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 nice hike with a great little rock scramble on the ridge.
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: The Strickler Knob trail is not a maintained or official trail, and is considered a bushwack. 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 was marked with both pink and red blazes on the rocks, but they have been removed. 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)
Hiked this for the first time and had a great time. Based on other reviews I was worried about bugs and prepared for the worst....but we had no problems, guess we lucked out. When getting there: the access road (274) off of 211 is difficult to see and easy to drive past, the route number is on a red post. For a saturday hike I was happy only to run into a few groups of hikers...great solitude. Trail was well marked, showed us various incline changes and had pretty solid footing throughout. We did miss the turn onto the Strickler Knob Trail (from massanutten trail) and started heading downhill...realized after going back that if you get to the top of the ridge and it gets rocky - look right! Summit provided great views and some other outcrops on the way - good rocks to have lunch and reload. Be sure to keep in mind that the steep decline as you begin the hike....is what you're going up on the way back. That incline on the way back turned out to be very challenging and rewarding in the end. This hike is not terribly 'technical' but will give your fitness and especially legs a good test. 'ave it!
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Date of Hike: Saturday, July 17, 2010
I agree with all of the comments I have read. The bugs WERE terrible, bug spray did not phase them. There WERE a lot of spider webs....on the way up. The solitude was great, I only saw one other couple on the entire hike. The views were beautiful but it was so humid and hazy, that kinda limited the distance. I would like to try this again in cooler weather, after the frost kills all the bugs. Seriously, I will probably remember the bugs and the humidity the most! I started early to beat the heat, it was in the 70s but was very humid. I had no problem drinking 3 Gator Aids and still did not bring enough. The return up the last incline WAS brutal. Great workout! The pink blazed trail at the end was a little difficult to see but like someone else mentioned if you start heading down you missed it. The entire trail was marked well, I had no trouble following it, but I was being pretty careful after reading other comments. I have no idea why it is called a "bushwack", the initial description probably needs to be updated. I did not bring my dog, the only place he would have had a problem is at the very end in the rocks but still probably could have made it . They did remind me a bit of Old Rag but not as difficult.
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Date of Hike: Thursday, June 24, 2010
I live in Fort Valley and have hiked just about every trail on Massanutten, from Signal Knob to the Massanutten Ski Resort. The Strickler Knob hike is one of my top three favorite hikes in this area, mainly because it is hauntingly beautiful and involves enough moderate adventure to keep things interesting. It is also relatively unhiked compared to places like Old Rag and some of the more convenient hikes even in the relatively untouristed Massanutten Mountain.
When I was a child, this hike had to be bushwacked from the fire trail, which was fun but extremely difficult and tiring. Some good people have since cut a clear (but quite small) trail through the dense brush out to the knob itself, which has made this trip much more enjoyable and eliminates any excuse for failing to see that portion of the ridge. The people who blazed the trail were obviously unable to move the assortment of large boulders, however, which means that hikers can still enjoy a bit of leasurely class 2-3 rock scrambling throughout the relatively short trek. For the most part, this a fun rock scrambling, not the comparatively boring block field that one finds on many of the other trails.
The highlights of the trail include: several wonderful rock overhangs and outcrops with great views a number of short bushwacks leading to interesting rock scrambles and more incredible views a series of massive blocks at the knob itself, riddled with old "dens" and mysterious formations and a large amount of wildlife ranging from birds to bears. I have hiked this route at least five times in the past year and I have never met any human on the footpath from the fire trail to the knob. Another great thing about this hike is that it is somewhat close to the Duncan Knob trail (another one of my top three), which contains a short but quite delightful run of class 2-3 rock scrambling leading up to the knob itself. A number of trailheads feeds into the system that leads to these two fine destinations, and all have lots of water at the respective bases but nothing but dryness along the ridge lines.
While you are walking, though, don't get too self absorbed, as the area is loaded with rattlesnakes and bears. As long as you are making noise, though, nothing is going to bother you. If you pay attention, you can have some really cool close encounters with other very interesting species of animal, particularly in and around the knob and surrounding rock dens.
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charlie is good
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Date of Hike: Friday, June 11, 2010
We started from the Scothorn Gap Trailhead. The initial climb up, which looks like some kind of old fire road, was probably the most difficult portion. Once you get past that, it is smooth sailing. The rock climbing at the end is very similar to Old Rag. A lot of bugs at the top, be sure you wear bug spray.
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Date of Hike: Saturday, May 29, 2010
I hiked this with a friend on a warm humid day. This is an excellent, but challenging hike. Definitely not for beginners, despite hikes like Old Rag having only one less difficulty rating (4). I hope someday the rating system on this site is revised a bit or at least on a scale of 10.
The initial descent on Massanutten is quite steep. We knew it was going to be punishment coming back after 9 miles of mid-day hiking. The ascent on Massanutten was tough, but very doable, especially if the ground isn't wet. There are a lot of small wet rocks today, so hiking poles were nice to have. The forest canopy is quite dense in this area, so if it rains the day before, count on extreme humidity. Once you round the bend in Massanutten to head toward the pink blaze, the forest is predominantly conifer and you're mostly hiking along a ridge: plenty of breeze and not much humidity. The rock scramble was quite fun. We saw plenty of hawks and vultures(?) flying over head.
The view up top along the scramble is amazing, especially at the end of the ridge (Strickler Knob). The views are comparable to Old Rag, although this hike is much less traveled (probably due to difficulty), so the view is not spoiled. My only complaint is that the pink blaze isn't very well marked. We made a few wrong turns despite the trail now being bushwacked. I might bring some pink or red spray paint next time to mark the rocks more often. Light pink isn't the easiest to see and I imagine the paint weathers quickly on the rock surface.
The descent on Massanutten was just fine. Like we guessed, the final ascent up Massanutten was grueling and never seems to end. It's very rewarding to reach the top. If it's hot and humid, have plenty of water. Both of us went through 3 L without much difficulty with 80 degrees and humidity.
I highly recommend hiking poles on the orange blaze, especially going up/down the first 1 mile. They're a pain to hold on the rock scramble, so you should plan to strap them to your pack. I would advise doing this hike on a hot and humid day unless you are really fit or a sadist.
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