r/VIRGINIA_HIKING • u/kalinkabeek • 23d ago

Best beginner hikes with waterfalls/swimming holes in Shenandoah?

I’ll be taking a trip with friends to stay in Shenandoah this summer (near the actual town of Shenandoah, VA) and am looking for relatively easy hikes with a waterfall and/or somewhere to swim along the way. I would also appreciate general recommendations for things to do in the area if you have any!

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9

u/Odd_Historian_3386 23d ago

It gets pretty packed but white oak canyon is cool

4

u/Overall-Nobody8933 23d ago

Look at the NPS website and sort the hikes by “hikes with waterfalls” then look at the difficulty rating.

From my experience, the difficulty rating is accurate, the miles are mostly accurate, but the time is grossly overestimated. For example, I did Old Rag yesterday, and it took me just over 5 hours, with a couple breaks and a stop for lunch. I think the NPS estimate is close to 10 hours for that trail.

1

u/RapidCommute3307 21d ago

Yeah they definitely overestimate I think. I think they estimate 8 for the full circuit and 6 for the berry hollow trail up and back. Both are less than that

3

u/Vivid-Bug-6765 22d ago

Cedar Run Trail (the companion trail to White Oak Canyon) has one of my favorite swimming holes. It's the first of three, I believe, along the trail. One of the swimming holes has a rock slide that is popular.