Couldn't have asked for better weather.  BRMC is one of my favorite local hikes.  The trails were crowded, but that was expected on such a gorgeous November afternoon.  I was disappointed by the new signs on the Ridge Trail that warn of trespassing as you continue up to Elvis Rock.  No one (including myself) heeded the signs, however, and there was quite a few people taking in the remains of the autumn colors from the ridgeline.  I hope the signs and what looks like some clearing of trees isn't a glimpse of future development etc.   

These woods are beautiful, and the hike is pretty easy with slow elevation gains.  If you plan on doing the route prescribed here, you should take the written directions with you.  The map alone is difficult to follow as some of the trails are not terribly well marked at intersections.

There were no crowds, and even though the parking area was full, I saw few other hikers.

As a sidenote, I saw a small snake while I was out--actually, I almost STEPPED on it!

Decided to do an early morning hike to catch the sunrise. This trail was only about 20 minutes from where I live so I hit the trail around 6:30 AM.

I have never hiked here before, so when I got to the top, I found it difficult to locate the overlook as described. I looked around for about 20 minutes for the described red markers and didnt see anything and decided to just continue on the hike.

I liked the scenery, and the historic buildings. I walked up to take a closer look at the house that was near the trail towards the end. Poked my head in the door to just look inside and heard a noise. Looked to my left and I think there were at least 2 turkey vultures, or a bird like it hanging out in there. Not sure if they have claimed that as their home or what but I figured I had seen enough of the house at that point :D

On the last leg of the hike there appeared to be a detour marked with orange flagging...I hadnt read anything about this on here so I stuck with the mapped route and continued straight instead of branching off to the left. Lots of standing water going this way on saturday morning.

I was hiking by myself so was able to finish the hike in just under 3 hours. Aside from the steep descent off the ridge, the trail is pretty easy. I will likely go back again since it is nearby.

Hiked this on a pretty cold, overcast day, so there was not a lot of traffic.  Just saw 5 people over the three hours I was there.  The hike up the ridge to the overlook was nice and the view at the top was great.  My only question/caution is close to the top there are signs saying that you are leaving the conservency and going onto private land not open to the public.  I went anyway but I'm not sure if you are supposed to or not.

The hike down into the valley was very secluded and hiking along the stream at the bottom was nice.  The stream crossings can be tricky.  I had a walking stick and was very glad I did to help balance on the rocks. 

Directions were pretty good except for at the end.  Per the directions I turned left at the white trail and crossed over the stream.  It then says to continue straight and ascend to meet the green path.  After I crossed the stream, I followed the white trail for a few yards and then it ended.  I spent a good 5 minutes wandering around and could never locate it.  So I backtracked and just followed the white trail in the other direction back to the parking lot.

Overall a good experience for a hike close to home.

What a great hike! I only did the ridge portion, and I did it in the opposite direction (going up the Ridge Loop Trail and down the Ridge Trail). I arrived at the park at about 10 Sunday morning and saw a few other cars in the lot, but saw only 3 other people until I started descending on the Ridge Trail. By then there were a lot more people.

I got to the top of the ridge in an hour easily, but most people consider me a fast walker. That was even with a few brief stops to catch my breath. Taking the Ridge Loop Trail up is steeper, and there are spots especially at lower elevation where the footing is tricky and could be slippery if wet.

My wife and 7-year-old son and I hit the trailhead around 2:00PM on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. We started the hike late at one of our favorites places because we visited the Boy Scout Jamboree held just up the road from the Bull Run Mountains Conservancy at Camp William B. Synder. The American Revolutionary War reenactors from the First Virginia Regiment entertained the crowds at the Jamboree by firing their mortar and muskets in the direction of our impending hike. Fortunately, they were just firing blanks!

From the tailhead we followed the suggested hike. On the way up to Elvis Rock Overlook we saw two couples coming down from the mountain. We were passed on the way up by one cross-country runner. Other than those five, we saw no other hikers during the rest of the afternoon.

We passed by a pile of bear scat while walking along the Ridge Loop Trail that was located just before the right hand turn down the Quarry Trail.

The views from Elvis Rock Overlook were beautiful. Although windy, it was slightly overcast. We spent 40 minutes at the top before continuing on our journey. We finished the hike around 7:30PM.  

We also saw a lot of wildlife later in the hike, including deer, many squirrels, a racoon and lots of birds. My son videotaped two salamanders, which was really exciting for him. The only thing dissapointing about the hike was that we expected that the mountain laurels would be in bloom. Last year at this time they were. Unfortunately, they weren't this year.

Be CAUTIOUS about the trail markers and blazes. The first half of the run, the trail is marked w/ wooden markers at the trail intersections.  There is a little disk that indicates the trail.  However, once you get to where the Red Trail meets the Brown Trail, the Brown Trail has red blazes on the trees. Then the brown trail will intersect the pink and yellow trail, the blazes on the trees are blue.  IGNORE THE BLAZES and stick to the nice wooden trail markers. I got a bit confused and had to slow down a few times to look at my map (print it off and take it w/ you, it rocks!!!)

The Red Trail is really steep on the descent and there are some loose rocks that make footing tricky.  This is a great trail for a nice long run, because you can do  loops and pass by your vehicle each time for supplies.  This is a huge bonus for 18+ mile runs.