The
Austin and Furnace Mountains loop is one of the most strenuous
day hikes in the Shenandoah National Park. Not only is the hike long, at over 13 miles, but the steep descent down the Austin Mountain ridge, and long climb up the exposed Furnace Mountain trail, make the 3000+ vertical feet of gain seem even that much harder.
From the Browns Gap parking area pass the closed gate, and start down the yellow blazed Madison Run Fire Road (FR). In 0.8 miles look for the yellow blazed Big Run Spur Trail where the FR makes a right bend. Turn right and follow the Big Run Spur Trail uphill for 0.3 miles to the ridge, and intersection of the blue blazed Rockytop Trail.
Turn left on the Rockytop Trail for 0.4 miles to the intersection of the blue blazed Austin Mountain Trail. Stay left on the Austin Mountain Trail as it follows the ridge, then gradually begins to descend. Pass several vistas of the Furnace Mountain summit, before passing through four rock slide areas. In three miles from the Rockytop Trail, the Austin Mountain Trail will make a sharp left turn, and descend the mountain very steeply for the remaining 0.3 miles to the valley, and ending at the Madison Run FR.
Return the 0.5 miles to the Furnace Mountain Trail, and turn left uphill. In 2.1 miles the Furnace Mountain Trail ends at the intersection of the blue blazed Trayfoot Mountain Trail. Stay left, on the Trayfoot Mountain Trail as it descends, then climbs to the intersection of the AT/Blackrock Connector Trail in 0.6 miles. Stay left towards the Blackrock Summit, and in 0.2 miles pass through the lower section if the Blackrock area, before arriving at the intersection of the white blazed Appalachian Trail AT and Blackrock Summit.
Turn left on the white blazed AT. In 0.3 miles pass the Blackrock parking area, before crossing Skyline Drive on the AT in another 0.6 miles. After crossing Skyline Drive, pass the Jones Run parking area in 0.2 miles, and stay on the AT for the remaining 1.2 miles back to the Browns Gap parking area.
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Hiker
Reviews For The Austin/Furnace Mountains Hike (5 Most Recent)
We hiked Austin/Furnace Mountains on 10/8 that was a Saturday on a long weekend off because of Christopher Columbus day. We arrived at the parking area that was starting to fill up at 10 A.M. I think this trail should be a 10 star overall. What a great long hike. We did the hike in a little under 7 hours. Took 200 pictures and had a long 20 min lunch break. We started on browns gap and started heading down the road and after the parking lot was no longer in sight we did not see another hiker for the 12 of the 13 miles hiking this trail. The last mile you run into a few hikers just looking at a few locations.
We also did have to pay $15.00 for parking on the SNP. Not sure if there was away around that but cant really complain went back on the next Sunday to hike Jones Run/Doyles River Hike.
By:
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Date of Hike: Saturday, April 16, 2011
Three of us hiked a route today that was a combination of the Big Run and Austin/Furnace hikes. We parked at the Doyles River parking area and started from the Big Run overlook. We hiked the standard Big Run hike until we intersected with the Austin/Furnace hike. From there we continued on the Austin/Furnace hike until we intersected with the AT. From that point, we stayed on the AT heading north until we returned to the Doyles River parking area. It rained for nearly the entire hike and the wind was howling through the trees. Each time it did so we were keeping a watchful ear and eye out for falling branches or trees. Luckily for us none fell around us be we encountered much new deadfall on the trail. When we arrived at Madison Run, it was a raging torrent. We had to continue down the Madison Fire Trail until we reached the paved road and continued down it or about a half mile to where a bridge crossed Madison Run. Once on the other side of Madison Run, we bushwacked our way back to the Furnace Mountain trail. All in all, it was quite an experience.
By:
Marc
Rating:
Date of Hike: Sunday, January 23, 2011
This is a really fantastic hike! We shortened this hike to ~8.5 miles by using the Madison Run Fire Road as a loop with the Austin Mtn hike. We also started at the western trailhead (which is very easy to get to, just a few minutes east of Town of Grottoes) and then went clockwise.
The ascent up Austin Mountain was brutal but quite enjoyable. One section in particular has tons of loose cobblestone-sized rocks, refreshingly very different from other hikes in the hike. Many of those rocks are rose quartz (?), giving the mountainside a somewhat pinkish look. (By the way, this hike is probably not dog-friendly given all the rocks.) The views are not the best in the park but you have consistently good views of the valley for several miles.
Once you get near the top of Austin Mtn, the trail levels out and it's a series of gentler ups and downs along the ridge line. Madison Run Fire Road is a long, steady downhill but even that still has some nice scenery to it. There is also a stream paralleling the fire road for the last mile of the hike.
One other recommendation: if you do the hike as I've suggested, you'll be just a few minutes from Town of Grottoes, which has the Grand Caverns. For $16 you get a 70-minute tour of some quite impressive caverns.
By:
Rating:
Date of Hike: Saturday, August 21, 2010
When I hike, I'm usually looking for a trail with great views, few people, and which will kick my ass. This one ranked high on my three criteria. I did this hike in about 5.5 hours, with a 20 minute lunch - but I was hiking apace, intent on getting my money's worth. It was a beautiful, if sweltering, August afternoon I chose for this hike. In hindsight, I'd like to do this hike again on a cooler, fall day. Temperature is especially good to keep in mind since a good portion of the trail is exposed (little tree cover) and a tad bit of the trail is over rock slides (which make you feel like you're on a griddle).
I think I enjoyed the views from Blackrock Summit the most, but I admit to being very tired by the time I got there (its right at the end) and I didn't stick around long enough to really appreciate them (just took some pictures and left). If you're in it for the views, I'd definitely recommend you starting early in the day and taking your time so that you can pause and take it all in.
On another note, I came across THREE bears on this hike, which was a record for me. They must have had the troops out patrolling for forest fires. If you plan to hike this trail, don't bring along your pic-i-nic basket.
In sum: great, solid hike with enviable views and an opportunity get lost (metaphorically) in the woods for a few hours.
By:
Rating:
Date of Hike: Saturday, April 17, 2010
When I read this was one of the most strenuous hikes in the park I was initially dismissive. Although not much harder than other hikes in the park, it wore me out more than I can remember and I have done the majority of the hikes in SNP. Rocky terrain along with some steep and monotonous uphill climbs made this hike very tiring. We completed the hike in 5 1/2 hours. Walking on the rock slides which were ever present in the beginning is not one of my favorite things took away from the hike. The side trail to the peak about halfway through the hike was worth the effort and it was enjoyable to reach this nice rock outcropping that I didn't expect at all. This is a good workout but not greatly different than other hikes in the area. The Blackrock area was nice but I had previously seen that when doing the Trayfoot mountain loop.
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