 Review the Laurel Run hike here! Average Review Rating:
| By:
Soloban
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Rating:  |
Date of Hike: Saturday, March 15, 2008 |
This was good hike. The hike up the mountain on the yellow trail isn't too steep but good enough to give you a workout on climb up. On the map it appears that when you come up to the Y where the blue and yellow trails meet that you will go straight to stay on the yellow. In actuality, staying straight will put you on the blue trail, you'll turn 45 deg to the right to stay on the yellow and head up the mountain.
Be sure to bring plenty of water if you are staying the night (~1 gal). You will cross a stream a few times going up the yellow trail but you wont see water again until you are back down on the blue trail nearly back to the parking area.
The view on top of the orange trail was great you could see for miles into VA and WV. There are 2 or 3 campsites on top of the ridge. They will be fairly obvious when you come upon them.
Be vary careful going back down the purple trail. Its no joke! When we hiked down there were plenty of leaves, fallen trees and loose rocks on the trail, that when combined with the steep grade that make for good ankle twisters. (My banged up elbow still hurts a week later from a slip  ).
The streams in the area are cold and clean, they are quite refreshing after pumping it through your filter.
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| By:
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Date of Hike: Saturday, February 03, 2007 |
This was a great hike. The weather was cold and snow covered the ground. Definitely wakes you up in the early morning. The views were beautiful. We saw fresh tracks which we believe to be Coyote tracks on the ridgeline. The downward hike on the purple trail was steep. The trail description and directions were accurate. Love this website . Plan on hiking this one again.
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| By:
Joel
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Rating: |
Date of Hike: Sunday, July 03, 2005 |
Quite a workout going up! A solid hour and a half trudge. Going down is steep, so be careful for the sake of your knees and ankles. There was only one other family on the trail today, and this is the Sunday of the big three-day July 4 weekend (tomorrow is a day off). I was surprised that there was essentially no one else on the trail today. The trail was overgrown and grassy... not what I was expecting. Very few people seem to walk this trail. Because it was grassy, I'd recommend jeans rather than shorts even in hot weather (avoid possibility of ticks and chiggers and avoid getting scratched by brush going down). Found this website to be excellent in giving directions to the trailhead and describing the trail, its turning points and its elevations. Print it all out, including the pictures of the trail junctions. Took almost exactly 2 hrs to drive from Arlington, Virginia, to the starting point... first gate was closed, so started there; that added 1.1 miles in each direction. Took 5 hrs 30 mins to walk the entire trail, including stop for lunch and various photography stops. Didn't see much wildlife on the trail, but on the ride back toward the end of the day saw a family of deer and an enormous wild turkey (seemed enormous when I slammed on the brakes -- careful on the road). Still a fair number of wildflowers on the trail even though it's mid-July.
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| By:
Mike & Nina
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Rating:  |
Date of Hike: Sunday, May 22, 2005 |
Admittedly, this was our first hike in the mid-Atlantic region, but I'm fairly certain the five-star rating will hold true after we experience other hikes in the area. For starters, it seems to be a rather unpopular route- we had the trail entirely to ourselves (on a 70+ degree, sunny spring day no less!). The only other people we saw were two horseback riders and a jogger on the FS road that leads to the trailhead. The hike itself is very pleasant, the only sweat-breaking part being the first two miles that lead gradually uphill. We are by no means exceptionally fit, so for a seasoned hiker the difficulty rating on this could probably be lowered to a 2. And with the gate currently open, the reduced length of the trail also makes me think the difficulty rating could be dropped a bit. While the previous post alluded to wildflowers, we didn't see that many. In fact, the wildflower displays on the median of I-66 and I-81 were more impressive. However, on the trail we did see some Pink Lady's Slipper, a few blooms of Pink Azalea (quite pretty), and several areas scattered with small yellow flowers (not sure what they were). Patches of rhododendron and laurel can be found alongside all of the trails, particularly the lower and middle portions of the yellow and purple trails. The flowers were just beginning to bud, so the lower portions might start to pop in 1-2 weeks, with exceptional displays at all altitudes in perhaps 3 weeks. I’m no botanist, however, so the full bloom might occur sooner/later. But whenever it happens, it sure will be beautiful…there are just heaps of these plants along the hike. As far as wildlife is concerned, we saw only typical birds in the woods, as well as the above-mentioned vultures. Despite being seen as ugly by some, watching these birds soar from the rocky outcrops that dominate the ridge can be impressive. They have large wingspans and are masters of riding the warm updrafts that push up against the mountains. The outcrop off of the short, white-blazed trail provides great views and a chance to watch these, and perhaps other soaring birds at work. There are several other vantage points along the orange trail- a few prior to the white trail, and several more after the main lookout as the orange trail continues along the ridge. Any of the vistas are worth the effort it takes to reach them, and they would be particularly rewarding in the fall. All provide good spots for a bite to eat and rest, though the ‘main’ outcrop off of the white trail has the best view and is a great photo spot.
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| By:
Jeff with Troop 1352
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Date of Hike: Saturday, April 09, 2005 |
Our troop is going to Philmont New Mexico this summer to do a 61 mile trek. With 30 to 45 pound packs we hiked Laurel Run this past weekend. What a great spring hike with ten mile views. The troop had a great time as we camped and cooked out at the end of the hike. One of the boys with his GPS found the hiking stick. You can go to www.troop1352.org to see the pictures of this hike.
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