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.
Interactive Hike Map BelowPrintable
Topo Hike Map (PDF) Hike route in Drag the map with your mouse using the icon Zoom with the controls on the left Click the icons in the map below for location shots
Calculate roughly how many calories you could burn on the White Oak/Cedar Run hike:
=
Hiker
Reviews For The White Oak/Cedar Run Hike (5 Most Recent)
This hike was great. A little more crowded than I was expecting- there were people swimming or relaxing alongside every waterfall on the hike This is likely because it was perfect weather and a Saturday. We did take advantage of the waterfalls and the pools of water beneath for swimming. There was even a rock fit for sliding on the Cedar Run trail. We completed the circuit in 6 hours allowing time for swimming, scaling the rocks, and lunch. This is a relatively strenuous hike, as you hike from the bottom of the mountain up to the ridge at Skyline drive and back down but well worth it for the spectacular views. :)
By:
virtualso
Rating:
Date of Hike: Saturday, August 14, 2010
Crowd Factor: Since it was National Park Day, there were a good number of families and groups out and about. We arrived at the trail head around noon. Many were swimming in the lower White Oak falls. The number of hikers dropped significantly at the fire road and Cedar Run descent.
Scenery: Park rangers warned us at the outset that the falls were mostly dry due to the lack of rain. Indeed, the falls were not as spectacular as I remembered. Still, people seemed to be enjoying the leg dipping in shallow waters. Not a lot of high altitude scenery as previous reviewers have noted.
Challenge Factor: We pushed ourselves on our White Oak ascent. It was a good workout. A clock wise circuit (starting up Cedar Run) would have been significantly more challenging. We did the circuit in approximately 5 hours, including lunch.
By:
Aaron
Rating:
Date of Hike: Tuesday, August 03, 2010
I hiked up from the lower parking lot and had a great time! It's only about 0.75 miles from the lower parking area to the lower set of falls, and the trail is actually quite flat in places. The lower falls are great for swimming, and even in August, the water felt like it was 65/70 degrees! Felt amazing.
Hiking up from there to the upper set of falls was a bit more strenuous, but no worse than nearby Old Rag. It looks like most of the directions here say to start from the upper parking area near skyline drive, but personally I would recommend the lower one.
I did this:
522 into Sperryville, Right @ 231 and go 9.9 miles past the Old Rag signs, right at 643 (with brown White Oak Canyon sign and across the street from a general store), go 4.3 miles and turn right at 600 (Weakley Hollow Rd, with White Oak Canyon sign), and go another 3.7 miles - parking lot will be on your left.
By:
Zoe
Rating:
Date of Hike: Saturday, July 03, 2010
I just did this hike today and it was amazingly fun! We went down from mile marker 42.5 and then back up. The first half of the hike (upper 3 falls and back) is relatively easy if you are in decent shape. The second half (lower 3 falls) is steep, but worth it. The sixth and final waterfall has a great swimming hole at the bottom of it. I brought my swim shoes, though, and was glad that I did.
Save your water for the way back up the trail. You don't need a ton going down, but coming back definitely provided a workout and you will sweat out a lot of fluid. We saw lots of families on the first half of the hike very few kids down by the lower falls and for good reason -- it is steep.
Today it was a beautiful 80 degrees out. Perfect time to go. The water is icy cold! But I have gone in the Great Lakes in October plenty of times and was used to the chilly temperature, which definitely felt good after all the hiking.
By the way, our group were three relatively fit people in their twenties, but we did it in regular gymshoes. Near the beginning of the trail and the top waterfall, you'll see more people in flipflops and strappy sandals (which is not appropriate footwear at all) but as you go down, the crowd definitely gets more hardcore. More boots, more backpacks, more alpenstocks.
By:
Beth S
Rating:
Date of Hike: Sunday, June 13, 2010
This was a great hike. As others have stated, I also took the WOC trail up along the falls, got some great pics, and cooled off along the way. It was 95 degrees out, so believe me it was needed. Ran into plenty of people, but not overly crowded. Enough so that you felt if you ran into trouble you could get help, but enough that you still felt you were on a trail alone doing a nice hike. Came down the Cedar Run tail. The 8.2 miles kicked my butt and I think I am in pretty good shape (triathlete and all - did a 10.5 mile hike in 3.5 hrs just 2 weeks ago). but this was killer and the 8.2 miles took me 4.5 hrs (w.stops for pics). Great workout, beautiful falls. Would do it again just for the workout and swimming holes! But would leave more time for the drive out... didn't realize how far it was from DC!
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.
icon 
