Season Visited: Summer
Trail Length: 1.6 miles
Time to Hike: 1 hour
Difficulty Level: 2
Stony Man trail is a short, moderately easy hike in the Skyland Area of Shenandoah National Park. Perfect for when you're running short on time but still want to get in a worthwhile hike with fantastic views, the trail offers a great look-out point on a rocky promontory high above the valley.
Begin your hike at the Skyland parking area between mile markers 41 and 42. The trailhead is well marked, and guidebooks are for sale here for $1.00 (using the honor system). Along the way are marked signs that correspond to entries in the guidebook.
Wildflower along the trail.
After walking for about 15 minutes you come to a crossroads, as shown on this map. Simply continue up the hill in front of you, passing by the Appalachian Trail, which continues north to your right.
Begin a gradual uphill climb just past the crossroads.
This hill continues onwards until you come to fork in the trail, which is the beginning of the small loop near the Stony Man summit. Veer to the right to continue in the direction of the numbers in the guidebook. This will take you past various interesting rock formations before depositing you at the summit where you'll find spectacular views of the valley below.
Lovely trees and boulders before the summit.
All the views you would expect from a 4,010 ft. summit - with none of the work!
When you've finished taking in the views, head back down the loop to the fork, and then retrace your steps to the parking area. And that's it!
All in all, Stony Man is such a short, easy hike that I almost felt like I was cheating while taking pictures at the summit. I chose this hike because it was past 4:00 after I had finished setting up camp at the nearby Big Meadows Campground, and I also wanted to save my strength for Old Rag the next day (look for that post next week!). I'm very glad I went because the beauty is undeniable, and also because I now know a perfect hike for small children and non-hikers, if I'm ever at Shenandoah with such a group. If you're at Shenandoah and want to have the experience of hiking to a spectacular view without putting in too much effort, then this is the perfect hike for you.
Enjoy it, and keep wandering.
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