Three Top Mountain Hike

Three Top Mountain - Front Royal, Virginia


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Length	Difficulty	Streams	Views	Solitude	Camping
7.6 mls
Hiking Time: Elev. Gain: Links: Resources:	4 hours plus a half hour for lunch 780 ft George Washington National Forest Printable Topo Hike Map (PDF) Front Royal Weather Forecast Graphic Precip/Temp Forecast Current Weather Radar Loop (Java) Garmin (GDB), GPS eXchange (GPX) (What's this?) 3D View of Route!
From:	e.g.. 12000 Government Center Parkway 22035 or Fairfax VA From VA678/Fort Valley Rd, Turn right on VA771/Boyer Rd. and in 1.0 miles 771 veers left, Stay right towards Powell Fort, In 0.6 miles the road splits stay right, In another 1.8 miles the parking area will be on the right just before a gate closes the FS road. The fire road where VA771/Boyer Rd splits left intermittently closes in the winter to traffic due to road deterioration. Check with the GWNF for gate status at 540-984-4101.

Part of the Signal Knob area in the George Washington National Forest, Three Top Mountain with its 3.5 mile stretch along the ridge line is one of the least traveled trails in the area.

The blue blazed Tuscarora Trail has been cleared and re-blazed by a PATC volunteer group, and is in much better shape than pictured here. On the return down the orange blazed FS road, which is part of the Massanutten Trail, the hiking is almost a gentle walk.

To begin backtrack down the orange blazed FS road you just drove up passing the purple blazed Mudhole Gap Trail in 100 yards where it enters from the left, then in 0.4 miles the orange blazed Massanutten Trail will turn right off the FS road and begin its ascent up Three Top Mountain.

Follow the orange blazed trail as it ascends the mountain and in 0.5 miles reach the intersection of the blue blazed Tuscarora Trail that enters from the right. The orange blazed Massanutten Trail and blue blazed Tuscarora Trail will join and continue straight.

Turn right on the blue blazed trail as it ascends slightly to reach the ridge. For the next 3.5 miles follow the blue blazed trail and ridge line before it begins to descend the mountain to the east/right side.

The blue blazed trail will reach the valley floor and intersection of the orange blazed Massanutten Trail (FS road). Here the blue blazed trail you have been following crosses Little Passage Creek and begins to ascend Green Mountain.

At this intersection turn right to follow the orange blazed FS road (you follow it the entire way back to the parking are) . In 0.5 miles the orange blazed trail will veer off the road to the right.

You can either follow the trail and pass the reservoir on its right or continue on the FS road and pass the reservoir to the left. Either way the FS road and orange blazed Massanutten Trail will rejoin on the other side of the reservoir in 0.3 miles.

Continue on the orange blazed FS road as it follows the valley before crossing Little Passage Creek in 0.2 miles and in another 1.2 miles arrives at a closed gate. 50 yards further the parking lot is on your left.

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Hiker Reviews For The Three Top Mountain Hike (5 Most Recent)

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By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Monday, September 05, 2011
Hiked this one clockwise. Enjoyed the steep hike up to the ridge which was strenuous but still fun. The hike along the ridge was awesome, there were some tricky spots but all in all it was very nice and not very slick despite all the rain. I am certain there are views here but the clouds concealed them. Hiking off the ridge down to Strasburg Reservoir was pretty tame and the views along the dam (side trip) was worth the trip. The final stretch along the road to parking was the only drawback for me as I am never a fan of road walking. All in all it was really nice and shocked it was rarely used but seemed to show signs of recent maintenance and if you ask me, it was a nice hike I would be happy to do again. I am surprised the trail does not stay along the ridge up to Signal Knob.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Tuesday, July 07, 2009
summer 09 crystal me and colby 8 years old parked close to powells old cabins took trail up to top took right or north went around lake and back it was maby 6 miles and further than i had thought,so worried about that boy getting hurt.i saw a hundred piles of bear poop pretty lame hike.

By: Benna	Rating:	Date of Hike: Thursday, December 27, 2007
Hiked this right after Christmas 07 with three teens and a labrador. We had a nice time and only encountered one person the whole day - a mountain biker on the Forest Service road. Directions were good although there is a parking area closer to the trail intersection with the Forest Service road that you drive in on. The initial climb from the roadway to the ridge is a bit steep but fortunately pretty short. We missed the turn off from orange blazes to blue and had to back track a bit after we started to decend on the other side. Be careful as soon as you see that both blue and orange marks on the same tree. It's a sharp right. The ridge line is still deep in leaves which makes footing slippery and slows travel speed a bit. I enjoyed this walk - especially the views of the winding Shenandoah River. Don't recommend it for anytime the leaves are on the trees though as there are really no decent clearing/ view points and a summer hike is going to be behind a solid wall leaves. A good walk for a winter day. A good dog trip too.

By: tawlk	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, June 23, 2007
Nice hike, nothing spectacular, it was just nice to be outside today. After the first ascent it is clear sailing. Perfect hike for a hot day, half the day you are along a ridge so you can take advantage of a breeze from almost any direction. All the ratings are right on, except for the camping. I might rate that one higher based on other hikes posted on this site. There are a half dozen around the lake area. Also if you are interested in car camping, there are quite a few sites on the drive in.

By: Kris	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, March 25, 2007
Enjoyed a beautiful day by getting out on a trail. First elevation test on my right knee which I had surgery on 11 days ago. It seemed to handle the 770 foot elevation gain without too much difficulty, though my cardio stamina was lacking after no hiking or other exercise since mid February. The hike is fine and, indeed, I did not see anyone until the return leg along the fire road. One hiker and a couple of mountain bikers. Views are limited but present now due to lack of leaf cover. Better just before descending off the ridge line. I awarded myself the "dumbass" award for the day, though, after parking at the wrong gate and hiking out a mile before finally turning around and realizing it was the next gate that I had to park at. So I ended up hiking 9.6 miles instead. Even with my knee in a recovery stage, I think the hike should rate a 3 difficulty. The trail along the ridge line is very rocky and brutal on the ankles at times. My knee did fine, but I rolled an ankle more than a couple of times. Streams are swollen and Little Passge Creek made for a timely resupply on water with my new Varios filter. Way cool! Filled both my nalgenes in under two minutes! Over all a nice hike and great for a nice day outing...just start where the description tells ya. :)

Late May