Best Trails near Linden, Virginia

Not very exciting at all. No extraordinary views, or waterfalls. Good exercise, though.

Did an out and back from the southern entrance to the AT in Linden to the Whiskey Hollow Shelter- about 15 miles round trip. The trail was well maintained and surprisingly soft in some stretches. The first two miles have significant elevation gain- and the overall gain was about 2900-3000 feet. No vistas or overlooks - the area is heavily wooded. Saw a baby bleach snake on the trail. Before reaching Whiskey Hollow, there is a small rock scramble that is not challenging but must be noted. Popular with trail runners and long-distance hikers.

I wasnt prepared for the straight up climb. The view at the top was wonderful. I liked the Northridge trail more.

Enjoyed the loop - but most of the North Trail and the Ambassador Whitehouse Trail is currently closed. A lot of trees down and work is being done by the park on the closed trails. I frequent Sky Meadows Park often, but this is the first trip I’ve been on the Old Trail (purple). Fantastic park, trails are marked well and staff are friendly. I hope to complete the whole loop once the trails are reopened.

totally worth it but very exposed

Nice trail with great views. It was a bit muddy due to the recent weather. Trail was wide and well marked. The park service team was out removing blown down tress from the trail. They did a great job of that. There were quite a few.

Short day trip out and back from to Manasas Gap shelter. Started at parking lot by John Marshals Highway. Good parking. We did a side trail near the shelter called “Ted Lake”. Went about a mile where we hit a dirt parking lot and a road. Hiked back to the AT part of the trail. Nice day. Saw about 15 people over 3-4 hours.

enjoyed the variety.

I'll echo Chris Bigelow's review. It is a bit steeper than you think so be aware. Nice view from the top. The pic at the top of this page is a good preview. We took Piedmont Overlook up and northridge back down

Great relatively easy hike with beautiful forest, no overlooks and not many places with views of the surrounding valleys

It took me 4 hours to full 6.6 round trip. I stopped to have lunch. The hike is definitely difficult in the beginning due to rock and incline. Nice meadow to sit and relax and I really liked the shelter. It was good for hiking but I wanted to see more plants or foliage or view which I think it’s lacking.

Nice section of the AT. Went on a misty day and had a nice time.

Fairly short loop on a wide trail, but the steepness and the fact that there is minimal tree cover makes it seem slightly more strenuous than you might expect. Nice view at the top, and there are a lot of butterflies along the trail.

only made it to Manassas gap shelter before a torrential downpour occurred . we got stuck with the thru hiker "2 pac". rained from 3pm-5am .. most of my gear got pretty wet but i slept well .

I run from where you enter at Freezeland and Fire Trail back to Manassas Shelter and it is pretty nice going. Some areas you HAVE to walk either for elevation or rocks. Nice Ultra training area. There are Deer and Bear so running isn’t the smartest move but it works for me. Very few people maybe 1 or 2, a couple times a week.

Nice hike, a bit strenuous in the beginning and somewhat rocky. You have to watch for poison ivy but no bugs on this hot humid summer day! I’m used to hiking over at Buzzards Rock where it’s pretty quiet, so I want used to seeing so many people on the trail . If there was a cadre with a nice iced latte in that meadow, That would be magical;) recommend this hike!

Nice two and a half hour workout. Watch out for the poison ivy and the bees in the field. I did get a glimpse of the monastery on Blue Mountain but other than that there are no Scenic Vistas. I only ran into four other hikers along the way.... on a Tuesday. All-in-all it's a great hike close to home. It's always good to be our in nature!

nice 5 Mile round trip out and back up to the Manassas Gap shelter. Good water flow a few times throughout the way. Very muddy this time of year and I'm glad I had ankle support because of all the rocks. Great path ran into some thru-hikers. one of them named Maverick just like in the movie haha drink 3 liters of water on this hike. happy travels!

Nice hike on March 31, with the family, up to shelter and back. Fairly busy ran into 15-20 hikers on this trip.

Going north on the AT from Tuckers Lane might offer a more varied backcountry hike, but this 6.6 mile round trip south is a nice alternative. Most of the elevation gain is in the first third. Just over the ridge is a beautiful old meadow. The turnaround destination - the Denton shelter - is one of the nicer facilities we've seen on the AT: beautiful three-sided shelter that could sleep 7-8 adults, a covered picnic table, shower set-up, bio-friendly latrine, fire pits and separate tent sites, and even a horseshoe pit. We enjoyed the hike on a brisk mid-January day (20 degrees), with only two other solo hikers encountered on the trail (and a few woodpeckers) and, due to a lack of foliage, many long views. The traffic from I-66 echoes in the valley and makes for some background noise ascending and descending the ridge, the only downside to this otherwise very nice hike.

The trail shown here is a nice way to get in from the south end of Thompson. Once in, there are numerous other trails looping through, some with moderate elevations including part of the AT. They do not have blazes but are easy to follow and loop around, so download or bring a map (or take a pic of the map at the kiosks). You can enter the area from the west as well, and from the east near the lake. Never very crowded when I have been here, and beautiful.

A fairly easy hike, though a couple of the hills will get your heart rate up. The meadows are the highlight, filled with butterflies and probably beautiful in the spring. Minimal parking at the trailhead, maybe 5 or 6 spots.

Great hike! No real views but beautiful meadow. We did about 4 miles.of it. The first mile is very uphill. Hard for me :) but I'm recovering from health issues. Great hike!

Good trail with a mix of semi steep hills and flat lands. The Denton shelter and surrounding facilities are really nice. Get to the parking area off Rte 55 early on weekends. We arrived shortly after 9:00 am and got the last spot!

Positives - The incline up the north trail is pretty decent, so a nice workout on glutes. Negative - I really came for the "view" on my workout but there wasn't a scenic view at all.

The AT is pretty much always awesome. Prefer the bigger mountains (and associated views) just a bit farther away but this is a great place to hike and run whether it be north or south on the AT from here.

nice ..

I am section hiking the AT, this was one of the longer days. Dropped a car at Tucker's Lane off RT55 in Linden, VA then drove to Sky Meadow park as the jump off. It's 2 miles up hill to get to AT. Once on the AT its very moderate through out. Total hike was about 12 miles.