One of the toughest day hikes in the entire SNP. The Peak circuit has spectacular views along the AT and Marshall Mountain, and a grueling straight up and down climb of The Peak two thirds along the hike. You also have the option of making this significantly easier and shorter by 3.0 miles, and not doing The Peak out/back to the summit.
If you are looking for a good workout with plenty of views this may be the hike for you! Also, if you plan on doing The Peak out/back make sure to start early, as this makes the total hike time over 7 hours. It's a steep climb. Check out the profile at mile 11.
From the parking area at Gravel Springs Gap, cross Skyline Drive and turn right on the white blazed Appalachian Trail (AT). In 0.9 miles arrive at the first good overlook towards the west, and of the south fork of the Shenandoah River. In another 0.8 miles re-cross Skyline Drive and shortly pass a parking area on the left. In 0.2 miles the trail will make a turn to the right and climb to a rock outcropping where the AT turns back to the left. Climb up the rocky outcrop for the best view of the hike. Continue along the AT crossing Skyline Drive once again in 1.9 miles, then in another 1.5 miles the AT will begin to descend and arrive at the yellow blazed Jenkins Gap Trail.
Turn right on the Jenkins Gap Trail, pass through the parking area, and cross Skyline Drive. Turn right and continue next to Skyline Drive (no trail) for 0.2 miles to the Mount Marshall trailhead. Turn left down the yellow blazed Mount Marshall Trail as it winds around the mountain crossing Waterfall Branch, and Sprucepine Branch before arriving at the intersection of the Bluff Trail in 3.5 miles.
The Peak now is directly in front of you :) Again, there are no views at the summit, but it's a great workout. If you decide NOT to do The Peak out/back turn right here onto the Bluff Trail.
For The Peak out/back continue straight on the Mount Marshall Trail for another 0.4 miles to Thoroughfare Gap and intersection of the Jordan River Trail. The abandoned blue blazed Peak Trail is directly ahead going straight up the ridge. The trail is hard to locate for the first 100 yards, then climbs the ridge steeply for 0.3 miles where there is a small rock cairn indicating the turn left. Pick up the trail again and continue along the ridge for the remaining 0.5 miles to the tree covered summit. Return by following your path back to Thoroughfare Gap, then back to the intersection of the Bluff Trail.
Turn left on the yellow blazed Bluff Trail as it winds around the mountain for 2.3 miles to the intersection of the blue blazed Big Devils Stairs Trail. Stay straight on the Bluff Trail for another 1.4 miles arriving at the next intersection where the Bluff Trail turns left. Turn right uphill for 0.1 miles to the intersection of the horse trail and turn right again for 0.1 miles to the yellow blazed fire road. Turn right uphill on the fire road for the remaining 0.3 miles back to the Gravel Springs parking area.
Interactive Hike Map BelowPrintable
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Calculate roughly how many calories you could burn on the The Peak hike:
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Hiker
Reviews For The The Peak Hike (5 Most Recent)
This is the longest and most difficult hike I have ever taken in the Blue Ridge, tougher than the Old Rag/Robertson Mountain combo I like to do, or White Oak Canyon/Cedar Run with Hawksbill tacked on. Subtract The Peak and it is still a long, but not very taxing hike. The Peak was indeed a workout, very steep in places but the real problem was route finding. It was not hard to find the trail at the very beginning, a process helped by some red tape tied around several small trees early on, just to the left of the trail pillar as you face it. We believe we found the cairn mentioned in the route description where you are supposed to turn left. If you do not turn left the trail continues on, there is yet another very small cairin further, and even a blue blazed tree, before the path appears to totally fade into brush. This may be part of the loop that was referred to in an earlier review. We did not attempt to find out. Instead, we went back to the larger cairn and turned left sharply up hill. We quickly lost the trail but my 15-year old son was able to bushwack back and forth as he worked his way up the slope and he eventually came upon another cairn and we eventually spotted some old blue blazed trees which kept us on the remmants of the path until we reached the summit. Interestingly, we never lost the trail on the way down. In my experience, it is usually easier to stick to a trail, if one is actually there, going down than going up. We probably lost about 20-30 minutes trail searching on the way up. It might have been quicker simply to take a compass bearing and head straight up hill since the brush was not very thick, even in early August. You could then simply reverse your bearing on the way down. Still, its nice to have the security of a path. It made me wonder when the trail was abandoned and why. Fifty years ago there might actually have been a view from the top. But the steepness and increasing tree heights probably militated against maintaining it. If anyone knows the real story I would appreciate hearing it. The whole walk with delays took us seven and a half hours. At the end we felt a real sense of accomplishment. And that, after all, is really what it's all about.
By:
Nicole
Rating:
Date of Hike: Saturday, May 08, 2010
Great hike! We had perfect weather for it too! But beware of ticks!! They were everywhere especially while we were on the Mount Marshall Trail. By the end, my friend and I had probably taken off 25 ticks each. It was also hard to find the Peak Trail itself and then to stay on the trail once we were on it. With all the trees down, it was hard to track. Overall though it was a beautiful day long hike.
By:
Rating:
Date of Hike: Saturday, March 27, 2010
This was a really great hike. We went in late March, so leaves are still not on the trees, but they were beginning to show. The sky was clear, and we were able to see for miles. There were a decent amount of streams, one of which is about .5 miles from the start of the PEAK, and it was beautiful. The first 10 miles of the hike were relatively easy, with some incredible views, the last 7 miles were much more difficult though. The base of the mountain that takes you to the peak was really hard, and it was somewhat hard to find the blue blazes. You keep thinking you are almost to the top, but it just kept going, then finally you get to the peak, where there was almost no view at all. But like the description says, the exercise of the climb is great. The descent was kind of hard also, because it is so steep, and all of the leaves make it easy for you to lose your footing. The last 5 miles are on gradual incline and the trail takes you right back to where you started. The trail was really well maintained, and it had no visible liter. Enjoy the trial, and don't whimp out on the Peak part of it!
By:
Adam M
Rating:
Date of Hike: Saturday, January 09, 2010
Skyline drive was closed, so some friends and I drove to the coordinates 38.776731, -78.162422, which is at the end of County Road 628, AKA Bean Hollow Rd. There's room for a few cars in front of a gate with #320 on it. Walk around the gate, and follow the path. You'll see a home on the left and a lot of "No Trespassing" signs, but evidently the path has been grandfathered for public access. This will put you on the Jordan River Trail (yellow dotted trail on the lower-right of the topo map. From here, it's a short hike to the Thoroughfare Gap junction point, from which you can hike up to The Peak. We drove out from DC and didn't expect much snow, but the whole area was covered and it was surprisingly deep.
By:
N. Costello
Rating:
Date of Hike: Sunday, October 26, 2008
The Peak trail forms a loop near the summit. If you take the southern branch (which approaches the summit from the south/west) there are some very nice views. Also, from the southern branch, there is a sidetrail that heads out on the Peak's southwestern spur that also leads to some rock formations with fantastic western views. This is one of my favorite hikes in SNP, mostly due to its solitude.
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