Some of the best vistas in the mid-Atlantic. The new Strickler Knob trail is a challenging rock hopping/scramble that has beautiful views of New Market Gap, the Luray Valley, and a 360 degree picture perfect panorama from the Strickler Knob summit. A hike as challenging as Old Rag, and with no crowds! You'll probably have this one to yourself.
The Strickler Knob hike is now one of our favorites. The rock scramble on the last 0.2 miles of the Strickler Knob trail is just as much fun as Old Rag and Duncan Knob, requiring several 12ft climbs over and between the cracks of the boulders. You can also shorten the hike by two miles and park at the Scothorn Gap trailhead on Crisman Hollow Rd/VA211. Note: This hike is not suitable for young children or dogs.
From the Massanutten trailhead on Crimson Hollow Rd/VA211 start east towards Waterfall Mountain on the orange blazed Massanutten trail, immediately passing a campsite on the left. In 0.2 miles there is a vista of the Luray Valley. Continue for 0.3 miles at which point the trail turns steeply downhill. Make several switchbacks, then the trail becomes less steep before reaching the intersection of the white blazed Massanutten Connector trail in 0.6 miles from the ridge.
Turn left on the orange blazed Massanutten trail as it begins to climb alongside Big Run, passing a campsite in 0.1 miles. Cross the run where the trail becomes steeper, then re-cross the run, make one large switchback, then level out and arrive at the intersection of the yellow blazed Scothorn Gap trail 2.0 miles from the last intersection.
Now the fun starts. Firstly, thank you to the trail builders! This used to be a formidable bushwhack. The Strickler Knob trail is marked with both pink blazes on the rocks, and red plastic diamonds on trees, and can be a little hard to follow in places. You need to be almost right on top of the rock blazes to spot them. The trail will also appear to end in a couple of places, but keep heading along the ridge, and you'll pick the trail back up. You'll know when you get to Strickler Knob :)
After 0.3 miles pass a rock outcrop and view to the west and north. From this vista, continue on the trail rock hopping for another 0.4 miles to another opening, and beautiful vista to the southwest. From this point the rock hopping and bouldering becomes more intense. The first obstacle is a 12ft climb over a small rock wall, then just before the the main summit pass through a group of three boulders. This is not the summit stack! Once through the crack continue to follow the blazes, pass a small overhang, and climb a 6ft ledge.
The main summit is accessed through a rock crack on the left. Continue for another 30ft to the southern summit overlook. A hiker has left a trail journal in a waterproof bag here, add you thoughts! Climbing to the main summit provides a 360 degree view of the Luray Valley and New Market Gap.
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Reviews For The Strickler Knob Hike (5 Most Recent)
Unfortunately, I didn't pick the best day to make this hike but I was still able to appreciate the limited views from the summit. It was partly cloudy and about 35 degrees when I left the Massanutten trailhead but as I made my way up, the temperature dropped significantly and a snow squall blew in as I made my way across the summit ridge. With the windchill, the temperature was definitely in the teens. I took my gloves off to snap a few photos and they were almost instantly numb and stiff from the cold. I only stayed on the summit stack for fifteen minutes or so because the wind was relentless. Aside from that, even with the limited visibility, I can understand why this hike earned a "6" for views. I certainly didn't get the best Strickler Knob has to offer and I was still extremely impressed. One thing I will say is that hikers should take care on the rock scramble during the winter. There's not a whole lot of extensive climbing required but some of the ledges get completely iced over and I nearly took a fall after slipping on an iced ledge that was camouflaged with snow. I had seen elsewhere on this site that the rock scramble was as good as Old Rag, but I'd have to disagree with that. Old Rag's scramble is much more extensive. Overall, though, it was a good hike and it is definitely worth the trip.
By:
Sabrina
Rating:
Date of Hike: Sunday, November 23, 2008
After missing the trail last time, we headed back this past weekend determined to climb Strickler Knob, starting from the Scothurn Gap trail this time around. It was about 30 degrees when we started, but after walking uphill for about a 1/2 mile, we warmed up rather quickly. A lot of the ground was snow covered, which made the trail a lot prettier. On our way up, we spotted a frozen lake a bit off the trail that we had fun exploring. Once we started Strickler Knob we had some great views. The rock climbing became a bit more challenging as we reached the top, which was a lot of fun. The views were awesome at the summit, and it was really nice to eat lunch up there, and take it all in. We didn't run into anyone while we were on the Strickler Knob trail itself, but we saw about 10 people on the Scothurn Gap trail. We may have beat the rush, since we had an early start.
By:
Sabrina
Rating:
Date of Hike: Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Unfortunately, we ran into some problems at Strickler Knob. First, before we even got to the trail, we couldn't find Forestry Development Rd, which is the road that you need to take to get to the trail head. We passed it the first time, because the road sign actually says E. Lee Hwy, not Forestry Development Rd. We started from the Massanutten trail head, which was challenging in the beginning because the descent was pretty steep, but after that it was pretty easy going. We really ran into problems once we came to the intersection of the Massanutten trail and the Strickler Knob trail. The sign for Strickler Knob was not very visible from the Massanutten trail. It's set back from the trail, and the sign itself is small and blends into the trees. We passed right by it the first time, and didn't realize we were headed in the wrong direction for quite a while, because as we continued to hike the Masanutten trail there were a couple of pink markers, which made us think we were going in the right direction. In addition to the out of place pink markers, there were red markers on some of the trees, which added to the confusion. To avoid making this mistake, just keep an eye out for the rocky area at the top of the hill, if you are ascending from the south side of the Massanutten trail. Strickler Knob is about .6 miles from the intersection of the Scothurn Gap and Massanutten trails.
By:
Rating:
Date of Hike: Saturday, November 08, 2008
A group of nine of us hiked from the Scothorn Gap Trail. We had some difficulty finding the correct road that you started on, but after that we had an amazing hike!! We made it to the point around five, which was late but we had planned on camping close to the top anyway. For anyone who wants to camp within about a quarter mile from the top, there is a small campsite on the left hand side that has enough (but VERY tight) space for 3-4 tents. Overall, some of the best views we have seen!! Just as good if not better than Big Schloss. Solitude should be a four, we saw 7-9 hikers on the trail but overall great!
By:
Rating:
Date of Hike: Sunday, November 02, 2008
Did the hike as described. For those that say that it's not like Old Rag, you're right! I would say this is maybe a super-Bearfence Mountain or something along those lines. And the rocks at the top are smoother than other rock outcrops like Old Rag and Big Schloss, I felt like I was watching my steps more than usual.
Difficulty: If you want a good workout, take the hike as described. The descent/ascent of Waterfall Mountain is brutal. The slope is almost 800' over a distance of 1/2 mile. I don't think I've ever done anything harder on the trail than this section. If you want to take it a bit easier, you can try the Scothorn Gap trailhead, or the Massanutten Connector (the latter is longer, but you won't have that insane climb to do)
Directions: If approaching from the South, the trailhead is almost a mile beyond where the road becomes gravel. That first parking area is nice and all, but it's for some little Storybook interpretive trail, and I don't think it connects to Massanutten. The trailhead has a sign, "Massanutten Trail" next to the road. Parking is on the west side of the road.
Views: They stunk today, thanks to some... I dunno, autumn haze??? But they're there, and when crap isn't blocking your view, they're bound to be more amazing than what I saw. It's becoming late for fall foliage. The trees don't look too bad from above, but aren't too great when you're walking in them.
The solitude should be lowered to at least a 4. If it's a weekend, you will see more than a couple hikers. I saw about 15 today (Sunday).
And on a random note, if you really want to see chipmunks, they're all over this area. I saw/heard more today than I think my whole family (and me) has seen in our lives, combined.
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