Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 14, 1994 TAG: 9408190036
SECTION: DISCOVER PAGE: 21 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In front of us stood a line of people waiting to squeeze up and through a small crevice between two boulders. It looked a bit like a lunch line, and at its head stood a bulky woman trying to hand a small, white, curly-haired animal up to a companion.
"It's a poodle," I muttered in disbelief.
"Obviously not a mountain-bred poodle," my wry hiking partner said.
What we had there on the side of Old Rag Mountain was an overcrowded, overused trail. At that point, the joy of the outdoors experience is overwhelmed by the crush of people and their assorted cars, trash and hounds (even though the National Park Service bans pets on Old Rag).
Though crowding on Roanoke-area trails is nothing compared with the overuse of Old Rag's Ridge Trail and other popular trails in Shenandoah National Park, it's still something to be aware of and plan around.
Shenandoah is overcrowded because of its proximity to Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia. The northern sector of the park, between Luray and Front Royal, in particular, is heavily used.
The only trail I've come across in this area that's anywhere near as busy is the regional showpiece of the Appalachian Trail, the four miles on Catawba Mountain between Virginia 311 and McAfee Knob in Roanoke County.
That and the nearby crag of Dragon's Tooth see probably as much use on some weekends as other nearby trails do in a month or longer.
And the trail shows it. In several places the sidehill construction has eroded because of the steady pounding of hikers. Near the knob, laurel thickets have been thinned out to dirt patches by backpackers ignoring the "no camping" signs.
On any given Saturday or Sunday in the spring and especially the fall, if the weather's good, you can count as many as 50 or more hikers enjoying the stunning view of Tinker and North mountains and the Catawba Valley in between.
There's a similar situation in the New River Valley at the Cascades, a waterfall trail in Giles County, near Pembroke.
If you know a trail is usually crowded, you have a few options: avoid it, hike it early in the morning or save it for winter walks.
I have a gruff colleague who minces no words when it comes to the crowds.
"It's good that people are attracted to a few trails in lemming-like fashion," he opined. That way, his theory goes, all the obscure but equally beautiful nearby trails are underused and provide a quiet, peaceful walk.
That's why I won't recommend any alternatives. The best thing to do, if you're interested in hiking, is to buy or borrow one of the many hiking guides to the region. One of the best is Leonard Adkins' 1992 guide, "Walking the Blue Ridge," which concentrates on hikes off the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Then use it to explore for yourself. Or join the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club or other community group for a guided hike in the region (listed on the Monday Outdoors page in the Roanoke Times & World-News). There you'll meet people who know the local trails a lot better than I do. You'll soon pick up the inside scoop on alternatives to the Knob or the Tooth.
Just remember: Leave your poodle, mountain variety or otherwise, at home.
by CNB