Meneka Peak Hike

Meneka Peak - Front Royal, Virginia


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Length	Difficulty	Streams	Views	Solitude	Camping
8.6 mls
Hiking Time: Elev. Gain: Links: Resources:	4.5 hours plus a half hour for lunch 2,075 ft George Washington National Forest Printable Topo Hike Map (PDF) Front Royal Weather Forecast Graphic Precip/Temp Forecast Current Weather Radar Loop (Java) Garmin (GDB), GPS eXchange (GPX) (What's this?) 3D View of Route!
From:	e.g.. 12000 Government Center Parkway 22035 or Fairfax VA Signal Knob parking area

The Meneka Peak hike in the Front Royal area of the George Washington National Forest is an abbreviated version of the Signal Knob hike. This saves about 2 miles and the 900ft second incline back up from the other other side of the ridge.

The hike starts from the right hand side of the Signal Knob parking area and is marked by both yellow (Signal Knob Trail) and Orange (Massanutten Trail) blazes. Start uphill on the yellow/orange blazed trail as it shortly passes a old stone house on your left and curves to the right around the mountain for 1.5 miles until arriving at Buzzard Rock Overlook.

The trail will take a hairpin turn back to the south then in 0.7 miles turns back to the north again following a ridge and passing a couple of great camp sites before meeting the intersection of the white blazed Meneka Peak trail that enters from the left 1.1 miles further.

Turn left on the Meneka Peak Trail as it continues uphill on the ridge crossing over the high point of your hike in 0.4 miles then gradually sloping down until reaching the intersection of the blue blazed Tuscarora Trail in 0.8 miles from the peak.

Turn left downhill on the blue blazed trail as it winds back and forth through the Bear Wallow area and passing the pink blazed Sidewinder Trail on your right in 1.7 miles.

Continue straight on the blue blazed trail as it winds downhill passing a white blazed connector trail for Elizabeth Furnace just before you cross a creek 1.0 miles from the pink blazed trail.

Continue straight on the blue blazed trail as it winds around the mountain before reaching a flatter area close to the valley and an intersection in 0.9 miles where the blue blazed trail now turns right downhill.

Again continue straight on the now orange blazed Massanutten Trail (this section was formerly the the Tuscarora Spur Trail and was reblazed in 2002) for only another 0.5 miles as it descends slightly then parallels VA678 before arriving back on the right side of the Signal Knob parking area.

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Hiker Reviews For The Meneka Peak Hike (5 Most Recent)

Review the Meneka Peak hike here! Average Review Rating:

By: threehikers	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, March 06, 2010
A beautiful clear day helped to make this hike enjoyable. The leaves are gone so the views are good even in places where there is no overlook. The trail up and the trail down were mostly snow free but the top across the peak was virtually snow covered the whole way. We hiked with our regular boots and had no problem with the snow other than the extra effort required when hiking in it. We met several people, one group, four people with dogs and one mountain bike on the trail. The parking lot was crowded. Most were doing the Signal Knob loop and we walked in complete solitude across the top of Meneka where we found some dry large rocks to have lunch. A good winter hike on a beautiful day!

By: sarah	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, February 28, 2010
This was a good hike to begin the season! We started at the trail head on the right side of the parking lot (orange trail). The ascent was steady but not too steep. The views were fantastic since the trees were still bare. The snow on the mountains was gorgeous. The trails weren't muddy, though there was still snow near the top. We all had hiking boots, no winter weather footwear, and we did fine. Make sure your boots are waterproof though! There's a good place to stop for lunch right after the white trail meets the blue trail. There are lots of rocks to sit on and a nice view of the valley.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, November 22, 2009
http://hiking.meetup.com/162/calendar/11881815/� 16 hikers completed this hike in 3.5 hours 5 of the faster hikers added the 2 mile round�trip to Signal Knob.� We ALL wonder why other hikers are complaining about the views.� We're definitely coming back and maybe next time we'll try counterclockwise.� Did get a scare the night b4 the hike when we hear about� a hiker being shot futher south.� We� found some bright orange tape & all wore it.� I'm not a hunter & until now paid no attention, but I'll be doing my research b4 going on other hikes.� We didn't have ANY problems, ran into more hikers, backpackers than I would have guessed.��Thirteen of us�once again we headed to Soul Mountain Restaurant about 20 minutes away in Front Royal.� http://www.soulmountainrestaurant.com/index.html.� The food was great again and the wait staff are fantastic.

By: craig	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, July 18, 2009
Very nice hike, great views of buzzard rock and Shenandoah valley, weather was perfect too, temperatures�were high 70's low 80's.� The hike description and trail map was not very helpful though, the colors blazed on the trail did not seem to match up with our directions, I guess we need a better map next time.

By: Tom	Rating:	Date of Hike: Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Hiked this on a sunny 50 degree day (DC)�with three college kids. Really enjoyed it. The parking area and trail head are well marked. The blazes are easy to find and not confusing at all. No chance of getting lost. This is a fantastic hike to take when foilage is down because there are great views in every direction. The route is�almost entirely on the south side of the hills so we caught sunshine on almost the whole hike� Footing was not as bad as suggested in some previous reviews and the kids, who hiked in running shoes, didn't have problems. I was concerned that the 8.6 miles might be a bit too much for us, but it wasn't. �This hike is gentle and moves along easily. Even so there are several well defined places on the map where you can plan to stop and head back.� The trail down from Menetka Pk is entirely gentle downhill and you fly along even if you're tired.

View all 11 reviews for the Meneka Peak hike

Mid May