 Review the Stephens Trail hike here! Average Review Rating:
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Jim Cleaveland
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Date of Hike: Sunday, November 11, 2007 |
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We went up from the parking lot, a nice climb but the zig zags made it relatively easy. Coming back along the side of the mountain was a bit boring after while. Still enought leaves on trees to reduce panoramas to the West into the narrrow valley. Temperature about 40 at outset and about that at top when we stopped for lunch at the look out.
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Date of Hike: Friday, October 05, 2007 |
I enjoyed the easy beginning of this hike. The incline to the peak was strenuous, but not too bad. The lookout tower at the peak is great. In fact, we rolled out our sleeping bags and slept there under the stars. We saw shooting stars and the sunrise in the morning was gorgeous. A beautiful blanket of mist covered the valley below for a couple of hours after we woke up. We enjoyed the hike down even more than going up because of the moss and beautiful foliage--just starting to turn colors. We saw one couple hiking while we were on the trail. My least favorite part was walking down the paved road at the end of the hike to our car. Overall though, very nice hike.
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| By:
Emily
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Date of Hike: Sunday, May 27, 2007 |
We agree with a previous review that the parking at the trail head is more like 4 miles after turning onto 675. If you reach Camp Roosevelt, you've gone just too far.
For it being the weekend of Memorial Day, we were expecting much more company. There were only 3 other groups and each said they had started at the point where the trail briefly joins 675 and hiked backwards up to Kennedy Lookout.
All in all, it was a fun hike. The views would definitely be better in early spring before all the leaves block the views out into the valley. We did get a couple of glimpses through the branch openings and if we had started later in the day more of the clouds would have burned off and the view would have been even more amazing.
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Date of Hike: Saturday, March 10, 2007 |
This hike was as invigorating as it was gorgeous. The many different terrains a hiker longs for are all within the 8.5 mile loop. A steady low-pitch incline is complemented by the short but strenuous mile or so near the top. The view is unforgettable, leaving my partner and I in awe to think that such a place is not visited more frequently. A must see for serious day hikers. And remember, please pick up after your animal on the trail! I would recommend this hike to those with much on their mind and a personal desire to calm their souls during beautiful hiking!
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| By:
Alexandria-Hiker-Boy
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Date of Hike: Friday, June 30, 2006 |
My Brother and I arrived at an empty parking lot at 7AM on a Friday, and after hiking returned to the still empty lot 4 hours later; so apparantly the trail is not often used during the week. Both the directions and description for the trail on this website were very accurate, but I did notice that the distance from the 'right onto 675' to the 'trail parking area' was a bit more than the cited '3.5 miles'. (I measured the distance to be a bit more than 4 miles.) The two of us thought that the trail was not quite as scenic as suggested by the advertised '5' rating for 'Views' on the website, and that the rating should be downgraded to a 2.5. (Maybe the scenery is much better when the leaves are all down, or later in the afternoon when all the long distance mist is gone.) Generally, this hike was a safe walk in the woods, on a well marked trail, with minimal long-distance scenery. Still, we did like it, and found it well worth the drive from Alexandria, VA. Oh, the HikingUpward web site is one heck of a guide. I've now used it for 12 hiking sites. Thanks HikingUpward!
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View all 8 reviews for the Stephens Trail hike
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