Fridley Gap, in the George Washington National Forest, has
a little bit of everything. From gentle mountain streams to
ridge climbs and a great swimming hole, this hike has it all.
The best part of this hike, which is nestled two hours away
from DC just south of the the town of Shenandoah, is its solitude.
Start by walking up FS65 (636 you were just on, not FS65A which
turns right uphill) to the orange blazed trail head on the left
side of the road at .2 miles.
Cross Boone run for the first time and ascend Massanutten Trail
South for .5 miles criss crossing Boone Run several more times,
until coming to the junction of the blue blazed Boone Shelter
Trail that comes in from the left.
Continue straight on the orange blazed trail as it gets steeper
before coming to a four way junction at a clearing in another
1.1 miles.
Turn left up Massanutten Trail South and reach the ridge in
another .5 miles before turning left and descends Third Mountain.
The trail will cross Fridley Run and turn right, ascend and
switch back before coming to the ridge line of Forth Mountain
1 mile from crossing Fridley Run.
Descend the Fourth Mountain ridge and cross Fridley Run in
1.4 miles. Take the left trail at the junction for 50 yards
and come to a swimming hole--a great place for lunch.
Begin your return by going 50 yards back to the junction turning
left on Massanutten South Trail for .1 miles.
Turn right on purple blazed Fridley Gap Trail. The next .8
miles is the steepest portion of the hike until cresting Third
Mountain and descending another .3 miles and reaching the junction
of Martin Bottom Trail.
Turn right on Fridley Gap Trail, gently ascending for .6 miles
to the clearing and four way junction you passed earlier. Continue
straight down Massanutten Trail South for the remaining 2.2
miles back to the parking area.
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Hiker
Reviews For The Fridley Gap Hike (5 Most Recent)
First complaint-impossible to find the beginning of the trail, we spent 3 hours driving up and down the road until finally we gave up and just went on the "boulder gap" trail right there at the beginning of the road which ended up working out just fine but adding a steep 2 miles onto our journey (cool little shelter along the way though made it fun). Don't underestimate this guy, it says it's tough for a reason, lots of uphill with medium-small ankle twisting rocks for the majority of the hike (I'm 28 and in great shape and can go forever). You are hiking up and down massanuten ski resort. Not as bad (but still pretty exhausting) if you don't have heavy packs on the trail with you (we stowed ours after the first chunk of the hike at the campsite with the four way intersection with the first cool little campsite). Views were blocked a lot by the gorgeous fall leaves, but you got a couple of awesome ones (one you have to go like 20 feet up a side trail to see-at one of the two peak makeshift camping sites, look for lots of big rocks and climb on top of them-its pretty obvious). The swimming hole was a great reward for a lot of hard hiking and yes it was very cold, but so refreshing and I'm kind of a wimp with cold water, highlight I will always remember. Great trip!
By:
Rating:
Date of Hike: Monday, August 24, 2009
We had some trouble finding the tailhead. We looked up to the right first instead of staying straight on 636 passed the gate the trail starts on the left. The rest of the directions were great.
We hiked in late on a Thursday around 2:30, camped, then hiked out Friday Am (done by 1030).
(5) difficulty - it would be nice if the swimming hole was moved to the top of that steep .8 mile uphill.
(3)streams- nice streams,no special cascade,fairly nice swimming hole
(4)views- only if you don't miss the vista on 4th mountain Adam discribed
(5)solitude -we saw 1 other couple day hiking
(4)camping-there are a couple of 1 tent sites that are nice (at the crossroad,at the fridley run crossing,at the swimming hole), but the best was again from Adam's suggestion on 4th mountain at the start of the descent on the left is a great site next to the vista rocks (no water there)
By:
Juston Manville
Rating:
Date of Hike: Sunday, June 21, 2009
Very challenging hike. I am more sore today than the day after hiking the Grand Canyon ( 10-12 miles each hike). We did the hike "backwards" and had a hard time finding the orange blaze after the swimming hole. A false trail and lack of clear marking were the cause. A post on this forum describes this. The swimming hole was great nice cold water. Watch for ticks!!! We pulled a bunch off of our dogs and several off of each of us.
By:
Justin Abel
Rating:
Date of Hike: Sunday, June 21, 2009
Yes, I agree about the poorly marked trail, I started out at the fridley gap parking area, the Massenutten South trail is poorly marked where it crosses the stream just past the Massenutten South Trail and Fridely Gap Trail intersection traveling south. I ended up following the bogus trail until it ended, looked at the map, and decided to just bushwack up along the fridley run until it crossed the trail again further south. I probably enjoyed this more that if I had followed the trail, the stream was very beautiful and obviously secluded. If you find youself lost on this part of the trail, just follow the stream, but beware of thorn bushes!
By:
Jessica
Rating:
Date of Hike: Monday, September 01, 2008
We did this hike yesterday -- it was a great hike and delivered the seclusion it promises. In fact, we didn't see one person and that seemed pretty remarkable considering that it was Labor Day. We set up camp the night before at a camp site about 50 yards up the trail on the right. This let us get an early start the next day and meant that we didn't have to lug our packs with us! It took us about 5 hours to complete with a 30 minute stop at the swimming hole (although we were walking pretty fast). As for other campsites, there is a great spot at the four way crossing and another one a Fridley Gap. Maybe one or two others along the way, but not too many options. All in all, a great hike with loads of scenic stream crossings and not to mention a great workout. That .8 mile ascent after Fridley Gap was a killer!
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