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| By:
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Rating:  |
Date of Hike: Tuesday, November 5, 2019 |
I didn't have great expectations for this hike given the rash of recent 1 star reviews, but I had some time before meeting my son at JMU for lunch and I'd never hiked most of this loop. I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed the hike. The problem is that the Forest Service has done several prescribed burns in this area, and it resulted in a mess of down trees and briars. The PATC's Southern Shenandoah Valley Chapter complained (they signed on in 2019 to maintain this and other nearby trails), and a USFS fire crew went up there with weed eaters and chainsaws. It still isn't perfect (they didn't finish the job), and the time of year may have also had something to do with it (early November), but I observed only a handful of issues - almost all on the ascent on the Big Hollow Trail.
It was worth the trouble because the vistas at the top were wonderful! And it was a great workout. If you go, help the trail club out by moving branches off of the trail. This loop is going to be a lot of work to maintain!
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| By:
Sarah
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Rating:  |
Date of Hike: Tuesday, June 25, 2019 |
| Hiked the loop clockwise yesterday (without reading reviews first unfortunately) and the overgrowth is so bad at this point that I could not find the downward trail to return to my car. Brush was taller than me at times. Given the late evening time, I had to hike onto the fire road along the ridge and get picked up off Brandywine near WVa.
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| By:
Justin
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Saturday, June 1, 2019 |
| Mike B's review from 27 May about sums it up. The trail is very overgrown right now. The lower portion (first mile and a half if hiking the loop CCW) is nice, but once you gain some altitude, the grass is knee height. Thorns and plants almost block the path. I pulled 8 ticks off myself and many off my kids. I would avoid in late spring and summer.
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| By:
Mike B
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Monday, May 27, 2019 |
This hike might be decent in the winter, but should be avoided during the late spring / summer for the next decade. A solid 2/3 of this hike is through areas that were burned by the Forest Service several years ago. These portions of the trail are crowded by and in several places completely overgrown with saplings, shrubs, bushes, and grasses taking full advantage of the lack of mature tree canopy to soak up the sun. These conditions are unpleasant and likely to persist for many years until the trees reach a height where a canopy starts forming. My dog was leading the way through the overgrown trail and collected 30+ ticks despite his regular tick/flea repellent treatments.
On top of that, the majority of the Hone Quarry Recreation Area, including this hike, was suffering from swarming gnats/flies over Memorial Day weekend. Not unique to this hike, but certainly didn't help things.
As for the overlooks, the best overlook was actually where the Big Hollow trail loops around the abandoned fire road. The marked overlook - Abbie's Point - was overgrown and was ultimately a limited vantage point over a tumble of boulders.
The silver lining was the stream side hiking for a fair portion of the hike at lower elevations under a mature forest canopy.
Also of note, while hiking the ridge we spotted two young black bears traversing the hillside below us, we also encountered plenty of blackberry along the ridge trail which will keep the bears coming back as the fruit ripens.
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| By:
JLP
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Sunday, September 2, 2018 |
This was a great hike. I could see the remnants of the controlled burn, but the area has really recovered, I wouldn't let that deter anyone anymore. A lot of climbing on this one, it's a good workout. It had everything I like - climbs to views, and some walking by streams (even if really small ones.) If I do this hike again, I'm going up Heartbreak Trail first (clockwise), so that once you hit the intersection with Big Hollow you know it's all downhill from there.
By the way, there really isn't parking at the campground for non-campers. If you keep driving past the campground and over the bridge there is, however, immediately on your right space for two cars to pull in. Or if you've got a jeep you might try parking at the trailhead itself - I wouldn't recommend it for normal cars, however.
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| By:
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Rating:  |
Date of Hike: Sunday, April 29, 2018 |
| I would strongly recommend against anyone taking this hike right now. The forest service did a controlled burn that encompasses the entire trail, and there a lot of trees down on the ridge trail which got burned and are very messy to get around with all the soot.
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| By:
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Rating:  |
Date of Hike: Saturday, October 29, 2016 |
Nice hike, lots of solitude (the only people we saw were at the campground), and a good workout. Parts of the trail are really overgrown and we were grateful for the parts on a fire road. I would turn left at the fire road instread of crossing and following the spur then meeting back with the fire road after .4 miles. The spur trail was more of a bushwhack and we emerged covered in scrapes and cuts and no less than 20 ticks each. You will get nice views though along the ridge, at least in the fall.
My gps told me we hiked closer to 7 miles and I have seen this trail as over 6 on other websites, so I wonder if we somehow extended it? It took us almost 3hrs 40mins to hike, with 15min for lunch at the overlook. And that is closer to our time for a 7 mile hike. The directions matched, but the distances didn't.
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| By:
Ted J.
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Tuesday, July 19, 2016 |
| Started the loop on the Big Hollow Trail. Once I got to the ridge trail conditions changed markedly. Hiked about 1 1/2 miles on the ridge toward the Heart Break Trail, until the overgrowth with blackberry brambles finally became too thick, so I turned around. The ridge trail is no longer maintained, many downed trees to crawl over and thick brambles to push through. Glad I wore long pants, but arms got badly cut up as I was wearing only a t-shirt. Saw more bear scat than I have ever seen in this area, a pile every 20 feet on the ridge trail. But no bears. The only bear I encountered had been in my campsite and tore up my gas can while I was hiking.. I do not recommend this hike, - or at least the section along the ridge.
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| By:
Bridgewaterhikers
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Sunday, August 9, 2015 |
This was a nice hike, particularly if you are looking for a workout with hills. The scenery is nice, the creek bed is beautiful. However, the upper portions of the trail are really overgrown. We never felt like we lost the trail, but we spent a lot of time climbing over branches and trying to get around pricker bushes without getting scratched up too badly. When we arrived at the first intersection with the abandoned fire road, we scouted out the first 200 yards of the trail on the other side. It was so overgrown we decided to just hike right up the fire road instead.
There is a small parking area just on the other side of the slab bridge which is just a few yards from the entrance to the trail. The entrance to the trail looks more like a driveway than a trail and is not marked. We were a little thrown off because a car actually pulled out from it when we were approaching it. The trailhead is just about .1 miles up the "driveway".
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| By:
adt36
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Saturday, May 16, 2015 |
| This hike took me ~3 hours, with just a ~10 minute stop at the Abbie Point overlook (no lunch stop). It's a moderately difficult hike overall, with some steep spots for a good workout. As other reviewers have mentioned, this trail is *very* overgrown in parts.
Note - there was *no intersection* between Hone Quarry Mountain/435 trail and Heartbreak/435A trail! The description says you arrive at the intersection of the Hone Quarry and Heartbreak trails, after which the Hone Quarry Mountain trail is closed. This section of the trail is one of the most overgrown, so I was becoming concerned I had somehow missed the intersection and was on the closed Hone Quarry Mountain trail, until it became apparent I was actually on the Heartbreak trail. I think enough time must have passed that the closed part of the Hone Quarry Mountain trail is no longer noticeable and the path just feeds into the Heartbreak trail naturally, with no intersection. Luckily, the rest of the trail description is very detailed and accurate.
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| By:
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Saturday, October 12, 2013 |
| Amanda, The trails, as well as the National Forest in general, are open. What is closed due to the shutdown are the developed sites, such as campgrounds. I didn't hike this specific trail yesterday, but I did spend all day in the area hiking and generally having a good time. Calling the Forest Service office probably won't help since no one is there to answer the phones. Good luck!
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| By:
Anieta McCracken
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Monday, November 12, 2012 |
| We hiked in the when the trail was leaf littered making the trail a bit difficult to follow. What is not shown on the map is a off trail that goes from Hone Quarry Ridge down to Briary Branch Road. We somehow missed a turn and ended up on that trail, flagged the same color as the Hone Quarry Trail. We ended up on Briary Branch Road with an 8-mile walk back to the Hone Quarry Trail start. We asked three motorists for our location before we figured out our error and were confident we were headed back to the car. Total distance covered that day: about 15 miles!
It would have been nice if the trail markers were in different colors as a warning.
Even so, we were prepared. And we had started out earlier enough that we still made it back to the car before dark.
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| By:
gandtoro
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Saturday, May 19, 2012 |
| This was a nice hike. The difficulty rating is spot on. This hike took a little under 3 hours. The trail was quite overgrown in places, but it was still a good hike.
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| By:
LightFoot
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Friday, February 17, 2012 |
| We started the hike at about 1:30 and finished up at 5:00, and we didn't take time for lunch. I would allow more time than the stated 3 hours. This was a great hike. The rating of a 3 is just about right. The trail was alittle rocky at times. There was about 2 miles of uphill hiking so it was a great workout. It was quiet and peaceful. The sound of the small stream was wonderful. If you are into camping, there are some great camping sites there. I imagine that it could get busy during the warmer months.
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| By:
Noobiehiker
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Saturday, January 22, 2011 |
Great place to go and relax and get a little exercise! We camped at the campground Sat-Sunday. Plenty of wood on the ground for a fire and had a blast. Was around 12 degrees in the morning but warmed up well once the Sun came up. The hike was a pleasure, all around.
Can't say enough about the camp ground. Fire pits were great, the stream was low but created a soothing sound to help fall asleep. Awesome place to go, hike and enjoy the easyness of car camping.
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| By:
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Thursday, April 29, 2010 |
A note that the Forest Service is starting a controlled burn in this area on 4/30 and it may close the trail for up to a week.
We hiked on a cool morning and warm afternoon taking time to really enjoy the varied views and plant life. We camped at Hone Quarry campground which is very nice and hiked the Ridge on the second day. I would rate this hike as good for early season views before all the leaves come out. The difficulty rating of 3 is fair as there are a couple of steep areas without switchbacks. It is not too long but a good workout. There are a couple of camping sites on the ridge but no water source that we found.
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| By:
Jen
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Rating:  |
Date of Hike: Wednesday, April 7, 2010 |
| I didn't hike this exact path, but if you go past the recreation area there is a trail marked with yellow lines on the trees. If you hike up there about a mile you will find amazing waterfalls.
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| By:
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Sunday, April 4, 2010 |
| This was a nice hike overall. The view from Abbie Overlook is great. I forgot my directions at home but the trail is marked well enough that you don't really need them. Me and the dog didn't see any animals the whole time but found lots of deer droppings.
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| By:
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Sunday, March 7, 2010 |
Hike was first one of the year with family. had to wade across stream and IT WAS COLD! Wife had to stop on a rock halfway across to let her feet warm up a bit. after drying feet and putting boots back on we moved up into the snow. We had Mnt. biked this trail when the kids were younger (I do not advise that unless you are J. Bishop), but now, on foot it is a very nice hike.
Daughter (16 yr. old) set a nice pace and took lead post-holing in the snow (usually about 6 in. to a ft.) and giving the rest of us steps in the steeper sections. After turning onto ridge trail we encountered mostly melted trail and were able to walk on leaves dirt and pine needles. the smell was of spring even with snow all around. Dog was crazy being on the trail again--he's a shepherd and loves being out in the wood.
Stopped for lunch on the rock outcrop on the south side of the trail just before dropping down onto the saddle.
We were in shirt-sleeves for most of the hike, snow was as deep as 2 feet in areas and completely absent from the trail in others.
Took 3 hours, including a 1/2 hour for lunch. saw a couple of mtn. bikers and some campers, on the road below.
Really enjoyable day and a great snow walk
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| By:
Brad
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Saturday, January 31, 2009 |
| This is a great loop hike with some marvelous views, especially in the winter. The trails are well marked and the route guide on this site is accurate. The trail was icy in some spots from the last snowfall my yaktraks were a great help.
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