Morgan Run, on the southern end of the Massanutten mountain range, passes the wonderful Fridley Gap swimming hole that is also accessible on the Fridley Gap Hike. Mountain streams and waterfalls are at every turn on the Morgan Run section of this secluded loop hike.
After parking, continue walking along the Cub Run gravel forestry road as it gently ascends the valley. This forestry road is not heavily traveled, however, keep an ear out as one or two vehicles may pass by before you reach the intersection of the Martin Bottom Trail 3.0 miles from where you parked.
Turn right up the blue blazed Martin Bottom trail as it climbs through the pass before arriving at the purple blazed Fridley Gap Trail. The blue blazes of the Martin Bottom Trail end, and at this point the trail continues as the purple blazed Fridley Gap Trail.
Turn right uphill on the purple blazed Fridley Gap Trail for the steepest portion of the hike as it climbs Third Mountain, crosses the ridge, then very steeply descends to the intersection of the orange blazed South Trail.
Turn left downhill for 150 yards, then turn right at the post, cross a small run and in 75 yards the Fridley Gap swimming hole will be on your left. This is an excellent place for lunch and a swim in the late summer.
To continue, retrace your steps back over the run, turn left up the orange blazed South Trail, again passing the purple blazed Fridley Gap Trail descended earlier. Continue on the orange blazed trail for 2.8 miles as it crosses Morgan Run several times, cresting the high point then gradually descending and meeting the intersection of the yellow blazed Morgan Run Trail on your right.
Turn right on the narrower yellow blazed Morgan Run Trail which in 200 yards meets Morgan Run then descends through the gap. The trail is rocky in places as it crosses back and forth across the run, passing small waterfalls and old growth forest. 1.2 miles after joining the yellow blazed Morgan Run Trail pass a campsite on your right and emerge onto the forestry road returning to the parking area.
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Hiker
Reviews For The Morgan Run Hike (5 Most Recent)
Overall awesome hike, pool, and campsite. We had a hard time finding the first parking location and ended up parking at the start of the blue blazed trail and skipping the road walk. The hike to the swimming hole was good - not much in the way of views, but it was a workout. Be careful on the descent - it is pretty steep with loose rocks at times. The swimming hole was great, as was the campsite right next to it. Overall it was pretty secluded - three groups of people passed by to swim over the course of a day.
We had two dogs with us and the hike wasn't a problem for them.
By:
Keith Lehman
Rating:
Date of Hike: Thursday, July 01, 2010
I did this hike as described as an overnight trip on two beautiful days. The road walking was fine as I did it before noon and it was well shaded. Only two cars were seen. Met a day hiker at the trailhead of Martin Bottom Trail but otherwise was alone until I got to the swimming hole. Martin Bottom is a fire road and there has been a burn of some sort on the left that left it a bit exposed to the sun. Not bad but August may be hot in this section. The Fridley Gap trail was steep going up but no crawling was required. There was no view this time of year at the peak but after leaf fall it might be nice. The down hill section was a bit dicey as you are in a streambed with a lot of loose rocks. Still doable by the average hiker though.
The swimming hole was fantastic and a great (cold) relief. There is a fire ring and room for maybe one tent at the Y above the swimming hole but literally right above the swimming hole is a fantastic site that could accommodate a couple larger tents. Even on this Thursday night there were several groups moving through the area. I think I'd bump the Solitude score down a peg or two as the weekends are probably busier. Interestingly, there is some cellular signal down in this hollow so you can at least get a text out if needed (5 bars just up the hill).
The hike out was typical for the region with a mix of single track and old logging road. The South Trail is a little hard to follow but mostly well marked. The overgrowth was pretty bad with ferns and pointy things. By late July you may need a machete. Someone send a pack of Boy Scouts through to whack some bushes please! The Morgan Run Trail is very rocky and hard on the knees if you have a heavy pack. It's the most beautiful part of the trip though with a lot of little waterfalls.
The first half of the trip (car to swimming hole) is almost devoid of water. The second half follows streams so there is little need for extra water unless there is a serious drought. Tree cover is 80-90% for much of the trip so it's a good one to do if it's hot and sunny. The swimming will definitely help you refresh yourself. if it's hot.
By:
Brandon
Rating:
Date of Hike: Sunday, June 14, 2009
Access to this hike and any other that uses Cub Run Road will be altered for a few months because the Forest Service is replacing some low-water bridges:
"Access to the Cub Run and Big Mountain areas in Page County may be affected between April 27 and the end of October 2009. A Forest Service contractor is replacing two low water bridges. The first to be replaced is the crossing near Catherine Furnace where Roaring Run empties into Cub Run. While this section is closed, access will be available from Runkles Gap Road (State Route 636) in Rockingham County. The second low water crossing to be replaced is located at the confluence of Cub Run and Pitt Springs. While this section is closed, access to Pitt Springs Road will be via Newport on Sate Route 685, and access to Cub Run will be available from Runkles Gap Road."
upon arriving , entrance to g.w. national forest, only way we knew how to access this trail, road was closed, apparently a bridge crossing was washed out, could not hike this trail, upset after 3 1/2 hour drive, learned it pays to have a plan B. guess we will check back on this hike another time.
By:
Brandon
Rating:
Date of Hike: Sunday, June 08, 2008
This is more like 4.5 stars than 5, mostly because of the road walking and too often hearing a stream but not actually seeing it. Nice diverse scenery. Tons of mountain laurel right now. Lots of gigantic ferns as well.
The Fridley Gap swimming hole was cold, but great in the heat.
The Cub Run Rd. walk wasn't so bad because only 2 cars drove by me the whole 3 miles.
The final descent along Morgan Run was really quite fun - rocky as crap with multiple crossings. You'd see the most obvious way to cross, but sometimes the slippery rocks won't allow it and you'd have to come up with a different route.
If you want to do this in reverse (WHY?), there does seem to be a small area for parking area at the trailhead for Martin's Bottom trail to get the road walking out of the way first.
Also... what exactly is Martin's Bottom? I just thought it was the name of the trail, but it shows up on the Topo map too as some type of feature.
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