The Laurel Run/Stack Rocks circuit has some of the best views
in the area. The panoramic
views along orange
blazed North Mountain Trail are spectacular on a clear day.
If the first gate is closed just before Laurel Run you
will have to park just before crossing Laurel Run. The hike
will be 8.8 miles long from this point. If the gate is open you
can
avoid the extra out and back on FDR252
by parking 1.1 miles further at the yellow
blazed Laurel Run Trail
entrance reducing the hike to 6.6 miles.
If you park a the first gate start the hike by walking 1.1 miles
up FDR252 before arriving at the start of the loop where the closed
gate and yellow blazed Laurel Run Trail turns to your right.
Start
up the yellow blazed trail and in one hundred yards arrive
at a split
in the trail.
Bear left continuing up yellow blazed Laurel Run Trail for 2.1
miles. The trail will pass through two wildlife
clearings before
winding back and
forth becoming steeper as it gets close to the mountain ridge.
Just before reaching the junction of the North Mountain Trail,
Laurel Run Trail will pass a small pond on your
left.
Arrive at the
junction of the North Mountain Trail and a forestry
service road. Orange blazed North Mountain Trail will turn left.
Take the orange blazed trail for 0.7 miles and look for a white
blazed side trail that will take you to the Wil's Point Overlook.
Turn left downhill on the purple blazed Stack Rocks Trail as
it winds steeply downhill for 1.3 miles before arriving at the
junction
of the blue blazed FDR252 road.
Turn left on blue blazed FDR252 for 0.9 miles as it winds back
around the valley to the starting point of the loop and yellow
blazed Laurel Run Trail on your left.
If you had to park at the lower parking area continue down FDR252
for the remaining 1.1 miles back to the lower parking area.
Interactive Hike Map BelowPrintable
Topo Hike Map (PDF) Hike route in Drag the map with your mouse using the icon Zoom with the controls on the left Mouse-over the icons in the map below for location shots
Calculate roughly how many calories you could burn on the Laurel Run hike:
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Hiker
Reviews For The Laurel Run Hike (5 Most Recent)
Hiked this trail this past weekend with the wife and eight-year old son. The road gate was locked, which meant we had to hike the first mile or so up the road. Somebody had painted over the ROAD CLOSED sign the following: Why is this road always closed? I have to admit that I wondered why as well. The road seemed to be in great shape. I'm not sure why it's closed. The views from the ridge were, of course, spectacular. When we returned back to the main road we turned right and headed further up the road for about a half mile or so. There are a couple of small meadows on the left that were filled with wildflowers. On the way down the road we saw a small bear on the left side of the road. I managed to snap one photograph of it before it saw us and booked it up the mountain. Overall, I enjoyed the hike to the ridge. However, I would have enjoyed it much more if we had been able to drive up the road to the trail head and spend more time hiking along the ridge. Although there were two cars parked down below, we didn't see a soul during hike. Very quite and very peaceful.
By:
Rating:
Date of Hike: Sunday, October 26, 2008
Great workout going up to the ridge line. The views along the ridge are absolutely spectacular I still use an SLR with film, and I shot 2 rolls. The Purple Trail descending is well maintained, but the switchbacks are a challenge to the knees. Went on a beautiful fall day. Couldn't ask for more. A little hard to find the trail head, but worth the adventure.
By:
Rating:
Date of Hike: Sunday, October 19, 2008
Let's see, let's do it chronologically:
First, if you have a car with clearance lower than my 06 Civic, be cautious shortly after passing the forest gate at the first parking area - there's a dip that barely brushed my underbody. After that though, no worries, it's a nice road that's in better condition than the road to Mount Pleasant I did last weekend.
It was definitely a good climb, and the overlook gave some good eastward views. If only half of you wants to linger there, don't worry, there are more views to be had along the ridge. The only bad thing about this hike is that all the views are eastward, no westward views.
Right after the first good turn on the purple trail, you should see a good viewpoint right off the trail. Don't miss it! You can photograph Big Schloss, Tibbet Knob, and Signal Knob in the same photo! In fact, you can see fainter mountains further to the northeast than Signal Knob, and according to my google map calculation, those mountains are in the vicinity of Sky Meadows, over 40 miles away! One other thing you can view from there is the Bryce Mountain ski resort.
Saw/heard a variety of animals as they prepare for the season of white.
The only campsites I remember seeing are those that are near the road you took to get there. Not sure why this is rated as a 4.
Recommended.
By:
Soloban
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.
By:
Rating:
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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