C&O Canal Adventures Walking, riding, and cleaning up the C&O Canal

Getting ready for a surprisingly tough climb to the top of the ridge

I do enjoy hiking!  I suppose it’s pretty obvious, but I do have mixed feelings about hiking on holiday weekends,  The crowds in some of our usual places leave me scrambling for possibilities in lesser-known areas, and the Wildcat Mountain Natural Area sounded like a good place to take a walk in the woods on this busy Sunday.

Seeing this jack-in-the-pulpit was almost enough to make the long drive worthwhile all by itself. By the end of the day, I was glad I didn’t spend yet another holiday weekend catching up on the laundry!

This relatively unknown spot at the end of England Mountain Road has a 2.9 mile, yellow-blazed lariat trail that starts off with a bang–a steep half-mile trek to a rolling (roughly) two-mile loop at the top of the ridge.  On the way up, we heard a loud thrashing in the woods, and knowing that bears have been seen in the area gave us high hopes of seeing one.  Such was not the case, but the 667′ of total elevation gain gave us a good cardiovascular workout.

I think that I shall never see a billboard lovely as a tree–or will I?

At the top, we opted to head in a counter-clockwise direction, following an old stone wall before bearing to the left.  Along the way, the highlights were a small pond, a spring house, and a couple of really small stream crossings.  The hike, of course, ended by traveling down the same hill we climbed in the beginning.

A well-constructed stone wall near the beginning of the upper loop

In all, a nice map is available at the kiosk, and there are several interpretive signs along the trail that help in identifying many of the trees.  Thus, this hike is a great learning experience for would-be woodsmen.  We traveled a long way for such a short hike, but it was a worthwhile trip to a very nice place.  It’s just too bad we didn’t spot the large animal making all of the noise: that is always worth a few bonus points!

This pond is about two-thirds of the way into the walk. In the summer, I imagine that it’s much smaller.

Haskiell Hollow Trail. This is actually toward the end of the hike.

The Haskiell Hollow hike is a fine example of what Shenandoah National Park holds beyond Skyline Drive.  The downhill portion takes in an overlapping part of the Overall Run Falls loop, so there will be other hikers.  However, taking the Haskiell Hollow Trail back to the top makes for three of the more secluded miles in the northern section of SNP.  The author of a trail book that I’ve been reading brought up the fact that waterfalls and overlooks aren’t part of the journey, but the odds of seeing a bear or two looked pretty good.

On the Matthews Arm Trail

The hike begins in the lot near the Matthews Arm Campground, and the route follows Traces Nature Trail before turning left onto the Matthews Arm Trail.  For the next .8 miles, an unusual array of wildflowers lined the wide path.  There was a large number of jack-in-the-pulpits, but we arrived too early to see them in bloom.  That was probably the most disappointing part of an otherwise great walk in the woods.

A clearing near the Matthews Arm Trail

At the 1.4 mile mark, we took a left onto the Beecher Ridge Trail and entered familiar territory for the next 2.3 miles.  At about the same time last year, we turned right and headed back toward Thompson Hollow at the junction of today’s 3.7 mile mark.  However, on this occasion we took a sharp left and continued on the Beecher Ridge Trail.  Before reaching the Haskiell Hollow trail, we had two significant stream crossings:  the first on East Fork and the second n Moody Creek.  After several days of rain, the water ran knee deep at East Fork, but the “buried” rocks were broken and slime-free, which made for an easy crossing.

This jack-in-the-pulpit wasn’t quite ready to be photographed.

After meeting the Haskiell Hollow Trail and starting uphill, there was a third crossing of the day–once again on Moody Creek.  From here, the trail is a wide track that heads steadily uphill without switchbacks. Nevertheless, the 1780′ of elevation gain is spread out evenly over three miles, and I don’t recall breathing hard at any point along the way.

Near the end of Haskiell Hollow, we met up with a female turkey that slowly ambled up the trail ahead of us, obviously trying to lead us away from her nest.  I also caught a two second view of a bobcat crossing the trail about fifty feet out.  It was only the second bobcat that I’ve seen in the wild, so it definitely elevated my overall impression of the hike.

East Fork left us wet up to our knees!

At the end of the Haskiell Hollow Trail, yet another left turn starts the final leg of on a service road, and the starting point is about a half-mile away.  At 7.6 miles with a 1789′ elevation gain, this loop is rated as strenuous, but all of the difficulty was evenly distributed, and the overall result was a great hike with numerous opportunities to view wildlife.  It just goes to show that waterfalls and overlooks aren’t essential for a great day in the park.

Moody Creek crossing on the Haskiell Hollow Trail

The sign at the parking area goes over the rules and regulations. Don’t look for trail maps, though. You can hike here when hunting isn’t in season, but there aren’t any real trails.

Belle Grove WMA is a 355 acre tract of land located off of the Orleans exit on I-68.  The parking area is on Turkey Farm Road, which is fitting because the area was once used to raise wild turkeys for re-populating other areas.  The really aren’t any marked trails on this property;  instead, hikers have a dirt access road and game clearings to follow.

A short re-telling of the interesting story behind the Belle Grove Wildlife Management Area

For a change-of-pace, non-hunters can follow Turkey Farm Road back to the parking lot, completing a narrow loop of 1.4 relatively flat miles.  We chose this short walk because today was an ugly, rainy day, and the late start would have made a longer walk a problem.

This is part of a large game clearing at the top of the ridge

The interstate is within earshot, and the road that bisects this public land has a considerable amount of traffic:  even when alone, this is not a quiet, secluded walk in the woods.  Nevertheless, the former turkey farm produced an interesting sighting.  About halfway around, a loud beating of wings was followed by a large turkey taking off from the top of a nearby tree.

We didn’t explore the “other” side of the road, but Belle Grove has a “gamey” feel to it. I’m pretty sure that anybody visiting would see something of interest. Deer are said to be plentiful, as are rabbits and turkey. There seems to be plenty to eat, so even seeing a bear wouldn’t be surprising.

We live close to Sleepy Creek in West Virginia, so we’re very used to hiking in wildlife management areas.  It’s very well equipped for hikers, but Belle Grove appears to be set up primarily for hunters.  Today, that wasn’t a problem.  We managed to stretch our legs, and seeing a wild turkey taking a long, elevated flight isn’t an everyday occurrence.  That alone made this a good hike on an otherwise bad day.

A nice stretch along Turkey Farm Road!