This
hike has some of the most spectacular waterfalls in the Shenandoah National
Park. Combining two out-and-back hikes, White Oak Canyon & Cedar Run, this loop starts at the bottom of the valley and cuts over near the top of the ridge. With five major falls, numerous smaller cascades and pools, this circuit hike is one of the best.
Follow the blue blazed trail on the right side of WOC Run reaching the WOC/Cedar Run Connector Trail in 0.6 miles. Stay straight on the right side of WOC Run for another 0.7 miles, cross a small stream, then arrive the base of the first set of major falls.
The trail will now make several switchbacks as the grade gets steeper, then reaches the second set of falls in 0.6 miles. Again, the trail will switchback several times, then become less steep, and arrive at a concrete marker for the base of the main WOC falls. To see the falls from the base, follow the side trail straight for 100 yards. Continue uphill on the WOC Trail as it steeply climbs the last 0.1 miles to the main WOC falls overlook.
Continuing uphill from the main overlook, and shortly arrive at the yellow blazed Bridge Path Trail that comes in from the right. Stay straight, then cross WOC Run in another 40 yards at the horse rail. If WOC Run is high, continue up the right side of WOC Run and cross a footbridge in 120 yards.
After crossing the run follow the wide yellow blazed WOC Fire Road/Horse Trail. In 1.6 miles the WOC Fire Road/Horse Trail will veer right. Stay left on the narrower yellow blazed trail, marked on a concrete post as "Horse Tr To Big Meadows". In 0.6 miles the horse trail intersects the blue blazed Cedar Run Trail.
Turn left downhill on the blue blazed Cedar Run Trail, then in 1.3 miles cross Cedar Run. In 0.2 miles after crossing Cedar Run reach the top set of main falls at Halfmile Cliff known as "The Slide". 60 yards below the main falls is a pool where Cedar Run passes through a narrow gorge.
Continue downward on the Cedar Run Trail for 0.5 miles where the blue blazed trail makes a sharp left to cross Cedar Run for the last time. After crossing Cedar Run follow the trail for 0.3 miles to the intersection of the WOC/Cedar Run Connector Trail. Turn right downhill on the Cedar Run Trail towards RT600, and in 0.4 miles arrive back at the WOC Trail intersection. Turn right, re-cross the steal footbridge, and arrive back at the parking area.
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Hiker
Reviews For The White Oak/Cedar Run Hike (5 Most Recent)
Started the hike at the intersection of Cedar Run off skyline drive. Weather was varied throughout the hike--we got hail, rain, and then abundant sunshine! Trail maintence was going on on cedar run--taking care of those slippery leaves others commented about. Most are cleared now! Saw lots of other hikers on the white oak section. As to be expected for a nice spring saturday. Riley loved swimming in and out of all the great pools along both trails. Trail was muddy/slippery in some areas along White oak. Great hike overall. As for difficulty-we were definitely tired at the end of the day and consider ourselves to be quite active/fit.
By:
Rating:
Date of Hike: Saturday, March 22, 2008
The scenery is unforgettable. Before turning down on Cedar Run Trail I walked to the top of Hawksbill Mtn and enjoyed world-class view from the top. Some hikers claimed they saw bears, but I had no such luck.
By:
Ellen and Tim
Rating:
Date of Hike: Tuesday, December 25, 2007
A relatively warm Christmas day - family on other continents, no kids, so Christmas seemed like a good day to take a hike. This time, we tested our theory that it is better to go UP Cedar Run and DOWN White Oak Canyon. The idea here is that while they are about the same length and the same steepness, Cedar Run has trickier footing, whereas WOC is well-maintained and has a lot of rock and/or concrete stairs. Turned out to be a very good idea, particularly as we decided to leave Hawksbill Summit via the Appalachian Trail, which we took all the way to the White Oak Canyon trailhead. This added about 3 ridgeline miles to the hike, so we were more tired than we would otherwise have been had we just gone back down Hawksbill and then across the fire road to White Oak Canyon. All together, it was thirteen miles. There was little ice on Cedar Run and none on White Oak Canyon, but it was 35 in the a.m. and near 50 during the day. A fair amount of ice forming on the Appalachian Trail. Check weather carefully before trying any of these trails over the next few weeks. It is just about to turn to ice.
Note: White Oak Canyon at the top, for about a mile, is flat and wide and easy. However, the recent ice storms have brought down tree limbs all over the place so we spent a lot of time climbing over them or moving them aside.
By:
Rating:
Date of Hike: Sunday, November 25, 2007
Great hike, really beautiful. We are used to long hikes, but not all-up, all-down (e.g., we are used to hikes with a lot of ridgeline hiking). Even so, this one proved reasonable. We didn't find it at all arduous.
A few notes relevant to what others have said:
1. The four of us ranged in age from 42-52. Two of us hike every weekend, 7 & 11 milers, the other two are in good shape. I wouldn't call going up White Oak Canyon a 4. It just wasn't that tough.
2. Coming down Cedar Run - definitely a 4 - but due mostly to the leaves, which were deep and slippery (even though they were dry). Just trickier, with more rocks and tree roots and seemed a bit steeper. In the future, we'll go up Cedar Run (we find uphill easier) when we are fresh. It just takes a lot of concentration to hike down a relatively steep slope with tons of tricky footing. It is just mentally exhausting and you don't get to enjoy the scenery as much.
3. The Hawksbill Summit add-on. Why bother climbing up the highest peak in SNP and not go to the summit? Supposedly, the 1.7 miles is a 2-hr round trip hike. Baloney. It took us 20 minutes to go up (0.85) at a slow, steady pace. If you are reasonably fit, it shouldn't take you more than 30 minutes. Coming down - about 12 minutes. And it is SO worth it. It is gorgeous up there.
Altogether, we clocked 10.5 miles (using Garmin) in 5 hrs even (again, tracked on the Garmin). Will post track on Trimble Outdoors.
By:
Rating:
Date of Hike: Friday, November 23, 2007
The only reason I did not give White Oak/Cedar Run Hike 5 stars is because of how cold it was this time of year! Bundle Up! Wear more than you think you need in layers so that you can take them off and wrap around your waist or stuff in your sack. Windproof Gloves and warm hat (covers your whole head, not ear muffs) are neccessary. Going up the trail can be done at a good clip (we saw a black bear cub!) but once you cut over to Cedar Run coming down the trail takes serious leg strength and balance. Consider your fitness level. My legs were both shaking! Also this time of year there were too many loose leaves on the trail. It was guesswork as to where to put your foot and just hope there wasn't a loose rock under the leaf pile. My favorite part was going across Skyline Dr. and picking up the Appalachian Trail for about 20 min before coming down Cedar Run trail. Makes you feel like a REAL hiker for the day! I am in excellent shape and the whole hike took me 5.5 hours to give you some perspective. No lunch stop, just snacks the whole way. And I burned over 1700 calories!
Waterfalls, waterfalls, waterfalls! This has to be the most spectacular waterfall hike in Shenandoah National Park. With three sets of falls on the way up White Oak Canyon and three smaller falls heading down Cedar Run, this circuit is among the mid-Atlantic's most popular. Lots of company on the trail.
Usually, the ideal time for this hike is in early spring, but with the rain we've had in the last month, all the falls were near their best. The wildlife was also out; we came across several black snakes, this guy (vid) was a local celebrity with hikers on Saturday, and we also saw a juvenile black bear on the trail.
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