|
| By:
|
Rating:  |
Date of Hike: Sunday, July 29, 2018 |
| Hiked Dec 22, 2017 with my two adult sons and again on July 29, 2018 with my wife. Very different feel between winter and summer. Both times we went counter-clockwise and headed up lost mountian trail and then hung a right back onto rolling meadows. In general, it's a nice meadow hike, cross a creek, a bit more meadow and then you enter tree line and start up to a ridge (with modest amount of elevation gain), then back down for more meadows back to the parking area. In winter, rolling fields were copper colored grass against a gray sky. Summer was very green hills and fields against a blue sky. Sometimes the nice views are not from the top of a mountain. Did get two ticks in July. Spray up before you go. Peach orchards about two miles away were a good find for pick your own after the July hike.
|
|
| By:
Nice stroll
|
Rating: |
Date of Hike: Saturday, October 28, 2017 |
| We've hiked a number of times across the road at Sky Meadows but opted to try out this area to get away from the crowds on a beautiful fall day. Came across a few people on horseback and gave them leeway to pass they were always pleasant and said hi. We did the entire blue trail and then added the Lost Trail to get up to the ridge. We went counter clockwise, which is the way to go as it got the heart going in some areas but would have been much tougher and steeper coming the other way. Views were pretty much only from the intersection in the middle of the area. Loss of leaves helped with increasing views but it was mostly just a walk in the woods. Would be nice to check out on a hot summer day with full tree cover. Trail is nice and wide so we could walk side by side most the way.
|
|
| By:
Dan
|
Rating: |
Date of Hike: Monday, March 20, 2017 |
| This is a very pleasant hike, but the views do not merit a 5. It's more like a 3. That said, meandering through fields, pastures and woods does have its own appeal, and the climb up Lost Mountain will definitely get your heart going. No navigational difficulties on this one. Just be sure to take along a copy of the topographical map and you'll be fine. After completing the hike, reflect on your trek at one of the nearby wineries!
|
|
| By:
Amanda
|
Rating:  |
Date of Hike: Tuesday, February 14, 2017 |
| Really lovely hike. Nice mix of rolling VA countryside and woods with some great views. It is a little misleading at first, as the section through the fields is a nice stroll. But once you hit Lost Mountain it is a proper hike. Not technical and not as steep or rigorous as the Roller Coaster on the AT, but you're definitely getting a work out! I would say the time listed is pretty accurate. The friend I was hiking with is a little slow due to some physical issues, but we were not too far over the 2.5 hours. A nice hike for everyone! Looking forward to visiting in the spring.
|
|
| By:
|
Rating:  |
Date of Hike: Wednesday, September 21, 2016 |
I think this hike is more properly called Sky Meadows State Park -- Lost Mountain, to distinguish it from what I call the main portion of the park, Sky Meadows State Park -- Blue Ridge. It's all Sky Meadows State Park. There are other sections of the park, too, including Turner Pond. See the park trail guide for more details: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/document/data/trail-guide-skymeadows.pdf
Anyway, this is a very nice hike, A great shorter high of lower intensity, that can be made shorter. I had some pleasant chats with equestrians. They say they appreciate hikers making a little noise if they notice horses approaching so the horses are not spooked by suddenly encountering hikers. The hike is through a mix of meadow and forest with great views of the Blue Ridge portion of the park. If you're lucky you will run into one of the exceptional rangers as I did, and greatly increase your knowledge of the area. There is an admission fee for the park ($4 during weekdays as of this writing -- $5 weekends), but that is for the whole park so when you are done with this you can explore the other areas including the visitor center, where you'll find restrooms, water, and a Pepsi machine (it's out of sight in one of the storage buildings). And, of course, more trails as your time permits.
|
|
| By:
|
Rating: |
Date of Hike: Monday, September 5, 2016 |
Great hike! Took a few beginners and they had no issues. The park ranger was VERY helpful (Thank you, Katie). Cost to park was $5. As it was Labor Day Weekend, it was busy, but not crazy.
Definitely check in at the Visitor's Center & small store. The ranger will help you find the best hike for your group. In our case, she switched things slightly, so we could enjoy shade on the uphill.
The trails are very well maintained. At each intersection, not only are there very clear signs with mileage, but commonly nice benches to relax.
Bring a camera as there are some great view.s
|
|
| By:
Teresa
|
Rating: |
Date of Hike: Sunday, April 12, 2015 |
| I was dubious of the high "views" rating for a meadow hike, but it really was beautiful. We went mainly to see birds, and we were not disappointed, despite not getting there until late morning. It helped that it was a beautiful day, sunny, but not hot.
|
|
| By:
Mike G
|
Rating: |
Date of Hike: Sunday, January 12, 2014 |
| Wonderful quick day hike just over an hour door-to-door from DC. Nice mix of open meadows and woods, with views of farm fields and some ridges, as well as a section of trail that runs along a cow pasture for a bit. We did a shortened version of the hike by doing just the main Meadows trail combined with the Lost Mountain Trail. Note that following the loop as we did involves a stream crossing that is definitely a wet boots affair after heavy rains. We found a log bridge about 50 yards north of the trail and crossed there.
Bonus: lots of wineries just down the road for post-walk refreshments.
|
|
| By:
Andrew
|
Rating: |
Date of Hike: Wednesday, October 23, 2013 |
| This was a casual hike through a meadow and some woods. I can understand how there'd be a tick problem in the spring and summer but today was cool enough for them to stay away. Roughly half of the trails cut through tall grass. The hike provided a good view of the valley. It's close to the 'burbs and good for an afternoon. I'll check it out again.
|
|
| By:
Gretchen
|
Rating:  |
Date of Hike: Saturday, May 25, 2013 |
| I originally went to hike the Appalachian trail from Sky Meadows, but it was closed for a Strawberry festival. Therefore, I went on the meadow equestrian trails. The signs said watch for ticks and I figured there would be some because it's a horse trail, but there were HUNDREDS. I also discovered I am horribly afraid of them for some reason. Every couple minutes I had to stop to wipe them off my legs and in my hair. There were kids and adults with shorts on so I don't know how they managed. I stripped off my outer clothing after running the rest of the way back and I still found them in my car later! Maybe I will go back sometime to try the Appalachian trail section again, hopefully sans ticks :( They only seemed to be in the meadow sections, however.
|
|
| By:
|
Rating: |
Date of Hike: Sunday, April 14, 2013 |
This was a nice short hike, not too far from DC. I did not have as much of a tick problem as the previous poster noted, although I did have to remove one tick. My wife and I were there between 9 and 11 in the morning on a nice day and we only saw two other hikers and three horseback riders.
The views were nice and the exercise was worth it. I would do this hike again.
|
|
| By:
JJ
|
Rating: |
Date of Hike: Saturday, April 14, 2012 |
| By far the worst hike I have completed in the DC/VA/MD area. Removed over 30 ticks from my shoes/shins as we hiked. I felt badly for the family in front of us with small children as I am certain they were similarly affected. Potentially more enjoyable in the winter months. It is difficult to enjoy the hike or views when you are constantly picking ticks off however, I did attempt to assess the views and certainly would not give it a 5 rating by any means. 3 at best for me.
|
|
| By:
|
Rating: |
Date of Hike: Saturday, March 17, 2012 |
| Weather: lovely
Diffculty: Not
Quiet: for the time being
Upcoming show: Trilliums by the billions
|
|
| By:
Dohoon
|
Rating: |
Date of Hike: Saturday, December 3, 2011 |
| Overall this was a nice easy hike. This trail would be much nicer if not used as horse trails. You need to watch your steps for horse doo doos and share the trail with horseback riders. It has nice and wide trails on meadows and some elevation gains to the hills. The view is OK too. Make sure you park your car in the first lot as you come in--the back one is used by horse trailers.
|
|
