not for you. Part of the trail is vertical and there aren’t any ladders. You will definitely need good hiking shoes or boots for this one. Good traction is needed. You can avoid some scrambling if you go clockwise, but not all. I surprisingly followed advice on this one.
The trail starts very innocuous. It’s deceiving you.
Cool rock formations soon show up.
The trail is still drawing you in with its ease.
You cross a boulder. Not that hard at all.
And then this starts. Yes, this is the actual trail. Do I need to mention why you shouldn’t wear hiking sandals on this trail?
A little bit of scrambling here. It was not to hard.
This is way harder than it looks, especially if you are on the shorter side. Luckily, I have long legs for my height.
I don’t have a picture of where I thought I was going to die, so let’s move on to the amazing views.
Worth it!
Just look at those amazing mountains.
The death trail continues that way.
The trail is just a jumble of rocks along a ridge for awhile. Not the easiest to hike without hurting yourself.
The trail was really pretty, even though it was trying to kill me. I did catch my feet a few times on these rocks.
The trail stayed rocky the rest of the way but it did become easier to cross. Even though I almost died a handful of times, Bearfence Mountain was super fun. I hadn’t had a good scramble since Acadia National Park. Kind of missed it.
Back the campground where I tried to eat a snack but they wouldn’t leave. The buck came out of the woods just as I grabbed a bag of raisins off the table.
You could spend a few days just hiking the trails within ten miles of Big Meadows. Also, remember to stop and take a photo of the meadow of Big Meadows when you visit because I certainly didn’t remember.
Check out my next update where I will be exploring the southern section of Shenandoah National Park!
or
Start at the beginning of my adventure through the Appalachian Mountains!
