Weverton Cliff

The Potomac River cuts water gaps through the Blue Ridge below Weverton Cliff

9 miles round trip, 800 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy-moderate
Access: Paved road to trailhead, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park parking fee required (Federal lands pass valid)

Weverton Cliff provides a sweeping overview of the water gaps cut by the Potomac River as it traverses the Blue Ridge Mountains. This hike is an opportunity to hike in two states with a view of a third and includes the only overlapping stretch of two of America's most famed routes, the Appalachian Trail and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. If you love history and natural scenery equally, here's one place where you won't have to choose one at the expense of the others: the great river views of this hike occur along one of the most historically critical landscapes of this nation. It's possible to make a shorter hike to Weverton Cliff by starting at a closer trailhead in Maryland, but I recommend hiking the route described here from Harpers Ferry to fully appreciate this land and its history.

I hiked this trail with my family on a cold winter day; high temperatures that would only be in the 20s didn't dissuade us from embarking on our annual Christmastime hike. We drove to Harpers Ferry from Fredericksburg; most hikers will probably visit from the DC metro area and will find the fasest route to be taking I-270 to Frederick, merging onto I-70 west briefly, and then taking US 340 west towards Harpers Ferry. After crossing the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers on US 340 heading west, we turned onto Union St and followed it until reaching Washington St, where we turned right and descended into Harpers Ferry. In the lower town, we made a left turn onto Shenandoah St and then a left again onto Potomac St to come to the train station, where we parked to start the hike.

From the train station, we followed an elevated path along abandoned railroad tracks towards the east. A grassy field below marked the former site of the United States Armory. George Washington selected Harpers Ferry to host the nation's second armory, which produced weapons from the Jefferson Administration through the end of the Civil War. Harpers Ferry was chosen in part for its ample hydropower that came from the rapids of the Potomac.

In 1859, events at the US Armory in Harpers Ferry became the spark that set off the American Civil War. Located at the time in the state of Virginia- West Virginia had yet to secede from its eastern neighbor- Harpers Ferry had a large store of armaments and was not far from the plantations of antebellum Virginia. Infuriated by the creep of slavery into newly-admitted western states, the Fugitive Slave Act, and the Dred Scott Decision, and recognizing the common humanity of people regardless of race, abolitionist John Brown chose Harpers Ferry as his target for a large-scale slave rebellion. Hoping to spark a widespread uprising of slaves against their masters, or perhaps even to precipitate a war, Brown assembled a small contingent of fighters to seize control of the armory. They believed that as news from their revolt spread throughout the countryside, slaves would join them at Harpers Ferry and together, they would be able to march south and deliver emancipation. Their plan failed: after successfully raiding the armory, few recruits joined them. The raid was crushed by a contingent of Marines led by Robert E. Lee and Brown was captured. A little over a month later, Brown was hung, but not before delivering a soon-fulfilled prophecy: "I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood." Twelve months later, South Carolina seceded from the Union.

John Brown's Fort, a fire engine house in which Brown made his last stand in his standoff against Lee's Marines, is one of the few remaining structures from the raid. The building has been moved since the raid, but the materials of the building remain those of the building in which Brown was apprehended. The Armory was dismantled after heavy damage during the Civil War and the armory site has been long abandoned.

John Brown's Fort at Harpers Ferry

John Brown remains one of the most controversial figures in American history, barely less divisive today than he was in the autumn of 1859. His ardent belief in abolition and his willingness to sacrifice his life for the cause made him a martyr to Northern abolitionists; Union soldiers marching into battle sang "John Brown's Body," a song that commemorated him. Ralph Waldo Emerson declared, upon Brown's hanging, that Brown would "make the gallows as glorious as the cross." To many white Southerners, John Brown was a terrorist. The widespread endorsement of Brown's actions in the North shocked white Southerners: their countrymen were cheering on efforts to kill them. Northerners, in turn, were becoming more disgusted by the day at the failure of white Southerners to recognize the humanity of their slaves. Mutual feelings of moral abhorence set America on an irreversible path to war. Historical interpretations of Brown have largely depended on the loyalties of the viewer: Brown is simultaneously venerated and deemed a madman. He was a violent man, the murderer of Pottawatomie, and an unselfish one who gave his life for emancipation.

I contemplated this past as I stood at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, still just meters away from the car. Rugged cliffs rose above the confluence: Maryland Heights across the Potomac, Loudoun Heights across the Shenandoah. Standing in West Virginia, I could see Maryland across the Potomac and Virginia just slightly further east across the Shenandoah. Old bridge piers crowded the river, giving reminder of the importance of the town of Harpers Ferry throughout American history.

The confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers at Harpers Ferry

Harpers Fery lies roughly at the halfway point of the Appalachian Trail, about a thousand miles from either Springer Mountain or Katahdin. We followed the Appalachian Trail across the Potomac on a railroad bridge. The truss bridge carried the track of the Winchester and Potomac Railroad and a pedestrian walkway. From the bridge, we had good views east over the Potomac-Shenandoah confluence and ahead to the massive cliffs of Maryland Heights.

Once in Maryland, the Appalachian Trail descended off the bridge via a spiral staircase and intersected with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath. We continued following the Appalachian Trail north, which overlapped with the C&O Canal Towpath heading east. Just a few meters past the bridge, we found a nice riverside spot with a view back across the Potomac to Harpers Ferry with its church steeple and historic lower town.

Harpers Ferry viewed from the Maryland side of the Potomac

Harpers Ferry

We continued along the C&O Towpath for roughly 3 miles. The towpath was sandwiched between the C&O Canal and the Potomac River; at spots, small side paths led down to the river for nice views of this mighty river, the second largest river to drain into the Chesapeake Bay. About halfway through the C&O Canal Towpath section of the hike, the trail passed beneath the span of the US 340 bridge over the Potomac River. At a few spots along the trail, there were small beaches along the Potomac which were covered with tiny shells.

The Potomac River downstream of Harpers Ferry

While the river occupied attention on the southern side of the towpath, the canal was the main point of interest north of the trail. The C&O Canal was born out of grand dreams in the nation's early years as European Americans gradually began settling the lands of the Ohio Valley to the west of the Appalachians. After the construction of the Erie Canal in New York, it became clear that accessible trade routes between the East Coast and Midwest could be extremely lucrative. Thus, in the 1820s, the US government authorized the construction of a canal that would connect the Chesapeake Bay with the Ohio River watershed, a water route for trade from Washington DC to Pittsburgh. Work started in the late 1820s but ended at Cumberland, Maryland in 1850, still over a hundred miles from Pittsburgh. By the time the canal had been built, railroads were already supplanting canal barges as the most efficient means of transportation in the growing United States. Today much of the canal remains and the towpath once used by mules to tow boats upstream through the canal and through slackwater is now principally used by cyclists and hikers.

C&O Canal Towpath

Having followed the towpath for just under three miles along the Potomac River from Harpers Ferry, we arrived at the junction where the AT split off from the towpath. Here, we followed the white blazes and took the left turn at the intersection to leave the towpath, crossing railroad tracks and coming out to a road. We spotted white blazes for the AT across a sharp bend in Keep Tryst Road and followed the white blazes as the trail returned into the forest. At this point, the trail began the first real stretch of elevation gain of the hike, climbing slightly uphill before crossing under US 340 at the highway's bridge over the small gorge of Israel Creek. Older road traces were visible below the AT and were especially noticeable at the US 340 bridge, where the remnants of an older, lower bridge still stood over Israel Creek. After passing under US 340, the trail climbed slightly uphill and passed a parking lot for AT access about half a mile after leaving the towpath. Hikers wishing to skip the towpath stretch of the hike can park here to cut the hike down to a 2.5-mile round trip.

The trail briefly paralleled Weverton Cliff Road before coming to the intersection of Weverton Cliff and Weverton Roads. We crossed Weverton Road to continue uphill and north along the Appalachian Trail.

In the next mile and a bit, the trail ascended fairly gently up the slopes of South Mountain, which forms the principal crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains through Maryland. The trail was often rocky and had switchbacks at points but otherwise the ascent was not terribly difficult. 1.2 miles after passing the Weverton Cliff trailhead parking, the trail arrived at the top of the ridge. Here, the AT made a sharp left turn that was marked by a sign indicating that the AT was heading north. An unmarked trail broke off to the right here, heading downhill. We took this unmarked trail, which led down towards Weverton Cliff. A short descent brought us quickly down to a set of rocks with partially obstructed views of the Potomac and the surrounding countryside.

The Potomac River water gap at Harpers Ferry

By scrambling about the rocks at the end of the trail, I was able to get a good overall view of the surounding area. The cliff looked directly down over the Potomac River's water gap through South Mountain. To the west, I could see the Potomac River flowing through another water gap at Harpers Ferry, cutting between Loudoun and Maryland Heights. To the east, the Potomac River stretched out towards Catoctin Mountain and its final water gap before its great turn to the south towards Great Falls and the nation's capital. Farms in the Piedmont stretched out to the east, with the tiny town of Knoxville visible below nearby and Brunswick visible a little further down the river. To the west, I spotted the church steeple of Harpers Ferry through the water gap and could see the many-layered Valley and Ridge beyond. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad snaked along the river, its tracks still carrying cargo for CSX today, nearly two centuries after the ties were laid for the first common carrier railroad in the United States.

The Potomac River below Weverton Cliff

Halfmoon Mountain

View south into Trout Run Valley

9.5 miles loop, 2100 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Moderate, due to length and elevation gain

The Halfmoon Mountain hike is a good day loop in the Great North Mountain area that utilizes a number of trails in the area to circumnavigate Halfmoon Mountain. The rewards are a pretty stream and a great view of Trout Run Valley. I did this hike during my Wolf Gap camping trip and found it to be very enjoyable. I got the idea for this hike from Hiking Upward- it seemed like a more interesting hike than the round-trip hikes suggested on Summit Post.

My friend and I drove out from Wolf Gap to the trailhead after a cold night. The trailhead was on an unmarked gravel road in George Washington National Forest off of the Trout Run Road in West Virginia. Wolf Gap lies on the VA/WV boundary and is accessible by taking SR 675 from Edinburg in Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. We reached this trailhead by continuing down the Trout Run Road into West Virginia, passing Rockland and Perry. At the foot of Halfmoon Mountain, the road turned to the left. Soon afterward, the road reentered George Washington National Forest. After the road crossed Trout Run, we looked to the right for an unmarked gravel road. This gravel road was a couple hundred yards short of the intersection of the Trout Pond/Thorny Bottom Road. I drove up the gravel road and found the trailhead at the end of a loop in the road. The trail, actually a former fire road, was blocked by a gate and had a sign by it that read "Bucktail Trail."

We got onto the orange-blazed trail, which began by winding through some fairly young forest on the west slope of Halfmoon Mountain. After an initial gentle ascent, the Bucktail Trail began a gentle descent toward Halfmoon Run. There were views of the flat Rocky Ridge to our west and of Wildcat and Anderson Ridge to the north.

Bucktail Trail

The Bucktail Trail eventually arrived at Halfmoon Run. Instead of crossing the run on a bridge here, we instead continued following the orange blazed trail, which led us to the right and along the run. The trail then crossed the run five times. Rock outcroppings popped up from beside the stream at some spots. The stream itself was pretty and made this section of trail interesting.

Halfmoon Run

After the last stream crossing, the trail veered away from the run and began a gentle, gradual ascent. We hiked through dense thickets of mountain laurel, which grew everywhere along the trail. This would undoubtedly be a spectacular hike in May or June, when the laurel blooms.

Mountain laurel on the Bucktail Trail

The Bucktail Trail ended at an intersection with another fire road. My friend and I had lunch here as I tried to figure out the route- which ended up being a bit trickier than I had thought when I realized I had left my Hiking Upward map in the car. I decided that the fire road leading in Halfmoon Mountain's direction would likely be the right trail and luckily, I ended up being right. We took the fire road to the right at that junction and after a quarter mile came upon the intersection with the German Wilson Trail.

The pink-blazed German Wilson Trail was the most difficult part of this hike. The trail is fairly steep and there is a large amount of fallen trees on the trail. Thus, the trail was not only a bit hard to go up, it was occasionally a little hard to follow as well. We managed to stay on the trail and we eventually made our way up to the ridgeline and the intersection with the white-blazed Halfmoon Trail.

At this intersection, we took the spur trail to the right, which began an ascent that was gentle at first and steep at the very end that put us on the summit of Halfmoon Mountain. The remains of an old stone lookout remain at the summit, but there were no longer views there- to see the Halfmoon Mountain view, we made our way a couple yards further to a couple of rocks with an open view of the Trout Run Valley and the endless ridges of West Virginia. I found another viewpoint to the west at the very end of the trail that allowed me to see the western peak of Halfmoon Mountain and more of the endless valleys and ridges.

The western half of Halfmoon and the valleys and ridges of West Virginia

We left the windy summit after views and a snack and made our way down the mountain on the Halfmoon Trail. We followed this trail to the foot of the mountain, where we came upon another stream that is confusingly named Halfmoon Run. Here, we followed the pink-blazed Bucktail Cutoff Trail to the right. This trail had some ups and downs as it made its way across the base of Halfmoon Mountain. We had to cross a few streams on this stretch of trail. The trail was very pleasant, with occasional views through the bare trees to Trout Valley and the north end of Long Mountain. After following it for a while, the trail eventually dropped back to the Bucktail Trail, which we followed back to the parking area for the last quarter mile.

Although it's a bit of a long hike for just a single viewpoint, I found the hike to be an overall worthwhile one: the stream was nice, the view was excellent, and terrain that the trail passed through was fun and enjoyable to hike through.

Big Schloss

Ridge of Mill Mountain and Tibbet Knob from Big Schloss

4.4 miles round trip, 1100 feet elevation gain
Difficutly: Easy-Moderate
Access: Narrow but paved road to trailhead; free parking

Big Schloss is one of the best-known hikes in the Virginia/WV area. Although my friend and I had this trail mostly to ourselves on a windy March weekday, the parking at the trailhead at Wolf Gap was overflowing and hikers were pouring up and down the mountain on the Saturday when we left Wolf Gap. At a crowd-less time, Big Schloss is undoubtedly worth visiting. The view from the rocky cliffs at the end of the trail is breathtaking.

I hiked Big Schloss during my Wolf Gap camping trip over spring break. My friend and I headed up the trail after setting up camp and eating lunch in the Wolf Gap. The trailhead is on the West Virginia side of the campground, near the higher-numbered campsites. The campground is on the state line off of VA 675, which heads west from Edinburg, VA up into Great North Mountain. Edinbug lies in northern Shenandoah Valley, south of Woodstock and north of New Market and accessible by both I-81 and US 11. If you come from US 11, signs along the road will point your way up to Wolf Gap.

The trail immediately started uphill. We found some sections to be fairly steep as we made our way up a small knob on Mill Mountain. Although the weather had been just partly cloudy that morning, clouds rolled in as we we made our way uphill and rain seemed imminent. Luckily, the rain held off for our hike and didn't come until after we had finished dinner that night. After a little over a half mile of uphill slogging, we found ourselves atop the ridgeline of Mill Mountain with most of the elevation gain from the hike out of the way.

The first viewpoint of the hike was just a little farther along the flat ridgeline. Here we found exposed layers of sandstone with a wide view to the east into Virginia. Little Schloss, a companion peak to Big Schloss, was visible on Little Sluice Mountain. Massanutten Mountain was also visible across the valley and the peaks of the Blue Ridge- Mt. Marshall, Hogback, Mary's Rock, Stony Man- were visible beyond Massanutten. Closer were some uglier scenes: a clear cut section of forest between Mill Mountain and Little Sluice along a forestry road served as a reminder that even places as beloved as this area are not safe from axes and development. Indeed, most of the forest in the area can be clearly identified as second, or perhaps even third, growth.

View of Little Schloss after reaching the ridgetop

We continued along the ridge. The hiking here was easy but the trail was rocky. Views occasionally popped up through the trees on either side. Some spots along the ridge were grassy; other spots more typically woodland like. Big Schloss itself appeared as a high rock castle further up the ridge.

The trail cut to the west of the ridge and into West Virginia as we approached Big Schloss. At about two miles from the trailhead, we arrived at the spur trail for Big Schloss. We followed the spur, which began a steady uphill for a quarter mile, reaching the ridgeline again and eventually coming out onto rocky cliffs. I spotted a few good campsites on grassy spots on the ridgeline. Once at the cliffs, the trail crossed a small rocky chasm by a wooden bridge. The final section of trail led us over rocks to the very north end of Big Schloss, which had a huge, almost 360-degree view.

Long Mountain, Halfmoon Mountain, and Mill Mountain above Trout Run Valley

The entire Trout Run Valley was visible to the north and south. Tibbet Knob and Long Mountain lay to the south, Long Mountain to the west, Halfmoon and Mill Mountain to the north. Rockland, Perry, and the pastureland and ponds of Trout Run Valley were below us. We scrambled a couple of feet up to the summit for a view to the east similar to the view seen from the the first viewpoint on the trail. We stayed for a while to soak in the great view and then made our way back to the campground to escape the cold and the wind.

Sandstone outcroppings near the summit

This was my first extended period hiking in the Ridge and Valley province. I've dedicated most of my time to the Blue Ridge, which has a much different geology than this region. At least from my first exposure to the area, it seems that the geology here is a bit simpler to explain. The long, flat ridges in the area were much different than the varied, sharp terrain of the Blue Ridge. The Blue Ridge was formed as the core range of the Alleghenian Orogeny- the mountains in Ridge and Valley were formed by folds in the crust.

The cliffs at the top of Big Schloss were a white-colored sandstone and the rocks at Wolf Gap were similarly sedimentary. From observation on Big Schloss and later on Tibbet Knob, it seems that the outcroppings across Trout Run Valley on Long Mountain are of a similar formation to the rocks on Big Schloss. I would guess that Trout Run Valley is an anticlinal valley- in other words, the rock layers here are folded upward in a ^ shape rather than a v shape.  The top of the anticline has probably eroded, leaving the tougher sandstone layers atop Mill Mountain and Long Mountain as the ridges and forming a bowl between those ridges.

Tibbet Knob

Sunset on a ridge above Wolf Gap

3.1 miles round trip, 800 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Moderate, due to rock scramble

Big Schloss is the best known hike in the Trout Run Valley area, a 4-mile hike that heads north from Wolf Gap. Tibbet Knob is a 3-mile hike that heads south from Wolf Gap to an equally astounding view, but is much less traveled. On a Saturday in which there were about 20 cars parked in the Wolf Gap day use lot, we only saw one other hiking party on the Tibbet Knob trail.

I did this hike on my Wolf Gap camping trip over spring break. My friend and I headed up this trail on the last morning of our trip, after surviving a cold and windy night. The trailhead is across SR 675 from the Wolf Gap parking area and is well signed. Wolf Gap is on the VA/WV line, up SR 675 from Edinburg, which itself is accessible by I-81 and US 11 in Shenandoah Valley.

We headed south along the yellow-blazed trail, which was flat for a short stretch before beginning the hike's first ascent. About a half mile away from the trailhead, the trail flattens out on a small rocky ridgetop, where moss covers the area around the trail and the trees are fairly young. The trail soon comes to a number of viewpoints: one view is directly on the trail, while a wider view is accessible on a short spur trail onto a rocky outcrop. The previous evening, I hiked up to this hill to watch the setting sun paint the ranges to the east with amazing colors. Watching Massanutten and the Blue Ridge glow reminded me how much I loved Virginia. The next morning, when I was finally doing the full Tibbet Knob hike, I could see even farther than the night before: all of Massanutten Mountain was visible and beyond that, the Blue Ridge poked out: the profile of Mary's Rock above Thornton Gap, Stony Man, Hawksbill, Blackrock, all of the peaks of the Blue Ridge down to Saddleback/Hightop could be seen. Although most of the South District peaks weren't visible, to the right of the south end of Massanutten, I could faintly see Humpback Mountain and Devil's Knob- peaks that were over 70 miles away! I was stunned by how far the view stretched here.

View east from ridge below Tibbet Knob

Continuing beyond this view, we descended a bit before beginning the ascent of Tibbet Knob itself. This trail was quite steep! The trail led us straight up the side of the mountain to two short and enjoyable rock scrambles and we were soon at the summit viewpoint. By walking out onto a couple of the different rocky ledges here, we found great views to the west and north. As Tibbet Knob lies at the south end of Trout Run Valley, we had a great view straight up Trout Run Valley, and we could see both of the peaks we had climbed in the previous two days, Big Schloss and Halfmoon Mountain. I found the sandstone atop the peak and the numerous evergreens to be especially noteworthy. I also saw two good campsites with fire rings within a stone's throw of the summit viewpoint. We enjoyed the views, the wind, and the final hike of our trip before heading down the mountain to prepare for our return to Charlottesville.

View north of Trout Run Valley from Tibbet Knob