The Ramsey's Draft Loop is beautiful with ridge line valley
views, springs and streams but is tiring with long
ascents and knob traverses on the 11.0 mile first day. Unlike
most ridge trails the Bald Ridge Trail is a long series of
ascents and descents of six knobs. It is 6+ hours of hiking
to one of several great camp spots anywhere from Hiner Spring
and below. Also note that some portions of the trails are hard
to spot and not well marked.
Start out at the end of the parking lot for 150
yards then turn right where a trail will cross Ramsey's Draft.
We needed to go about 50 yards upstream to find a low
water spot to cross. Follow the trail as it begins to ascend
the mountain for the longest steepest section of the loop as
it winds up to the ridge in 2.0 miles.
At the ridge turn left
as the trail you have been following now continues
down the other side of the mountain. Follow the ridge trail 4.5
miles (yellow diamond marked in places) as it crosses The Peak,
Bald Ridge Knob, The Pinnacle and Gordon Peak before arriving
at the next trail junction.
There is a small clearing with a trail coming in from the right
and pond to your left. Continue around the pond on the right
side where the trail continues uphill, then descends and in 1.7
miles arrives at the next trail junction.
Turn hard left at this junction and gradually ascend
for 1.3 miles to arrive at Hiner Spring. There are several good
camp sites here.
Turn hard left downhill staying to the left of the stream down
the valley (the trail does not become apparent for about 150
yards as it passes over rocks). In 0.3 miles you will pass several
great camp sites. Choose one for your camping spot.
Continue down the trail as crosses the steam and
in 0.4 miles turns more to the right. For the next
3.0 miles you will cross Ramsey's Draft several more times before
arriving at the intersection of the Jerry's Run Trail that comes
in from the right.Cross the draft again continuing down the
trail as it crosses back and forth several more times for 2.1
miles where you will arrive at the next rail intersection.
Stay left continuing next to the draft for the
remaining 0.1 miles back to the parking area.
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Hiker
Reviews For The Ramseys Draft Hike (5 Most Recent)
I hiked Road Hollow Trail to Shenandoah Mountain Trail then picked up Ramsey&rsquos Draft Trail near Hardscrabble Knob.
I’ve hiked this route many times before the last time was about four years ago. This is a challenging but very rewarding hike. I&rsquom happy to say that said the hemlocks are alive and well and I didn’t see any signs of the wooly ad algid. Yea!! Road Hollow Trail and Shenandoah Mountain Trail were in good shape but they obviously haven&rsquot done any maintenance on Ramsey’s Draft Trail in years. The upper part of the trail (from just southeast of Hardscrabble Knob until the trail turns south) was really overgrown. You might want to consider bringing a machete, it is that bad. There was a lot of tree fall across the trail from Hardscrabble Knob all the way down to the trailhead, none of it cleared and some of it only lightly cut back, getting across or around some it is a real challenge. Plus, the lower portion of the trail (from where it turns south to the trailhead) literally disappeared from time to time and I had to use my GPS to find it again. The good news is that in spots I saw a lot of stakes and engineer tap and the stakes were marked in a way that indicated that they are planning on doing maintenance on the trail this summer (2010) so hopefully they’ll cut some of the vegetation and tree fall back.
Despite the marginal condition of Ramsey’s Draft Trail, this is a great hike and I highly recommend it.
By:
Ryan
Rating:
Date of Hike: Sunday, May 02, 2010
We did this hike over a Saturday and Sunday, camping at a nice spot at the trailhead on Friday. The Bald Ridge section had some nice views and the trail conditions were good for the most part. There were some nice campsites along the ridge, but be aware that this section of the hike is very dry---the "pond" at the junction of Dividing Ridge was completely stagnant and I wouldn't pump from it unless you really had to. We ended up getting a bit dehydrated as the temperature and humidity were high that day.
Hiner Spring was also very nice, though a bit crowded when we arrived. We hiked down the draft a bit to a good campsite (there are several along the draft) and were able to cover about 11 miles the first day without trouble. Sadly, the hemlocks along the draft are almost completely dead, and downed limbs and trees made trail conditions difficult at times, though by no means impossible. The draft was also fairly low for us so the stream crossings weren't too difficult, though I certainly see how they could be with high water. Many portions of Ramsey's Draft Trail were very smooth and clear and made for easy hiking. I would saw the overall difficulty when we were out was moderate.
We saw some wildlife (a turkey, bear, and some dear) and wildflowers were in bloom. We also spotted blueberry and blackberry bushes that would be a nice treat when in season. Without the hemlocks, though, I'd say that this was a pleasant but unremarkable hike. You can definitely get a sense of how big the trees are from the remains left behind but it isn't quite the same as seeing a live forest. But overall a good trip with very nice camping.
By:
Rating:
Date of Hike: Saturday, September 05, 2009
I slightly changed the route on Day 2, taking Shenandoah Mtn horse trail from Hiner Spring, then descended down to the draft via Jerrys Run trail. Parts of this trail below the ruins of a cabin are washed out or obstructed by huge fallen trees. By the time I reached the draft I was tired. Overall a great route, the trail was easy to spot, the water supply was OK. In 2 days I saw only 4 backpackers, 2 mountain bikers and large group of equestrians. I wonder why the deer at Hiner Spring are so unafraid of people? Is it a no-hunting area?
By:
sk
Rating:
Date of Hike: Friday, April 17, 2009
If you are coming from the north on 42, then short cut on SR 736 just south of Parnasus (SR 737 is a dirt road). After turning off 250 at the Mountain House Picnic area go straight past parking for the picnic area and use the parking area near the vehicle gate. Water was high enough April 17 in Ramsey's Draft Right Prong at the trail crossing for the ridge trail to Big Bald Knob that one could not cross stone to stone. So, if you are not wearing knee boots, then, at the parking area, hike across the stream bed to a fallen tree to the right slightly downstream. If your balance is good, then walk across the tree. On the east side go downstream about 30 yards to a slight hollow that will take you up to the ridge trail. Hiking upstream on the left side of the loop to cross over and get on the ridge trail is not an option because the drop off on the east side of the stream is cliff-like in places, and you will be too far from the ridge trail.
By:
Steve S
Rating:
Date of Hike: Friday, April 17, 2009
This was my first backpacking trip! A buddy and I spent friday through sunday hiking. The first day we got a late start and were a little rushed to make the pond area we intended to camp by sundown. It was very physically and mentally demanding, because every time we thought that we were ascending the final peak to our destination we were greeted with another knob. The views were beautiful however, but we were too rushed to enjoy them Fri. We were blessed to make our camp at the pond just at sundown and to have wood left for us by previous campers for a fire. There is a pseudo-pond / depression w/ muddy water on the left of the trail not too far before the actual pond. THIS IS NOT THE POND!!! THERE IS A REAL POND WITH PLENTY OF WATER IN IT!!! You will need to cover your H20 pre filter with a piece of cloth or coffee filter and some rubberbands so as not to clog it. The stary sky was a great reward for our efforts that day. The next day we headed to Hiner spring to camp. If you aare facing the pond the trail is to the right in the woods and goes straight up bald knob which is not really bald but thick w/ trees. It's a good idea to have a compass w/ you. While looking for tearjacket trail which is a hard left off of the baldridge / dividing ridge trail there is a trail that is a hard left that was not on any of our maps. It went North and the correct trail goes West. There is also an old wood sign at the correct turn that says Ramseys Draft Wilderness on it. Good spot to take a lunch break before going up hill a ways to Hiner Spring. We got there in about 3 hours and found plenty of wood for a fire and plenty of spots to camp. While cooking dinner 9 deer came down about 15 yards away to eat and drink at the spring. That was Saturday. Sunday we hiked down the draft and back to our car. This wasn't as physically challenging as the 1st day. But there were about 12 stream crossings and we had wet socks. 4 or 5 we walked across blowdowns of huge trees across the draft. We had to go over/around countless blowdowns and many areas have alot of rocks that slow you down a bit trying not to twist your ankles. There are a number of campsites in the draft also that we werent aware of. This was a great first trip, but very demanding physically over all.
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