In historic Harpers Ferry WV, this circuit hike passes through Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. There is a great view of Harpers Ferry from the Spilt Rocks Overlook in Virginia, as well as an pleasant walk along the C&O Canal towpath on the Maryland side of the Potomac River.
CAVEAT:The major downside to this hike is the first quarter mile, and last mile, that requires walking along US340. The traffic is heavy, and US340 has a very narrow shoulder. Use extreme caution in these sections.
NOTE: Per the review by David Sept 2, 2011 foot traffic on the US340 bridge is currently closed until April 2012. This prevents this hike as being completed as a circuit.
From the parking area continue west on US340 walking on the left side of the road next to the guardrail. 60 yards past the end of the guardrail, and 0.2 miles from the parking area, turn left uphill on the blue blazed Loudoun Heights Trail. This is the steepest section of the hike, with the trail making several switchbacks for 0.4 miles before arriving at Split Rocks Overlook.
From Split Rocks Overlook continue up the blue blazed trail reaching the intersection of the white blazed Appalachian Trail (AT) in another 1.5 miles. Turn right downhill on the AT for 0.2 miles to the junction of an orange blazed trail. Turn left, remaining on the white blazed AT for 0.2 miles and cross Chestnut Hill Road. In another 0.5 miles follow the AT as it passes under the western US340 bridge. Cross the bridge, then cross the access road following the white blazed AT markers. Do not follow the access road down to the river.
After re-entering the woods the white blazed AT will come to the first of several small trail intersections in 0.2 miles. Remain straight on the AT for another 0.4 miles to Jefferson Rock. From this point, the AT is paved as it enters historic Harpers Ferry. Pass St. Peters Church and descend the stairs to cobbled High Street . If you turn left here, there area several outdoor restaurants within two blocks. To continue the hike, follow the AT signs to the Potomac River and pedestrian bridge. Cross the Potomac River to Maryland on the footbridge, then turn right downstream on the C&O Canal towpath.
From this point the hike follows several busy roads. Use caution.
Cross over to the other side of Sandy Hook Road and follow it to right uphill. Pass under the bridge where the road makes a sharp turn to the left. Be very careful as there is no shoulder here. 50 yards after the corner turn left over a guardrail onto a closed access road. There were trail direction signs here for 'American Youth Hostel' with blue dashes as of 2006. Follow the closed road uphill for 200 yards where it ends at the eastern US340 bridge.
Cross US340 and make the 0.4 miles bridge crossing on a narrow walkway on the bridges right/upstream side. After reaching the other end of the bridge continue on the right side of US340 the remaining 0.3 miles back to the parking area. Again, use extreme caution crossing US340 to return to the parking area.
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Hiker
Reviews For The Harpers Ferry Hike (5 Most Recent)
Definitely one of my favorites with the variety of terrains, my friends and I like to hike the steep sections and run whenever we can. Love crossing the bridges.... and the scenery....HELLO! I found the directions to be easy to follow and clear and really appreciate all the links to the photos. I've done this one several times, but before my first trip, reviewing the pictures really helped me to have a very clear picture of the route. Having seen the pictures beforehand also helped when I approached intersections along the route. I was impressed by how accurate and clear it was! THANKS to whoever put that together! Guess I better pay attention in the parking lot, because I haven't seen the private parking signs that others mention. Fall is the most beautiful time for this hike! Going tomorrow morning! Enjoy everyone!
By:
Rating:
Date of Hike: Sunday, September 18, 2011
Overall the hike was a good experience but a bunch of things could have been better.
1. The parking was an issue as other hikers mentioned. I think that they should make a designated parking spot for hikers. Luckily we found a guy who seemed to be in charge of the lot who let us park there until 6PM.
2. The directions and map got us lost a bunch of times (read them carefully, etc). We probably added a couple miles and at least an hour to our hike because we kept on getting lost.
3. In the beginning you are NOT going to walk along US340. My friends and I thought that we had to do this and we definitely risked our lives. Cars did not slow down near hikers. (Go left from the fork in the trail after leaving the parking area).
4. Because we got lost a lot, etc. We barely got to spend anytime in Harper's Ferry. Everything was closing at the time and daylight was falling.
5. As stated the loop is closed because of the closed bridge and we did not have the time to hike back before it got dark. There were NO cabs or buses to take us back to our parking area. Luckily some guy at a restaurant was super nice and took us there.
I would definitely keep these things in mind if you are planning to hike this trail. If we didn't get lost and the trail was a loop, things would have been a lot better and I would have had a better experience. Overall I had fun and I just learned some good lessons for the future. :-)
By:
David M.
Rating:
Date of Hike: Friday, September 02, 2011
Completed this hike on Friday of Labor Day weekend 2011 and loved it. Overall a very good hike but a few issues that should be flagged:
1. The starting point parking lot on US-340 is private property and has about a dozen 'No Parking' signs! By pure chance, we met the owner of the parking lot and he very kindly agreed to allow us to leave our car for the day. However, if the owner is not there on the day that you visit, big risk in leaving your car unattended in a private lot...
2. As noted by other people, the pedestrian foot crossing on the US-340 bridge from MD back into VA is closed. Again, we were fortunate in being offered a ride across the bridge by a construction worker. If you can't hitchhike or get a ride, there is no way to cross. (It's not possible to walk the bridge -- no shoulder for pedestrians to walk on and high speed traffic.) According to the workers, it's closed until April 2012.
By:
James
Rating:
Date of Hike: Saturday, July 09, 2011
We did this hike yesterday, and it was enjoyable. Knowing the footbridge was out of use, we hiked into Harpers Ferry, had lunch and looked around for a while and then walked back. This seems to be about an 8 mile out/back given the mileage guidelines on here and it was about 4.5-5 hours of hiking. It is a fair bit of up and down, which is what we were looking for (trekking poles would be worthwhile). Even though it was low 90's yesterday, nearly all of the hike is completely under the cover of the trees so it is heavily shaded which was nice.
A couple of small notes. First, the trail starts more like 20 yards pass the end of the guard rail and you may need to slightly look behind you to see it. If you walk more than a minute or two pass the end of the guard rail (at the absolute most) then you've gone too far. Second, shortly after you're on the trail you will come to an trail intersection. You need to go straight ahead, which is obvious if you look further ahead as you'll see a blue blaze, but we had switchbacks on our mind so headed up. Third, there is no sign for the lookout. But there are some steps that lead off the trail on a bend which take you to the lookout. Also, there is another "lookout" further up which takes you out under the power lines and give a nice view of the Shenandoah.
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