One
of the less traveled hikes in the Shenandoah National Park, the Broad Hollow circuit isn't published in any major hiking guides to date.
With a limited number of parking
spaces along SR681, you generally don't see more that four cars, even in the busiest seasons.
Start the hike by crossing Broad Hollow Run, and climbing the
Broad Hollow Run Trail for 2.5 miles, through several switch
backs, and with a few steeper areas, before arriving at the the intersection of the
Sams Ridge Trail where you will turn left.
After 0.1 miles the Sams Ridge Trail arrives at the Hazel Mountain Trail.
Turn left on the Hazel Mountain Trail and in 0.4 miles pass the Catlett
Mountain Trail on the right. Continue another 0.8 miles and
pass the Hot Mountain/Short Mountain Trail also on
the right.
Continue downhill as the trail now becomes
the Pine Hills Gap Trail. Then in 1.8 miles the trail exits the Shenandoah
National Park, and in another 0.2 miles the Pine
Hills Gap Trail ends at a dirt road.
Turn left on the dirt road, and in 0.2
miles pass a gate blocking the road to traffic. Continue another
0.2 miles on SR681 to return back to the parking area.
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Hiker
Reviews For The Broad Hollow Hike (5 Most Recent)
This hike is under-appreciated. The opening stage follows a beautiful stream, and is challenging enough for a decent work out without being too strenuous. There are impressive views throughout the hike, including a nice vista across a mountain range toward the top of the ridge. We even saw a young bear scamper across the pathway ahead of us. It is also a well-shaded hike, which was nice on a hot summer's day. And yes, it is a hike-less-travelled: we saw only one other hiker all day. We'll do this one again.
One point on locating the trailhead. There are no signs visible from the road, and the usual square concrete marker is hidden behind the wooden gate post of a private property. So recommend you use the link to Google maps to identify the precise location in terms of either miles along the road ,or (better yet) the GPS coordinates for your Garmin.
By:
Rating:
Date of Hike: Saturday, May 21, 2011
Beautiful greenery and very quiet, not a difficult hike at all. Saw no one through the whole circuit!
By:
Rating:
Date of Hike: Sunday, May 01, 2011
I prefer to do this hike backwards since you get the steep boring part out of the way first. It goes up an old fire/logging road which is rather steep and not much to write home about. Once at the top this trail is one of the best! The view of the old Poplar forest on the way down is awesome. Also, the parking at the end of the road is better.
By:
mk4ld
Rating:
Date of Hike: Friday, July 03, 2009
A nice hike. Hiked it in reverse direction (clockwise) due to limited parking at the trailhead. Parked near the obscure house at the end of the road (N38.59180 W78.27455//1109ft). First 2.25 miles is straight up to the old log road (N38.60269 W78.29639//2513ft) before leveling out. Trail was very overgrown and scenery was limited except a few breaks in the trees. This also blocked out any sunlight. There was a good camping spot (N38.60856 W78.29719//2572ft) just after the Hazelton Trail merge (N38.60733 W78.29657//2548ft) where we stopped and had lunch. After the camp, the forest opens up more, and there is more to see. After hitting the Hazelton Mountain intersection with Sams Trail (N38.61694 W78.28694//2552) the trail begins to drop for the remaining 2.5 miles. You also begin parallelling a stream which I found to be the best scenery on the trip. There is a nice stream crossing at N38.59768 W78.27925 where the dog cooled off for a while. The decent down Broad Hollow was a larger grade then going up Pine Gap. If I had to do it over I would have started at Broad Hollow trailhead (N38.59412 W78.27249) then Pine Gap. But there's only space for two smaller cars.
By:
Arlington Hiker
Rating:
Date of Hike: Saturday, September 22, 2007
On the trail at 7:30am and saw only two other hikers all morning. Walking at a moderate pace and taking lots of breaks, the hike took about 4 hours. The elevation gain is a little tough for the first 45 minutes if you're not in great shape, but it's a relatively easy hike after that. Due probably to infrequent use, the trail is a little grown up in places and ad hoc detours are required to get around trees that have fallen across the path. There are no obvious places to pause for a snack or lunch... none of the big rocks that one often finds handy in the Shenandoah. Given the dry summer, the stream was almost dry and the "falls" nonexistent.
About two hours into the hike, I encountered a large timber rattlesnake coiled next to the path. I made a wide detour and reminded myself to be more careful.
This is definitely not the path for those seeking dramatic views, but the woods are pleasant, and you will probably have the trail to yourself. The solitude makes this a good hike, even without the big views.
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