VA Backpacking in December?

“Heading to Virginia the second week of December to spend a week in the woods with a friend from Texas. Anybody have any suggestions for some awesome hikes, with great views, nice sites, etc? We're up for loops, point-to-point, basecamp with dayhikes, whatever. She's about a ten-mile a day hiker, so 60-70 miles ought to be enough. Possibilities could include NPs, NFs, or just a chunk of the AT. And does anybody have any online sources for free maps of VA trails?

I'll be bringing all my winter gear in case we need it, but if the weather's really bad we probably ought to avoid ridgelines. If we hit the Mt Rogers area, how safe is it leaving a base camp set up with the wild ponies hanging around? Are they likely to trash the place? How about hunting season in VA then - what are we likely to run into?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Apologies in advance for bringing up an actual BACKPACKING thread!”

“I have 2 links for VA Trails...
George Washington and Jefferson National Forests
and...
Various Trails”

“Oops...Various Trails”

“Steiny, where is your friend from in Texas? You know that's my stomping grounds, right? ;-)

Tx”

“TX - San Antonio. She's never been to VA or New England, or camping in the winter, so she's looking forward to an adventure.”

“I'll post some stuff in the next day or so. We just got in the door from Mount Rogers. It is awesome there.”

“no. mount rogers is terrible.

stay away! tell everyone to stay away!”

“Hey Rad - I feel the same way about places in my neck of the woods. I promise not to tell a soul about it!”

“It was a bit of a crowd up on the ridge wasn't it. As for Mt. Rogers - well let me not say a word about the field botany of the area just before the summit and instead mention that there was no view from the summit. Of course the views from Wilburn ridge ... opps.

Anyways about the area I know most about - SNP / Skyline Drive : December is a tough time to really enjoy that area. As a deterent to poaching the SNP NPS folks close the Skyline drive gates from approx. 5 PM to approx 8 AM every day through December - makes it hard to move between sections of the park and somewhat of a problem to leave and re-enter the park - especially the approx. part of the time keeping for the gates being opened and closed. Of course there is also the problem of no services available in the park in December. The gates also tend to get closed at the first hint of snow / freezing rain cause SD can easily get to be real hard to drive on - it is sometimes bad enough that even walking on it is next to impossible. Given all that I would think that there is enough hiking around Big Run area of SNP to be very enjoyable in December - too bad the Big Run area is not publically accessable from the edge of the park.

There - how was that Rad - discouraging enough? (grin)”

“Nice try. I do the Long Trail in February - a little VA December weather ain't gonna keep me out!”

“One thing to keep in mind is it will be deer hunting season. That means that you'll be safest in the Shenandoahs where there is no legal hunting. (Though as someone already pointed out, if you are dayhiking there, you need to be out by dark, unless you park outside the park.)”