Hiker Reviews for the White Oak/Cedar Run Hike

Hiker Reviews for the White Oak/Cedar Run Hike - 1 to 122 of 122

Review the White Oak/Cedar Run hike here! Average Review Rating:


By: Jeff	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, June 09, 2013
Great hike today up Cedar Run, continuing up Hawksbill, then down the Forest Road and down Whiteoak Canyon to the parking lot. Lots of people already out hiking and camping when I started hiking at 7 a.m. On the hike saw a hot orange salamander, the mountain laurel in bloom, and clouds pouring like a waterfall over nearby mountain tops. Also notice the trail elves have been repairing or adding water diverts to several places along the loop - thanks.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, May 26, 2013
This is a fantastic hike. It took about 4/12 hours but if we had started earlier we could have taken 8 hours to do it because we would have stopped more to enjoy the views and do some rock climbing. I have climbed Old Rag a few miles up the road 5 times and wanted to try this one. This hike has beautiful views of water and waterfalls most of the way. You can almost always hear rushing water which is nice. We started at the bottom and took the 3 mile climb on the cedar run portion. This is 3 miles on a stair climber basically--It's straight up. When you get in view of the parking lot, turn right and take the poorly-marked yellow horse trail 1.7 miles to the White Oak Canyon trail. Stay to the right. In contrast to this hike, the Old Rag hike is wooded switchbacks all the way to the rock scramble, then fun on the rock scramble with great views---then 4 miles of wooded, non-scenic woods on the way down. You are just basically heading back to the parking lot after the views on top--anxious to get back so you can get to a winery. In contrast, White oak Canyon is scenic the whole way. You have to be in pretty good shape to do this hike, or take a lot of breaks. I recommend a lot of Naproxen before you start and before you go to bed! I will definitely be doing this one again and be bringing my better camera with zoom. I recommend this hike highly.

By: Logan	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, March 16, 2013
What a wonderful hike. We had the weather odds against us, but lucked out. It only rained for about 20 minutes our whole hike. The water crossings were very high and we had to find alternative routes to stay on the trail which was fun and challenging. The snow from last weeks massive snow storm was pretty much gone off of the trails. However, we did find some bear tracks which made us on edge for awhile, but other than that, it was a great hike!

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, March 16, 2013
I led a small group of hikers from Central Virginia Trailblazers (www.cvatrailblazers.org). Most of the people who were signed up for the hike backed out due to the weather forecast, but it ended up being a perfect day except for a brief rain shower...and best of all, we had the trail pretty much to ourselves. We missed our turn at the fire road and ended up hiking further up the mountain to the Limberlost Trail, and then hopped on the Crescent Trail to get to Cedar Run. This added about two miles to the loop, but allowed us to enjoy the view from Crescent Overlook. The trail was a little muddy, and there were still a few inches of snow on the ground at the higher elevations. My trekking poles came in very handy. We were slowed down by the water crossings, but managed to complete the hike in about six hours. Definitely a strenuous but enjoyable hike.

By: Willard	Rating:	Date of Hike: Tuesday, March 05, 2013
First time I hiked this trail, and loved the amount of beautiful views it had to offer. The icicles were melting throughout the hike due to the weather warming up a bit, but those left over definitely added a nice touch to the hike. The water level for both WOC and Cedar Run was adequate. Worth bringing a nice camera if you plan on stopping to take pictures along the trail. If you start your hike on WOC take note that the fire trail connecting the two trails is all uphill which fails keep new hikers/nonhikers entertained. (Thought my friend who volunteered to come with me was going to give up at this point in the hike) Took at least 5 hours including stops to take pictures. Didn't see a soul the whole time. I really enjoyed the hike and thought it was perfect, but it was a bit much for my nonhiking friend who was really struggling by the end.

By: Jeff	Rating:	Date of Hike: Friday, February 15, 2013
A gorgeous day to hiked up Cedar Run, down the FR, down White Oak Canyon. Two deer, one large woodpecker (mostly black plumage, with a little red on the head, one small striped woodpecker. Few other hikers on this beautiful afternoon. Total time out from and back to Weakley Hollow parking lot: 2 hours 15 minutes - this time it was intentionally a work-out stamina hike & run (a new personal best time).

By: Jeff	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, January 13, 2013
Hiked CR-FR-WOC loop Jan 6 and again today, Jan 13. What a difference... Jan 6 the upper three-fourths of the ridge was covered with hard crusty snow which turned out fairly easy to walk on but made running down the FR difficult. One week Jan 13 later the snow was entirely gone... but much of the trail and rock crossings were muddy and slippery, water levels in the runs was high. Running down the FR was easy due to the melt-softened soil. The upper half of the ridge was sunny and warm while dense, cold fog filled the valleys.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, January 05, 2013
This was one of the tougher hikes we've done in this area. We started off around 9.30 am on a sunny saturday morning at the White Oak Canyon Boundary Trailhead, entering the park from Madison (which was a great idea!). The initial hike to lower whiteoak falls was very easy, getting steeper as we proceeded towards the upper falls. The trail got icy gradually and pretty much all of the trail was covered under ice/snow. The cascades of waterfalls were absolutely breathtaking and totally worth the hike in the ice! We continued onto the whiteoak fireroad/cedar run loop after the whiteoak upper falls and hit the skyline drive after about 2 miles. Having good hiking gear, especially for the snow is highly recommended. It is advisable to pay particular attention to the trail markers at the transition from whiteoak fireroad to cedar run, since the two trails run pretty close in the same direction and it might be easy to get on the wrong trail. The cedar run hike was through a snow covered trail too, may be not as spectacular as whiteoak, but the rock faces make a beautiful landscape. There were fewer cascades and the slopes are steeper. The 3 mile hike down after whiteoak fireroad was pretty challenging, not the easiest hike without appropriate gear. We couldn't have hiked down without the sticks we picked up on the way after whiteoak fireroad. All in all, a great hike! Absolutely worth the challenging icy trail conditions. The gorgeous cascades and white mountain faces were spectacular.

By: K & K	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, December 02, 2012
Great day for a hike. A cloudy, cool morning quickly became a warm, sunny day with excellent weather to enjoy White Oak Canyon. We started from the bottom and made our way up to Skyline Drive. Most of this hike is a path along the stream- not too grueling besides the incline. Since we went later in the fall, the whole path was covered in leaf littler of course, making some sections a little more slick than expected. Otherwise, the rocky soil and tree roots provide a bit of a footing challenge, but nothing insurmountable. Not much to climb up or over besides some fallen trees from this fall's storms. Do note: many trees were still across the path, but most of the rest were cut back. However, some weren't cut back all the way and could present a hazard to those looking down for footing- some think branches and trunks are at head-level. The water wasn't moving too quickly and there didn't seem to be all that much volume, but the various falls along the trail were still quite beautiful. I imagine that everything looks a lot more stunning in the spring. We went up and back instead of taking Cedar Run back to the parking lot, but we'll certainly do that next time- we heard there are some great sights on that side as well. It took us about 4:45 from the lower parking lot to Skyline Drive and back, but we took several breaks to take in the falls and eat lunch, then a rest at the top.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, September 08, 2012
Wonderful hike this morning! Sunny and mild heading up Cedar Run at 8 a.m., a refreshing cool breeze on along the Fire Road, and not many people along WOC ... very humid back at the Weakley Hollow parking lot by 11:15 a.m. Few other hikers, perhaps due to predicted precip which never happened. Park Elves have been doing fall maintenance along the Fire Road with gravel patches and cleared wash-outs (thank you, Martha).

By: Gary	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, September 01, 2012
There are a lot of great reviews of this hike but I did things a little different so I thought I'd add my thoughts as well. I'm 50 years old and just getting back into hiking after about 3 years off. This was about my 5th trip to Shenandoah in the last 2-3 months. I was formerly an avid hiker in upstate NY with frequent trips to the Catskills and Adirondacks. I found the hike to be challenging and although I didn't have trouble finishing, my legs are still reminding me about what I did to them. A friend hiked with me as well and he had not hiked for 18 years (he's now 36). This loop was probably not the best choice to reintroduce ones self to hiking after being out of it for that long. We chose to start the hike on Skyline drive and then descend Cedar Run, take the cutoff trail to WOC, and then climb to the fire road/horse trail and back to our starting point on Skyline Drive. Our distance with these modifications was just over 7 miles. The long drop down Cedar Run was pretty quiet for a Labor Day weekend. The many rocks and roots kept our minds occupied. That sure changed when we got to the WOC trail. It was full of families with kids and dogs out to make the most of the last days of summer. In spite of the crowd, I really enjoyed the beautiful falls all along the climb. I prefer to climb rather than descend steep trails so the counter-clockwise route was a better choice for me. My body handles the strain on my knees much better and I feel more in control of my movement. We had light showers off and on throughout the day and a light fog was setting in as we neared Skyline Drive. With Old Rag in my sights, this was a great training hike to help me get back into shape and enjoy some great waterfalls along the way.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, August 18, 2012
Great Hike. Agree with others that clockwise is the way to go if you are doing the loop. We passed others doing the opposite direction and they were totally gassed coming up the White Oak Caynon as we were coming down. Take lots of fluids with you and a bathing suit if you want to cool off. We hike faster than most and did the whole loop in 4:10, with a 10 minute lunch break and several 10 minute breaks at the waterfalls. The trail was too crowded for my taste, but it was a beautiful day with no humidity. I recommend an early start, the parking lot was packed and we had to find a spot up the access road. A $15 per vehicle fee is required to access the park and Ranger station at the lower trail entrance collects fees and provides directions. They said credit cards are accepted.

By: Hikermom	Rating:	Date of Hike: Wednesday, August 08, 2012
We followed the advice of the other reviewers on this page and hiked the trail clockwise starting with CR. I DEFINITELY recommend that option, unless you want to retain the possibility to bail out part way (because you surely don't want to miss the falls on the WOC). The hike up to Skyline drive is a very long (several hour) trip that basically goes straight up. It's quite pretty but it's your basic uphill trail with plenty of rocks and roots to keep you occupied. There are a couple of falls on the way that give a break from the narrow trail but you will want to plan your schedule so your lunch break is on the way down because that's where the nice spots are. Once you get to the top you have a (very long) slog on the horse/fire trail which is quite boring (although no different from any other horse/fire trail in SNP). I definitely would not want to be doing it going uphill. Once you get to the main WOC, it's very, very pretty. The many, many falls and views are definitely worth the hike. It's a VERY steep downhill, with rock staircases in many places, and much preferable to be going down than up. But, I would NOT want to be going down if the rocks were wet. As a matter of fact, I don't think the WOC should be done with wet rocks either direction. The whole thing, with lunch, really does take 5 hours. We are usually much speedier than the estimates on these websites, but no so much on this one.

By: Rich	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, July 22, 2012
This is a great hike close to DC and away from the throngs at Old Rag. I strongly recommend hiking the loop clockwise. It's approximately a 2,200 ft ascent from the valley floor parking lot to the Hawksbill Gap lot on Skyline Drive -- the highest point on the loop. So while you have to go up regardless of which canyon you start with, the Cedar Run ascent is about 1/3 of the trail while the WOC part plus the fire road link between them are about 2/3 of the trail -- you just feel like you're climbing forever and there's not much scenery on the fire road to take your mind off of it. Also, the views down into the valley on WOC are better viewed when you're hiking down the trail than when you're hiking up and having to look over your shoulder every few minutes. Finally, Cedar Run typically has fewer people while WOC is inundated with the hikers and the curious (families with kids, tourists, grandparents, etc.) who come down from the Skyline Drive parking lot. If you start up Cedar Run, you get relative quiet, and then can hike down into WOC in the later part of the day as people are hiking back up to their cars on the Drive. For dog owners, we took our 8 month old Lab mix with us and -- while there are several steep sections of the trail -- he had no problems navigating them. There are only two or three scramble areas on the entire loop, all small. The rest is made up of easily cimbed rocks and rock stairs. He could access many of the pools in both canyons without any problems, and enjoyed how cool and deep the water was. Finally, having dragged up Old Rag over the last 30 years countless time, I prefer this loop to it. Fewer people, closer proximity to streams hiking both up and down, much larger pools to swim in (which you only get on Old Rag if you come down the back side along the fire road), and dog-friendly.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, July 14, 2012
Very fun hike. Pretty hard as well. The uphill is quite the challenge with a 30 lb pack. I found it fun at some points to walk/climb/scrabble up stream and enjoy some of the rocks and smaller falls. Some very nice spots to lay out on a bald rock and take a nap. I hiked up the Cedar run side and down the White Oak Canyon side. Saw a black bear on the fire road at the between Cedar Run and White Oak trails. I am 2 for 2 as of now. One last week at Old Rag and one this week here. Take lots of water and a lunch is advised. Have fun!

By: Stephen	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, May 27, 2012
This is my first time hiking this trail. I arrived at around 6:50 AM, and there were only a handful of cars in the lot. Note that this was on a Sunday. I did the circuit clockwise, as recommended by many here. I didn't find the climb up too challenging, but it certainly wasn't "easy". It took me 1:26 to get to the horse trail. It's essentially all down hill from there. The horse trail and fire road were nice and relaxing after the climb up. The falls were nice on the way down. The trail was a bit wet, and it is very rocky. I slipped and fell a couple of time, not too bad, but disconcerting, as I don't slip that often. Be careful!!! I made it back to the parking lot in 3:21. Besides a couple of picture breaks I did not stop much. I had high hopes for this hike, as the reviews are quite good, but it was a bit too rocky and slippery for me. It didn't help that it was an the warm and humid side, and there were are lot of mosquitos. Now, I must add this hike really started off on the wrong foot...there was only one port-a-potty in the parking lot, and it was almost filled to the point of overflowing. That is bad, but even worse was the industrial strength air freshener used in there. It lingered in my nose for most of the hike, and I can still smell it, over five hours later...so make sure you take care of your business before you arrive, or be prepared to do it outside...

By: Gary and Brandon	Rating:	Date of Hike: Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Hiked counterclockwise Tuesday, May 22, 2012, starting at the lower parking lot at 8:30. Great hike as described and would do again. Everything wet and more rain threatening. Temperature in the low 70's. The hike up White Oak to the fire road is an amazing artwork of many many many stone steps. Going up this trail was a good choice when wet because coming down when more tired could have been slippery and more hazardous. Bugs were minimal after the rain. Well maintained trail with good water runoff management. Up hill 1.6 miles on fire road was a trudge as expected. Terrain down Cedar Run was also excellent, but mostly a rocky sloped path rather than steps. Some steps though. Many places water runoff followed the trail, but was only surface with no sinking in mud. Lots of rocks for good footing so slipping was not an issue. Sun peaked out for a short time around noon and brought out some more bugs along Cedard Run, but still not too bad. Passed 5 small hiking groups totaling 15 people along the hike and some local kids at the lower swimming hole in Cedar Run. 6 hour trip including many short stops to look at the major and minor falls. Comfortable with 4 to 5 half liter bottles of water and 4 energy bars. Would need more water if it was hot. Water cascading and dripping over the rock cliff faces from the rain was very scenic. Suggest good hiking boots to protect soles of your feet and ankles. This is a rocky hike. We recommend this trail to anyone fit enough for the hike, but did not give it 5 stars because it cannot compare to some of the places we've hiked in the western states. If you're not in shape or don't have time for the circuit, you could start at an upper parking lot and hike the White Oak trail down to the upper falls. Great view.

By: Jeff	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, May 13, 2012
Gorgeous gorgeous day for my favorite hike loop (I agree with Greg, below, about going down the fire road). Started at 8am from Weakley Hollow empty parking lot, got back to car at 11 to full parking lot. Along the trail saw a 4-foot black snake, lots of poison ivy, masses of little grasshoppers on the forest road, and trail maintenance on the WOC side. Didn't do the trail up Hawskbill Summit this time but did it two weeks ago.

By: Mike & Linda	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, May 12, 2012
We did the clockwise (up Cedar Run first) route. This is one of our favorite hikes. Saw a large barred owl along Cedar run, and quite a few folks going down Cedar Run. it was pretty crowded in WOC. My pedometer read 18K+ steps for the hike. No wonder my feet were tired! Mike

By: rsjrny	Rating:	Date of Hike: Friday, April 27, 2012
WOW!!!! Need I say more. Spent 6 hours on this hike and was amazed with every step. Hiking up I hiked a 0.89 mph because I must have stopped every 100 yards to enjoy the falls and pools. This is a must do. Ran into 18 people on the beautiful sunny 65 degree day. I recommend doing this hike during the week if you can.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, April 07, 2012
The best hike I have done on hiking upward. The only downfall is so many people not as many as old rag but still too many for me. I would love to hike this again on a Wednesday when not so many people. Very easy map to read you will never get lost. I did this hike at 10:00 and the parking lot was about ½ full. Took me 5 hrs 31 minutes and I took over 200 pictures.

By: Greg	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, March 11, 2012
Recommend going up Cedar Run and down White Oak Canyon--that way when you are on the fire road interconnector at the top you are going downhill and can make good time as you traverse from one canyon to the other. (The fire road would be a long dull uphill slog if you went the other way around.) Innumerable small waterfalls on the relentlessly uphill Cedar Run stretch, five large waterfalls on the White Oak Canyon stretch. Went one weekend and right back the next weekend, that's how much I like this hike.

By: Jeff	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, February 26, 2012
Started at 8:00 am again, hiked clockwise from the bottom: up Cedar Run, down fire road, down White Oak Canyon back to parking lot. Weather was mild and dry, CR and WOC streams were both low. The downed tree a bit above the first CR water crossing has been removed. Only a few others out hiking (or maybe I just go too early?). Completed loop in 2 hours 50 minutes.

By: Jeff	Rating:	Date of Hike: Friday, February 17, 2012
Started at 8:00 am, hiked clockwise: up Cedar Run, down fire road, down White Oak Canyon. Weather was cool and comfortable. Flat sections of trail were lightly muddy. Water in CR and WOC was low - the two CR crossings were very easy, almost walkable. Had to scramble through the branches of one down tree a short ways above the first CR water crossing. A few patches of old snow and ice on the ground around the Hawksbill parking lot. Being Friday there were few people out, just two (retired-looking) couples on WOC side. Completed loop in 3 hours.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, February 11, 2012
Started out in beautiful sunshine, hiked into snow about halfway up White Oak Canyon Trail, then trekked through near blizzard conditions at the top of Cedar Run. The snow and wind made it treacherous at times, but we were prepared. What a hike and what an experience. The mountian streams and waterfalls are absolutely beautiful on both trails. We actually encountered 7 other hikers, so no, we weren't the only idiots out there. Ashley is a photographer and got some awesome shots, so definitely bring your camera if you do this hike. Oh yeah, there was one other little thing that made this hike so good. I popped a ring and the question at the base of "The Slide". She said YES!!!

By: John	Rating:	Date of Hike: Friday, February 10, 2012
I did White Oak + Hawksbill summit + Cedar Run Hike and this was my second time hiking in Shenandoah national park (first was Old Rag mountain). The trail to the Hawksbill summit from the Skyline drive was covered with about 2 inches of snow but I didn't have any problem. The White Oak waterfalls were awesome and I'm glad I did the hawksbill hiking too because the view from the summit was great. I got lost once at a Cedar Run water crossing and I didn't find Cedar Run as exciting as White Oak Canyon. I saw only 4 groups of people the whole trip and I can't imagine doing this on weekends with crowds because the trails are narrow.

By: Jeff W.	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, November 05, 2011
White Oak Canyon section of the trail was very scenic with waterfalls and a nice cliff view near the top. This portion of the hike wasn't difficult but was very populated with many large groups. Amazingly enough, for the length of this hike, I didn't even see the first sign of wildlife which i would attribute to the crowds of people. This section would be a 4. The Cedar Run portion is really where the challenges lie. The varied terrain, rocks, log and rock crossings and the steep decents would rank a 5 but it was well worth it. This hike has something for everyone. I still can't believe how many people I encounter with nothing more than a 16oz water bottle on hikes such as this. Be prepared and you will enjoy this hike.

By: Adam Freeman	Rating:	Date of Hike: Monday, October 10, 2011
Almost 25 years since the last time hiking the Cedar Run - White Oak Canyon loop - and what a great hike it still is! No need for any duplication of spelling out all of the fantastic views, water features, hazards and surprises - everything about this classic old hike makes it one of the best to visit in the SNP. From the perspective of my last trek, around 1987: In the peak summer heat of the '80s, our small group encountered very little water - I would describe it as a trickle on Cedar Run, not much more on the White Oak side either. What a difference from the drought of that year to what we experienced recently! Water volume was strong, the "chute" sections of Cedar Run were thundering! IIRC, Gypsy Moths had been making an impact as far as defoliation of the canopy at the time - I seem to recall the dry "rain" of Gypsy Moth scat along the hike. Thankful for their disappearance - the fall leaf show was tremendous! Something I was unable to read mention of on this thread was whether any other hike enthusiasts made any "archaeological" discoveries along the way - evidence of any era of pre-park dwellers. Besides the usual sightings of rock walls, scattered stone structural foundations, and mountain turnpikes my wife and I fairly easily came across a site of interest along the Skyland-Big Meadows horse trail. We ran this hike clockwise from Cedar Run, and in an area along the White Oak Fire Road, discovered what appeared to be a trash dump. I took pictures of what was there - and based on the remains, it may have been either the scattered remnants of a mountain home or CCC work campsite - or both. Broken fragments of china, stove pipe sections, tin cans, cast-iron stove, chunks of coal, and '30s era glass "pop" and liquor bottles - and the familiar rusted-out washbasins - great material to document on film! After doing some internet work at home, the china date code indicated February, 1937. This would have to have been from CCC or SNP workers, as I would bet the "scattered kitchen" items were all from about 1938-40. I hope that everyone who hikes and has an interest in the history of the area takes pictures of their finds - and always leaves such sites intact for others to interpret and enjoy!

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, October 09, 2011
It was our first time hiking in the Shenandoah and we picked this trail because of all the waterfalls that it promised us we would see. I was also very glad to find this website as the coordinates of the parking lot helped very much in guiding us to the right place, as well as the very detailed direction that this site offered. Without it, we would probably get lost for sure. The hike was very strenuous to us beginners, especially the steep climb up to the top overlook of the WOC falls. The hike down was also a bit problematic as well, since it was continuously downhill and put a lot of pressure on our knees. Halfway down we realized why so many hikers whom we passed had canes. There were some tricky/slippery spots along Cedar Run, so be careful when you make your way down. While on our way up, we asked hikers who were going the opposite direction of us how far the main overlook was. And also how far did we have before we made the turn into Cedar Run. One group said that they never went all around the loop before, but they gathered it was a longer hike than to just turn around and head back and suggested that we did that. They meant well, but we were glad we didn't follow their advice, as the hike down Cedar Run was a lot of fun as you get to skip around rocks across streams three times as well as witness "The Slide" :)

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, September 10, 2011
This was an excellent hike!! I was expecting to get turned around a bit due to others posting they got turned around, but the trails were very well marked and the narrative on this site is spot on. This is only my second hike in the area (the first being Old Rag) so I don't know how the falls usually look, but the water was running solidly and COLD. My 8 year old did this with me and jumped in the lower falls of White Oak Run, afterward complaining, "I can't feel my ears!" There were numerous people on both the white oak trail and cedar run, but didn't see anyone on the horse trail. The only problems I ran across were a couple of sections of the cedar run trail near "The Slide" that looked washed out from the recent rain...I took a couple of spills there so be careful. Overall...Awesome!!! :)

By: WV Hiker	Rating:	Date of Hike: Thursday, August 25, 2011
This was a nice hike and had the trail all to myself, I made a variation and hiked white Oak Canyon-Limerlost-Cresent Rock-Cedar Run which I think made it about 11 miles. The rocks were a bit slippery but thats to be expected after the rain we got but I wanted to make sure I did this hike when the creek was flowing good. The Cedar rock trail was in pretty bad shape compared to the other trails so be prepared to take your time coming down it. I ran into a bear and her to cubs and saw some deer so the wildlife viewing was nice.

By: Emily	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, July 31, 2011
I'm an experienced hiker. I read up on this trail ahead of time and checked in with the rangers. Started on WOC. While the scenery was beautiful, I would forewarn hikers that the trails are not as clearly marked as I would like and the map from the ranger station leaves some interchanges unexplained. Rangers called this site a loop, but we missed the change to cedar run heading down, because its not so much a loop as two separate trails. Since the switch from the WOC to the fire road was not clearly (or at all) marked but followed instinctually without problems, we proceeded the same when looking for cedar run thinking based on the map and experience that continuing would lead us to the trail back to the car and took a pretty long detour down the horse trail instead and ran out of steam around mile 10. this is where we came face to face with a beautiful deer and saw two bears not too far off parallel to the trail. without the detour this would have been manageable, so if you try the same "loop" watch out for that tricky trail switch, even after we back tracked we didn't find it. rangers said it happens often that people miss that switch and that you need head to the road to start the cedar run trail. by the time we got back to our car, the ~8 mile hike was probably more like 15! not what we had planned for the day. also spotted a rattle snake on WOC.

By: DavidZ	Rating:	Date of Hike: Monday, July 18, 2011
Started at 8am up cedar run, only 1 other car in lot. Really enjoyed the pretty tough and long climb up cedar run, the falls are very nice and saw a bear about 30 feet away above me off left side of trail. He initially ran off but then stopped and was watching me. I slowly moved off and we both went about our business. The horse trail is all downhill in this direction, must be tough going the other way. Of course WOC is awesome, swam in two places on the way down, the cold mountain water is amazing. I think clockwise is better if you start early,,,can cool down and take you time coming down WOC. This is my favorite hike in SNP

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Wow this hike was fantastic. I reversed the order and went up Cedar Run and down White Oak, just to make the route finding a little more interesting. When I got to the top of Cedar Run I crossed over Skyline Drive and tacked on the short climb up to Hawksbill, highest point in Shenandoah, just for kicks, for a total of almost 3000 thigh-burning heart-pumping feet of elevation gain. On the way down the falls and scenery in White Oak are awesome, and of course this is where you see a lot more people. In addition to the usual litter saw not one but two pairs of boxer shorts drying on rocks in the sun. People, its bad enough you gotta leave your cigarette butts and copenhagen cans on the trail, but your friggin underwear? C'mon. But this was a small beef, not enough to take away from a great hike. Oh, and one more beef. A squashed goose on Berry Hollow road just beyond the parking lot. Probably the same idiot that left his underwear on the trail cant take the time to swerve around a slow dumb bird.

By: Bob Swart	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, June 25, 2011
Beautiful hike today. Went up Cedar Run and then across to White Oak Canyon. Not too many folks on Cedar Run Trail or on the Fire road. Waterfalls and pools were beautiful! Saw a few folks on Cedar Run, lots on White Oak. Weather was good, not too hot. Water level seemed normal in some posts, low in others.

By: Jessica Crum	Rating:	Date of Hike: Friday, June 17, 2011
Easy to get lost with all the forks and hard to understand their mini map. It would be better if they installed a park trooper guy ever half a mile to give you lemonade, trail mix and an inspiration quote. satan personally hand crafted this hike.

By: Trail Princess	Rating:	Date of Hike: Thursday, June 16, 2011
This hike was by far the best hike I've been on thus far. Not only was it beautiful, but it was a great challenge the first 2/3 of the way. I did get a little lost, only because I veered right instead of left at one point, but met up with someone who had a better map and he set me straight and called me a Trail Princess - hence the name - because I don't mind getting lost hiking. I went by myself and had no problem other than the small misstep. Including getting lost a couple miles in the wrong direction, the hike took me 5 hours exactly. If you are not a fan of steep hills upwards, you will not enjoy this hike. I found myself having trouble leaving, that's how much I loved it. I was a little disappointed that it was over when it was - I suggest this hike to anyone who calls themselves a hiking enthusiast.

By: Mike	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, May 29, 2011
We didn't do the complete hike, just went to the White Oak Lower falls today. It was a great hike and got a lot of good photos. The hike was good and even the portion just before the falls wasn't bad. The falls are great but too many people where on the trail. It was ridiculous trying to leave the parking lot. We where third in line trying to leave and had to wait for people trying to come in to back back down the road until they could find a spot to get off the road so people leaving could get by! The falls where worth it but the traffic not so good. Need to go very early or very late.

By: Paul	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, May 28, 2011
Started out from Skyline Drive at about 10:30 under changing skies. It was a cool humid day for most of this hike. We had no trouble finding the trailhead, as it was right in front of our car at the Hawksbill Gap parking area. We took the Cedar Run trail down, with the trail becoming more and more populous the closer we got to the falls and the lower parking area. The scenery is awesome on the Cedar Run trail, and, as noted in many reviews, the trail is steep and the footing is precarious in spots. On the way down we took time to check out a barred owl that flew a short distance away at our approach. We were very happy with the relative solitude, about what you would expect for a holiday weekend. When we got to the lower falls to eat lunch there were numerous people wading in the water, and a lot of people with dogs, many of them appropriately leashed, but not all. One person was carrying his dog, due to a report of a snake on the trail. After lunch we took the blissfully smooth and empty link trail over to WOC and the crowds. The WOC falls are great, and there was plenty of opportunity to view them, though we were never alone here. The upward journey on this trail was strenuous after picking our way down the Cedar Run trail. When we reached the top we were able to soak our feet in the numbingly cold water above the upper falls before embarking on the last leg of the hike, a long uphill walk on the WOC Fire Road/horse trail to the Cedar Run trailhead. Though this part of the hike is not rugged, it is still a bit tiring after climbing the WOC trail. We will do this trail again on a weekday or in cold weather due to the popularity of the WOC falls. Next time, we'll start out in the lower parking area and climb the Cedar Run trail and then proceed downhill from the top of the Cedar Run trail. All in all it was a strenuous six hours, but worth it for the scenery, the wildlife and the constant sound of water.

By: Donna	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, May 28, 2011
The good: The scenery is spectacular and I absolutely loved all of the waterfalls. The trail was not as crowded as I had expected it to be. Everyone we encountered on the hike was nice. My children loved it and even my 9 year old was able to navigate through the rocks and the trail without a problem. The not-so-good: It was a lot more difficult for me than I expected and I injured my knee on my way down. Also, at the end of our hike, in between the Cedar Run Falls and the parking lot, the trail forks. BOTH trails have blue paint on the trees and we got confused as to which trail to take. Unfortunately, two of our children turned to the left and got on the Cedar Run Falls link trail instead of going to the right which would have taken them to the parking lot. It got dark, they were lost and we had to call the Park Rangers to help us find them. They were quickly found, all was well...But it is confusing at that fork in the trail.

By: Rose	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, May 22, 2011
Went today around 9am, hoping the road was fixed. The streams are very high, but the road is now only blocked by the last stream before the ranger station. (This is between the upper parking lot where the portapotties are and the lower parking lot just after the turnoff from Weakley Hollow Rd.) So we parked in the lower spaces and went right up from there (lots of people also just drove through the stream-covered part of the road to the upper parking lot... it was only ankle-deep). WOC trail was packed, but no one was on the horse trail and we saw a bear cub!! Also a deer at close range and hundreds of tiger swallowtail butterflies. The upside to all the high water (tons of rain) was that the falls were all spectacular. Several brave people swimming in the frigid water of Cedar Run. Stream crossings were difficult... I brought some water shoes and was VERY glad I had.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, May 22, 2011
I took Cedar Run up and the White Oak Canyon Trail down. Cedar Run is less eventful and I was glad I saved the large falls for last. It's a steep hike up, but once you reach the Horse Trail, the rest of the way is down hill. Some of the crossings were tough and the water was ice cold. Bring water shoes! I made the mistake of putting my hiking boots on right out of the car and had to cross ankle deep water while crossing over to the upper parking lot. My feet were soaked for the remainder of the hike until I gave in and put my chacos on, which I wouldn't recommend while going down White Oak Canyon. It was very slippery, steep, and mostly rock. If it's possible, try going on a weekday, The trail was absolutely packed. Cedar Run was less busy, but that may have been because I hiked it earlier in the day. USE THE PORTAPOTTY BEFORE YOU LEAVE! You won't have much of a chance for privacy on the trail except the Horse Trail. The sound of rushing water certainly doesn't help either. Also, be careful of the huge pothole right before you reach the white oak canyon parking lot. You do not want to hit it going 35 mph. It covers the left side of the road when entering the lot and it's unavoidable, so take it slow!

By: Coree	Rating:	Date of Hike: Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Went to go hike and the entire road to the parking lot is washed out. No way you could get a car across it and I wasn't going to walk through the high water -- really strong current. Probably won't be able to get through there for the next couple days.

By: Dawn	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, April 10, 2011
Wow! Gorgeous and challenging trails. If you haven't been here before, please make sure you come prepared! Loved having our dogs with us and meeting so many people along the way.

By: Roscoe	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, April 03, 2011
This is a heck of a hike. I enjoyed doing it at a fast pace to see what kind of shape I was in. I went counterclockwise because I like seeing the falls first. Not as much water as I had hoped for this time of year -- I guess there hasn't been much snow this Winter. But still good stuff. Cedar Run is really a fun challenge -- you have to watch every step coming down because it's so steep. Not recommended if you have bad knees, that's for sure. The snow is gone except for the upper part of the fire road (and even there, it's very minimal and will probably be gone entirely in a few days).

By: Indiana Jones	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, March 26, 2011
starting from the non-skyline drive parking lot, if you do this loop counterclockwise all the great falls are on the right side trail...(must be like 20 of them!!!).....on the left side of the loop there is the slide and about 2 or 3 LOG river crossings....(make sure u can do this!!) or if you dont mind slipper rocks and getting a little wet you can walk right through them. me, i stayed nice and dry and scooted on the logs. you could make this a much longer hike by going counterclockwise, and where the yellow and blue trail meets, keep going on blue 3 miles up to the upper skyline drive intersection. then walk to the other skyline drive parking lot and take the blue trail back. that should add about 6 miles or so making it a much bigger loop. started out late and didnt get to complete the bigger loop, but did get to complete the loop presented here and explore a little more than that. no wildlife whatsoever on this day. crowded with church groups. good day. good times. this hike was more strenuous than old rag.... as half of old rag is a horse trail. lots of stair stepping here.. much more than old rag. old rag is alot more climging however. there is a great "wall face" to free climb for the serious climber located about 1-1.5 clicks up the right side trail. :-)

By: Jeff	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, March 20, 2011
Early start - 7:20 a.m. Up Cedar Run. Chilly but the sun came up by the second water crossing. No other hikers on C.R. or Forest Road. Going down WOC, met three groups and a few couples with dogs (on leashes - thank you) coming up. No flowers or budding trees yet.

By: Pat Palmer (Hagen)	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, February 20, 2011
The sheer amount of cascades and waterfalls was stunning. There are only a couple of things keeping me from giving five stars. One was the lack of views. I'd imagine in summer when everything's all leafed out, there are none whatsoever. The other minor thing is, in the future, I'd do the reverse and start with Cedar Run. The little upturns on the Cedar Run Trail as you're coming down can be a bummer if you're getting tired. I just missed the ice by a couple days, thanks to the warm spell we just had. When frozen up, I bet it's an ice climbers paradise.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, February 05, 2011
http://www.meetup.com/hiking-162/photos/1252018/21263540/ After I returned from hiking this in January, I immediately created a Meet up to hike it again. Look at our pictures to see why, for the experienced hiker, you absolutely must put this on your calendar while there is still ice to traverse. 15 of us had the time of our life first hiking up Cedar Run to Skyline on the ice and then forming a human chain to hike across the frozen waterfalls along the Appalachian Trail before we headed back down White Oak Canyon to enjoy the falls shrouded in fog. There is only one tricky turn. Hike about 2 miles on the AT. Once you see a cement post & Skyline Drive overlook above, watch for a a sharp left turn. Bushwhack right towards Skyline Drive which you can see. On Skyline Drive you should see a sign to Limberlost. Follow Old Rag Fire Road a short distance to White Oak Canyon Trail rgiht turn. Hike is 10 miles (12 if you include Hawksbill Peak when you first cross Skyline). Micro spikes are a must Yak Trax & Stabalizers were not enough. Think I may have to do this again before the ice melts.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, January 15, 2011
Spectacular ice formations both along the trail & the waterfalls. Tried a more challenging version of this hike totaling about 13 miles and 3,000'+ elevation gain. We also started at the bottom of the valley but headed up Cedar Run to Skyline Drive, crossed the road & checked out Hawksbill Peak (highest in the park) then took the Appalachian Trail where we had to bushwack 5+ times around huge ice blocks on the trail before heading down White Oak Canyon to watch others climb the ice. A winter hike, regardless of distance, not to be missed. Spectacular!!!!

By: breathtaking	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, November 28, 2010
Absolutely amazing. Saw maybe 4 small groups out in total, but the parking lot was packed when we got back to it. I guess we left early enough--around 11ish on a Sunday morning--to put us in front of the pack. We did not have any expectations and found it absolutely breathtaking. Having the leaves down added to what you can see. The amount of cascades, their volume of water, their heigth were all suprising. We did Doyles Falls a few months ago and saw nothing but trickles. NOT the case today. Stunningly beautiful. Liked it better than Old Rag. Had to cross the stream twice without bridges and that was a bit scary with a big rambunctious dog on a leash and a 9 year old, but added to the thrill. Watch out for ice, though, as quite a bit was accumulating and made steep downhill sections a bit treacherous. And bring lots of layers. We went from hiking in t-shirts uphill on sunny oak canyon trail to wearing our winter coats, gloves, and hats on the shaded downhill cedar run section. Took us five hours to do the 8 miles with a lot of rests with our child and stopping for lunch.

By: Jeff	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, November 06, 2010
Probably my favorite day hike... done Cedar Run-Forest Road-White Oak Canyon many times and usually go at a normal pace to "smell the roses." But today set out early to try to hike quickly as a workout challenge. So many others also out especially backpackers, never saw so many backpackers in here. Great day for a fall hike, lots of gorgeous red and gold foliage! And set a new personal best time: from Weakley Hollow (P) parking lot up Cedar Run, along the fire road, and down White Oak Canyon back to (P) in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

By: BethieP	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, October 10, 2010
This is a beautiful hike. None of the photos can do the waterfalls justice! Something to note though, if you enter from the Weakley Hollow parking area, the SNP Rangers at the trailhead charge you $7 per person to get onto the White Oak Canyon trail. While I didn't balk since I know the money goes to a good cause, it did take me offguard. This was definitely worth the drive from the DC metro area. I could see how this could get overly crowded, particularly on hot summer days. While we encountered quite a few people, it wasn't packed this beautiful Sunday. I would definitely do this hike again.

By: KB	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, August 28, 2010
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:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Thursday, July 15, 2010
Wow what an experience. My girlfriend and i hiked 18 miles... not a circuit trail to bring you back around was apparantly closed 2 years ago dont know if thats true but we tried it all parked at snp no trail to bring you back around saw 2 black bear one was skiddish but the first was stalking us about to charge my girlfriend freaked out. we got to the end of the fireroad and that was when we realized it wasnt a circuit it was right after we were about to be prey so my girlfriend didnt wanna go back in and go past the bear again she called the police lol and then transferred us to the pak ranger but they didnt know where we were to get us so i told her that we had to go back in and 30 mins later we did and walked back 5 miles and camped just before dark and finished bright and early in the A.M. and i did it all with no sleep at all the night before we wnet (poker lol) but overall wouldnt trade that experience for anything and now am about to be hunting nearby at rapidan for bear lol

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!

By: Nick McLennan	Rating:	Date of Hike: Thursday, June 03, 2010
Steller hike is all I have to say about this one. The trail is wide and very manageable right to falls. The great thing about the first set of falls is there are so many swimming holes along the way, so on a hot day cooling off is not a problem. I climbed all the way to the top of the first set of falls taking pictures and video along the way. When I was done cooling off at the top, the sky opened up and lightening and thunder roared through the sky, so I will have to wait another day to go to the upper falls. All in all a great day, hightly recommend.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, May 15, 2010
What a beautiful hike, however it kicked our butts! My fiance and I tackled this beast on Saturday. Our athletic hubris (sure we're in our early thirties and have run a couple of marathons) got the best of us. We went up WOC and down Cendar Run Creek. I would advise heading up WOC first as you can spend more time in the onset admiring the falls. If you set out to do this 8.2 trek be prepared for an extremely strenuous adventure. As mentioned by a reviewer below (BTW thanks), use these directions to the WOC parking lot "I suggest Sperryville .7mi , right @ 231 9.9 mi (go past Old Rag turns), right @ 643 (brown White Oak Canyon sign & a store @ turn) 4.3 mi, right @ 600 Weakly Hollow Rd (brown White Oak Canyon sign) 3.7 mi to parking lot." I feel bad for the suckers that parked at the "other" parking lot off of Skyline Drive with the intention of doing the 8.2 circuit, yikes. Starting from the WOC is a more enjoyable experience. Remember forewarned is fairwarned. Overall a fanstastic must for any trail enthusiast.

By: M	Rating:	Date of Hike: Tuesday, April 20, 2010
I've heard a lot about WOC over the years, but today was the first time I've had a chance to get out there. I followed the route as described and found it to be a great hike, though the ruggedness of Cedar Run combined with frequent muddy trails made it tricky. It's rare that I find the uphill portion of a hike easier than the downhill, but the Cedar Run Trail was definitely tougher than the way up. I was surprised that the hike actually only took 3.75 hours - I think 5 is a liberal estimate. If you just want a nice day seeing some waterfalls, a quick hike from 600 to the lowest falls in WOC would still be a good reward... I would definitely spend more time on the WOC side than the Cedar Run side comparing views and overall experience. Beautiful day, perfect weather, and overall a great experience. Given the reasonably equivalent difficulty and length, most days I think I would choose Old Rag over this since I find the views and scramble to be a better reward than the waterfalls. However, If I'm in the mood for waterfalls and rushing water, I can't think of a better trail - Great experience, I'm sure I'll be back.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Friday, April 16, 2010
What a beautiful hike! We were one of the unfortunate people that started the hike from the top of skyline drive and hiked down into the waterfalls. There were numerous signs warning not to hike beyond your limits by hiking all the way down to the lower falls. Those signs were right. Saving the climb till the end was not any fun! But the waterfalls were sure worth it. The upper falls were awesome falling 86 feet to the bottom and the lower falls you could walk right up to the base of it. Just be careful if you do. We saw three northern water snakes sunning themselves on the rocks. Overall, great hike... just start from the bottom.

By: John Smith	Rating:	Date of Hike: Monday, April 12, 2010
A very nice hike, but there was an awful lot of trash on the trail, some of which we hiked out for the scumbags. Also, a word to the wise -- stick w/ your Church Group ladies w/ kids -- especially if you have no idea where you are going, don't have a map, and clearly brough very little water. I hope you all made it out alive.

By: Molly	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, March 21, 2010
This is a truly stunning hike, even in the very early spring when there really isn't any green to speak of. Every time I came to another waterfall, I thought "ok this is the 'big one,'" then I'd come to another set of falls and think, "ok, maybe this one is it," and then I'd come to an even more spectacular waterfall! The steeper sections are nicely spread out with flat or less steep bits in between. The upper part that connects from the White Oak trail to the Cedar Trail is a bit boring, but that's only about an hour out of the whole thing. I will definitely be back for more later in the season. This will be a new favorite for me!

By: misha	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, March 07, 2010
Hiked the described route clockwise and added a loop to the top of Hawksbill and around it. There was 3-4 ft of snow in some places, so showshoes would have helped. Winter boots are a must. It was comfortably warm, but so far this winter wonderland has not turned into watery mess.

By: Hikegirl78	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, March 06, 2010
Great hike! We did the entire White Oak/Cedar Run loop on Sat in a counter clock wise direction. The White Oak side was easily manageable despite some patches of snow. The Cedar Run side was a different story! There was so much snow it took us over an hour to go 1.6 miles on the fire road (from the footbridge to the fire road/trail split)! I could have used a pair of snowshoes! It would have been a miserable hike if it were not for the super sunny skies and 50 degree temps all day. Even the hearty golden retrievers were looking at me wondering "What in the world are we doing in all this snow?" The fire road was covered in snow but manageable with patience. The decent down the trail back to the parking lot was slippery and difficult to navigate in some sections. It can be done, just not rushed. Overall we enjoyed the waterfalls and all the water. Makes me wish for spring to hurry up!

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, February 28, 2010
http://www.meetup.com/CharityHikers/calendar/12717071/ Snow sure makes a difference. Hats off to Kyle & Michael who did the entire trail counterclockwise in 5 hours. They said Cedar Run was very slippery & slushy. Jennifer & I made it to the top of White Oak Canyon and decided we'd had enough exercise so turned around. All of had hiking shoes/boots. I was the only one with yaktrax. Many had been here and there were a number of parking spots.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, February 28, 2010
Kyle and I completed the full circuit, ascending White Oak Canyon and descending Cedar Run in about five hours. Of the two, White Oak is in much better shape. There was a lot more snow along the Cedar Run trail (the little canyon gets less sun, I think), and the combination of steep trails and slushy snow made the descent quite slippery. I believe I must've fallen five or six times, and I was very happy to have had my poles, especially at the crossings. I did wish I had brough my yaktrax along. I definitely had a few moments when I was wondering how I was going to find footing heading down something steep. Overall, White Oak was beautiful in the snow and the ice, but Cedar Run is pretty treacherous. It would not be too difficult for a hiker to get injured. Hiking up Cedar Run would probably be advantageous since the Whiteoak trail had less hazardous conditions.

By: Sam and Thunder	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, February 21, 2010
Took a friend new to hiking today and the scenery of snow and ice on the falls didn't disappoint. Saw several deer and a unlucky turkey that had been something's lunch. We tried to go up Cedar Run trail, but with about 2 feet of snow drifted across the path and only a set of ski tracks, we turned around and took the spur trail over to WhiteOak canyon. It was much easier on packed, but slushy snow. We talked to a couple at the lookout near the foot bridge who was going to try and go down Cedar Run. I was afraid of trying to go down this way today and of trying to explain to my wife why I was late for dinner, so just turned around and went back down Whiteoak canyon to the parking lot.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, January 30, 2010
This was the first winter hike for the "Stanley Adventure Hiking Team" Conditions at the White Oak Canyon Trail head parking lot: 12 degrees, 3 inches of fresh snow. Wind: none (thankfully. White Oak canyon is pretty consistent uphill trek. The conditions made it MUCH less than ideal. The snow and ice cover required every step to be planned in the rough areas. The falls in the winter are a site to see. Ice covering everywhere the water was splashing, freezing things in place. We took a lunch break near upper falls where the where the bridge crosses the stream (Robinson River) Caution, there are two trails at this point, The White Oak Canyon trail, and the White Oak Fire Road. The published White Oak Canyon-Cedar Run hike requires you to take the left at this intersection onto the fire road. (Don't ask us how we know this, we won't tell) The fire road is wide and much better suited for a winter hike than the rocky trail. You continue to gain elevation until you come within view on Skyline drive, where you turn south onto the Cedar Run trail. At the 5 hour mark we start the downhill leg of the hike. At times the trail is VERY narrow and in the winter conditions, trekking poles are a must. A number of times, the poles were the only thing that stopped a slide in to the icy waters of Cedar Run. It's surprising how few pictures you take when you are worried about taking an unwanted winter swim. To say it was adventure coming down is an understatement. There are two stream crossings, and you study every step you are going to take, because mistakes here are unforgiving. We averaged 1.1 mph for the entire hike with rest breaks and lunch. Could we have done it faster, sure, but safety was more of a concern, rather than speed. I can't wait to take this hike again in the spring. Would I do it again in the winter??? I think so, but my brain may have frozen a little too!

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, January 17, 2010
Weather was horrible today. 35 degrees, gusting winds, rain, and fog on top of about 4-6inches of snow, ice, and slush. Was trying to make up my mind about getting out of the vehicle at all and this big white and black dog appeared out of the fog. I read the tags and the dog was from the bottom of the mtn near nethers. Decided the dog was up for the hike so why shouldnt I be... Down the trail we went, the dog in the lead. He knew all of the good view points and ended up being quite the guide. The trail was gorgeous after we dropped out of the dense fog. So much ice covered the canyon walls. Truely worth every slip and slide moment! The dog followed me half way back up the White oak canyon trail then turned to go home. I finished the hike by myself and ended up soaking wet by the time I made it back to my vehicle. This was an amazing chance to see the drive with snow and ice all over the canyons. I dont think I will venture out again in those conditions. The trail would be fairly demanding in good weather. The slush really took its toll on the dawgs today! Cant wait to do it again!

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, January 16, 2010
http://hiking.meetup.com/162/calendar/12308534/ 9 hikers went up Cedar Run (2 hours) & down White Oak Canyon. Going up was a definite workout, but it gave us the opportunity to leisurely enjoy the somewhat frozen waterfalls on our way down. Hike took us a bit over 4 hours because we stopped often on our way down White Oak Canyon. Enjoy our pictures on this link.

By: misha	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, November 21, 2009
Plenty of water, spectacular waterfalls, and a lot of people. I highly recommend bushwacking up Negro Run as there is a waterfall there too.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, November 14, 2009
Just got home after a grueling, but enjoyable hike. When I arrived at White Oak Canyon, the water rushing over the roadway to the upper parking area gave me pause. Do I drive my car through the 3" water or park in the lower lot and hike across the water? I didn't have the clearance that the two trucks already in the upper lot had, but took my chances and soon was in boots and heading up the canyon. Cloud-filtered sun soon gave way to full sun and blue skies and I took off my long sleeved shirt and made the climb in shorts and T-shirt. The temperature was around 60. I was glad I was wearing waterproof boots as I found myself splashing along wet paths and even having to step onto a submerged rock to continue up the steep and often slippery trail. The sun drenched vistas and thundering waterfalls made the climb more than worthwhile as there was many times more water cascading through the canyon than I had seen on 3 previous climbs. At the top of the upper falls I was unable to cross on the rocks and went farther up the trail to cross on the bridge. From the bridge I turned right, not left and wound up following the creek all the way to Limberlost Trail which like most of the climb beyond the bridge was shrouded in fog. With my long sleeved shirt back on I headed south on Crescent Trail and ended up at Crescent Overlook where the fog was so thick that try as I might, I couldn't find access to the Appalachian Trail to take me to Hawksbill. So I sat on the wall in the empty overlook, pulled on my hooded jacket and ate my lunch, hearing, but not seeing the occasional car on the Parkway. After lunch I headed down through woods in hopes of intersecting with the AT but realizing that should I become injured off trail, I might not be found for weeks, so I climbed back to the Parkway and followed it south. I eventually entered a fire road and picked up the yellow blaze to its intersection with Cedar Run and began a very difficult downhill hike. Cedar Run is more rugged than Oak Creek Canyon and presents a number of challenges including two creek crossings that are usually not a big deal. Today they were major obstacles for me. I arrived above the upper crossing and watched as a hiker crawled 20 feet across a slippery dead trunk five feet above the swirling water to an island and then tried almost successfully to cross the last 10 feet on another log. Coming off the log he slipped on a wet rock and got one boot into the water. I decided to take my chances on rocks farther upstream, knowing that one of the steps would have to be on a rounded rock two inches under raging waters. Though my poles helped steady me across the creek, I lost my footing and my one boot went under. Below the fog the warm sun made me forget about my wet foot as I continued to pick my way slowly over soggy portions of trail and wet slippery rocks. I was glad that I was alone, because few of the hikers I know would have wanted to deal with this very difficult descent. At the lower crossing, about a mile from the parking lot, I searched for ten minutes to find a suitable crossing, but in the end, joined two of only four hikers I encountered on the trail and waded, knee deep 20 feet across the creek where the double blue markers show the way. On previous hikes I have been able to cross without getting my boots wet, but not today. I sloshed to the car, changed clothes and pulled out of the parking lot at 4:00 p.m. dragging my car bottom as I drove through the creek to the lower lot and out to Rt. 600. I'm 63 and do a lot of biking, but tonight my knees are reminding me that, I hadn't been on a trail since vacationing in Sedona a year ago. Good thing I have lots of photos and videos to remind me how enjoyable this strenuous hike really was.

By: Willow	Rating:	Date of Hike: Friday, September 04, 2009
This was a great hike. My boyfriend and I went on a Friday morning and we hardly ran into anybody. The streams were pretty low at this time of the year (especially Cedar Run) but the solitude was nice. I'm planning on coming back again in the spring. Even though the water was low there were still some great views! We didn't run into much wildlife on the trail but as we were driving away from the parking lot at the end we almost hit a blackbear in the middle of the road!

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Monday, August 17, 2009
Wow!...what a grueling day! What we expected to be a 7.9 mile hike turned into about a 15 mile, 10 hour marathon! My girlfriend and I entered the trail at the White Oak Canyon parking lot at mile marker 42.6 off Skyline Drive around 7am. Google maps led us to the Skyline Drive entrance and we were unaware that there was a much more user-friendly entrance at the bottom of the canyon. The lower entrance leads to a much easier hike. Not realizing that we were adding several miles to our hike by using the Skyline Drive entrance, we headed down the White Oak Canyon trail. About a mile down the trail we saw two doe off to the right of us. We continued down the long, gradual sloping White Oak trail stopping to take photos along the way, for some blister treatment and to play in one of the pools for a while. At the bottom of the canyon we took the turn up the Cedar Run trail. When hiking up the Cedar Run trail…well, it basically consists of a very exhausting, steep, rocky, slow-going, hike for three miles. The temperature was close to 90 degrees and this part of the hike took it’s toll on us. I began to suffer from heatstroke about midway up. Fortunately, there are several cold mountain water pools along the way and my body temperature returned to normal pretty quickly after dunking my head in a few times. I also wet down a towel that I would wrap around my neck occasionally as we took breaks on the upward climb. There is an upward section that is currently being blocked by two fallen trees so just be careful traversing this part of the trail, as it is near the rocky edge of the falls. On one of our breaks, as we were sitting there quietly, an eight point buck came out of the woods and passed right by us on the trail…it was literally five feet away from us as it went by. It never ceases to amaze me how relaxed some of these animals are around people. Continuing our way up Cedar Run, we did hit a parking lot on Skyline Drive, but it wasn’t ours so we continued back and headed east on the horse trail/fire road. This ended up taking us back down into the canyon. We then began another uphill hike out of the canyon, back to our original parking lot. On the way up we did see a mother bear along with her two little cubs. She gave us a quick look and then the group headed in the opposite direction. The rest of our hike was uneventful and we were pretty exhausted when we finally reached the car at 5pm. The wildlife on this trail was wonderful and the hike was very challenging to say the least! We hiked Old Rag a couple of days ago and I personally felt that this was more challenging than Old Rag primarily due to the hiking conditions of the day and the length of this hike. (don’t take Old Rag lightly though!) I would suggest using the lower level entrance for this trail...you will have a more enjoyable hike as a result.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, July 05, 2009
A great hike and a great adventure . . . spectacular views and a tough, wet and slippery hike down Cedar Run . . . in the dark! My new trail dog broke free of his leash at the intersection of Cedar Run just below the Hawksbill Gap parking lot and chased a deer toward the Rose River loop a few miles south, so I ended up hiking the Rose River loop in addition to WOCR. Finally at 8:30PM in the dusk, I started down Cedar Run with my trusty maglite in hand. Thirty feet into the woods a black bear (around 250 lbs. or so) stood on its hind legs about 40 feet away (it felt like 5 feet). Made it back to the lower parking lot at 11:12PM. I drove back up today (7/6/09) to find my dog at the Skyline Drive stables . . . he'd been turned in by a couple of kind AT hikers! Now we're both looking forward to hiking WOCR again in full daylight.

By: mijoy	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, June 06, 2009
Hiked this trail from the Hawksbill parking area. Went down Cedar Falls first then came up and around. Going down the Cedar Falls trail took a few hours as with all the rain it was VERY wet and slippery. The views of the falls were spectacular. Definately not a hike for the beginner.

By: tdj	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, May 31, 2009
We hiked the circuit counter-clockwise starting at Hawksbill Gap. We had a huge thunderstorm the night before which made the Cedar Run crossings a little more challenging. The rocky Cedar Run trail was very slippery, also. The constant sound of the rushing water was awesome. Great views and a gorgeous hike. Given the weather, we thought the trail would be packed, but was pleasantly surprised that the hiker traffic wasn't too bad. Took us 5.5 hours (including our lunch stop.) This is a must do hike.

By: Chance	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, May 23, 2009
My friends and I had the best hike ever at WOCR. The scenic views were just spectacular with such amazing cascading water falls. The sound of flowing water made the hike much more relaxing, even with the challenging steep climbs. We saw a few wildlife creatures up close such as a snake, an owl, flock of ravens splashing about in the water and a black bear. I would like to say "thank you" to the two good samaritans that walked with us and made noise in hopes of scarying the bear away. Overall, this is now one of my best hiking experiences ever and plan to visit again before the summer ends.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, May 16, 2009
Did the hike counterclockwise from White Oak Canyon Parking. Temps were in the 70's with a slight overcast and took me less than 4 hours to complete. This was by far one of the best hikes I experienced in the SNP. Very challenging and lush greenery all over the trail runs along the streams - thought I was in a rainforest jungle. Numerous spots to rinse and cool off along the WOC and CR portion.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, April 25, 2009
This was great hike for me so far..!! Hike was a bit strennous compared to it's difficult level with Rip Rap hollow, with all the steepy climbs. But the stream and the waterfall make it all go away It was not that green on the top of the mountain or once we reached horse trail and starting of the Cedar trail during this time We had swim holes (am not sure if we are allowed to swim there), with people swimming at all points and it would be great. I'd love to camp at any place along the trail, but unfortunately we dont have any camping spots. I love this hike for the steeps, waterfalls and the stream all across and definitely plan for this probly around fall

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, April 18, 2009
We went up Cedar Run Creek and wow was that tough took a little less than 2 hours for 3+ miles. Coming down White Oak Canyon was a nice change. Google directions took me to a dead end. I suggest Sperryville .7mi , right @ 231 9.9 mi (go past Old Rag turns), right @ 643 (brown White Oak Canyon sign & a store @ turn) 4.3 mi, right @ 600 Weakly Hollow Rd (brown White Oak Canyon sign) 3.7 mi to parking lot.

By: Brandon	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, April 05, 2009
The best stream hike. There was water everywhere, you can even get your car wet in the parking lot! It was a bit tougher than I expected, especially the descent down Cedar Run. That's all I can type. This is a must for spring hikes.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, November 09, 2008
Beautiful weather, great views/sounds of the waterfalls/runs, and good company equal a great dayhike. My wife and I did this as an out and back from the rte. 600 parking lot to the yellow blazed horse trail and back. The trip took us about 3 hours with lunch at the top portion of the falls. We actually thought we were doing the moderate to easy White Oak hike listed on this site, but we soon figured out that that hike was referencing starting from Skyline drive instead. Basically, it just made this one seem a little more on the moderate/sometimes difficult scale, especially with a loaded daypack. Either way, it was a great day and a decent challenge and warm up for a stab at Three Ridges in a couple of weeks. Tom

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, October 18, 2008
Great hike! I went with some friends and my dog and everyone greatly enjoyed the hike up and down. Fall colors were amazing, and there are tons of places to stop along White Oak to enjoy lunch next to a waterfall. The White Oak trail was very busy - lots of people up and down - but we only ran into one group on Cedar Run. The connecting fire road was a little boring, and a bit longer than we expected, so I could see doing the hike in the opposite direction just so the fire road portion is downhill rather than up. If you bring a dog along, make sure that he is comfortable at water crossings, as there's a few major ones along Cedar Run and in getting to the fire road.

By: Derek	Rating:	Date of Hike: Friday, October 10, 2008
I'm not sure I understand the purpose of a circuit hike here why would you purposely walk a return that takes you on a fire road as opposed to going by all the waterfalls again? The Cedar Run waterfall is only like a mile off the White Oak trail, so you might as well just add a couple miles that way and see the White Oak waterfalls again.

By: James	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, July 20, 2008
This is a great hike if you like waterfalls and swimming! It is NOT a scenery hike, but about seeing many cool (but small) waterfalls. Went clockwise and hiked up the Cedar Run trail in about 2 hours, on a very hot and humid day. This turned out to be a great idea...so we took our time on the way down, hitting most of the swimming pools and waterfalls on WOC. With the exception of the rock slide on Cedar Run, WOC has much more to see and do as you are closer to the water. WOC is also much more trail like, and therefore has many more people on it as well. There was lots of wildlife out as well; saw several snakes, spiders, and a bear cub when we were coming down the horse trail. Make sure you bring lots of water/gatorade when its hot as I went through over three liters. Be sure to get the Shenandoah NP year pass ($30) to avoid the $8 per use charge. I spent about 7 hours...all together and still wanted more time!

By: Rachel H	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, July 12, 2008
This was the hike that, three years ago, turned me into a backpacker. I remember the hike up to the falls being strenuous for my out-of-shape self, but we were so richly rewarded on a hot summer day with water running well over the smooth falls and a deep pool down below. It was busy but not crowded, and there was a sort of knowing camaraderie among those of us who had journeyed up to this amazing spot. I couldn't believe that places like this existed, and since then have been on the hunt for more :)

By: Michelle	Rating:	Date of Hike: Wednesday, July 02, 2008
What a great surprise! I wasn't sure I'd enjoy this hike because it was listed as 'easy to moderate.' It was a nice little stroll at first but once you get past the lower falls, it was rocky and got my heart rate elevated. There's some great views of the BR mountains and the scenery along the trail is nice (falls, rockfaces, etc). There are many great spots for a quiet lunch and many of the small pools looked inviting (wish I'd brought my suit). Overall I loved the hike! Can't wait to go back and do the Cedar Run loop along with it.

By: MclaughlinFamily	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, June 22, 2008
Great Hike -- awesome waterfalls! My group of two 13-yr-olds and two 10-year-olds (+ me) hiked the loop counter-clockwise. Moderate grade at first led to a steeper and steeper hike throughout. The wildlife made the hike more and more exciting. About 1/2 way up the WOC I sidestepped around one of my slower hikers and a hand assist on a nearby rock found me about 10 inches from a basking coperhead who fortunately didn't have any interest in me. Did scare me abit. On the fire road leading to the Cedar trail an adult black bear ambled across the path about 30 yards ahead of our gaggle. Always exciting to see. On the way down the cedar run trail we enocuntered a large coiled rattle-snake in all its 'Discovery Channe' glory. Scary, but fascinating after we moved out of striking range. It had two full coils underneath its raised head and was a wide as my forearm. Its rattle resembled and ear of indian corn with 90% of the kernels off and it made an unexpectedly loud hissing noise as it warned us/threated us off. We'll remember it forever. The water in the pools was wonderful/frigid and the entire hike took about 6.5 hours.

By: Sarah	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, June 22, 2008
One of my favorite hikes in the area for the length, workout, views of waterfalls and the lovely swimming holes. We hiked up White Oak, stopping at the second falls for the view, perfect place for lunch. The ascent is a bit steep, but a nice workout. The connecting horse trail to the Cedar Trail is a bit boring, but provided a nice, fairly easy grade, which was a good break because the Cedar Run train is quite steep (downhill) and rocky, and a little hard on the knees. I suggest good boots for this one. The best part of the day was when we stopped at the last swimming hole on the cedar run trail and played on the natural waterslide--it was FREEZING, but lots of fun. We didnt see much wildlife, but saw a few bears on our way into the park, and a big black snake along the trail. The total time was 5, hrs 15 minutes, with a stop for lunch and a stop for playing on the slides. We'll come back in august when the water is a bit warmer......

By: Netty	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, June 21, 2008
This was my first time doing the White Oak/Cedar Run trail, and while it was definitely a challenge for me, I thought it was great. We used this hike as a training day, as we are working towards hiking a 14'er in the fall. I used the research from this page, which was wonderful for a hiker like me that really needs to know what they're in for! The only thing I wasn't expecting was the steady incline in the fire road! Also, I thought the Cedar Run trail would be steeper from the other reviews, and even with a bit of rain in the last hour of our hike, it wasn't unbearable at all. Overall fun hike, great views and scenery, and a good challenge. Only thing I would change next time is allowing some extra time to play in the water!

By: Shutter Nerd	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, June 01, 2008
I really enjoyed this hike.. I've hiked Old Rag about 10 times.. and this hike was a good change. I have to say that I like Old Rag better. Old Rag has better views. When I got to the parking, a ranger told me that Cedar run is a bit more challenging.. So I hiked Cedar Run to Horse trail to White Oak Trail.. It really kicked my butt.. Cedar Run is really steep.. It was a real work out!! I think I actually recommend doing White Oak Trail and hike back to the parking.. Horse trail (fire road) is boring, and not much to see there. There is a ranger station at the trail head, and they will charge you money.. They do accept credit card, which was nice.. MAKE SURE YOU BRING ENOUGH WATER!!!!! I BROUGHT 1 LITER, AND IT WASN'T ENOUGH!! Other than that... great hike overall!!! Shutter Nerd

By: Darrin Jackson	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, June 01, 2008
Best hike of the trip; this hike was really one to remember. I started around 7am down Cedar Run at mile marker 45.6 to start off the hike; I suggest starting at the White Oak Trail unless you enjoy stair climbers, lol. I only ran into a few people along the hike and there was plenty to see the whole way. I know it says the hike is moderate but it's really worth the trip to go the 7.9 miles to see every bit of it! You won't regret the sweat iafter you see the waterfalls along White Oaks and the pools of water along Cedar Run. I was in kind of a rush when I did it; wish I had more time to enjoy the scenery. It took me a little under 3.5 hours to finish, but if you're enjoying the views it should take you about 5hrs. I recommend this for anyone who is physical fit to do so.

By: Yanks26	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, May 24, 2008
This is one hike we can never ever forget in our life time. We (with my wife , daughter (10 years old), brother-in-law and his Wife from PA) Age group in 30's (Men have hit 40) reached the parking lot at 11 am. Was quite a drive from our resort located in Basye,VA . We are amateur hikers decided to take this trail. I take regular long walks with my daughter for 6 miles every week so we thought this could be done very easily. They told us the loop was 8.2 miles. The park rangers did mention it was a bit strenuous for the whole hike and asked us to take just the half of it. They told us it should take 5 hours with half hour lunch break It was fun during the first half of the loop seeing the water falls. Had lunch and snacks all the way. We took lot of water with us. We followed the directions to the “T” which was on this Web site. It was great to see the Lower Whiteoak falls and Upper Whiteoak falls. It was great sight. We heard people mention of rattle snake they had seen a few mins earlier We saw deer and a bear cub on the Cedar Run Trail.. My wife and daughter were a bit scared and were hoping not to see the mother bear around. It was around 4 Pm already and then blue blazed trail began and our never ending trail began which never seemed to end. It was around 8 Pm we were thinking we were lost but we were still seeing the blue marks on the trees and hoping it’ll take us to our parking lot. We a saw a tent and thought we could get help from them but nobody was there in it. Then at one point the Blue marks stopped near the stream and saw the blue marks on other side of the water So we had to cross the stream I for some reason had got the GPS (used in the car ) with me and this website had provided the coordinates for the parking Lot. We were a few degrees away from it so we started moving towards the blue marks (It was a little comfort knowing GPS can help). It was getting darker At 8.30 pm we saw the blue marks again end at the stream and saw them continue on the other side of water so we had to jump on the slippery rocks again to cross the stream. My daughter slipped on wiggly rock while crossing. My Wife and daughter were getting desperate and my daughter was tired and crying we are lost and going to die. After crossing the water again we saw the concrete marker and the parking was 0.8 miles. We had no flash lights and so used our cell phone and the GPS we had for the light. At the concrete marker we finally saw a couple who had the miners hat with the light attached so asked them if we could follow them. We finally reached at 9.37 pm and my daughter was so pleased to see our SUV and the bright lights of the car. We had hiked for a total 10 hrs and 40 mins with the breaks. In all, this hike made us better hikers and next time we’ll be more prepared. Maybe be ready to camp if necessary. My suggestion to amateurs like me is to start real early like 8 or 9 am and give a lot of time if you do get lost and be ready to camp in case you get lost. Don’t forget your flash lights . BTW Cell Phones don’t work so forget calling 911

By: Bridget, Adam & Riley (woof!)	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, March 22, 2008
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!

By: jmgradon	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, November 10, 2007
I agree with the couple below who said it would be a crime to do this circuit without adding Hawksbill Summit. It's only an additional .8 miles to the top of Hawksbill from the top of the Cedar Run trail. I agree that 30 minutes is the maximum time it should take to get to the top for anyone capable of doing the White Oak Canyon/Cedar Run circuit and you can practically run down back to the start of the Cedar Run trail. My 13-year old son and I did the entire hike in under 6 hours and we took a number of rest breaks. By the way, I have been toying with the idea of combining this hike with a hike up Stony Man, starting at the White Oak Canyon trailhead down in the valley, continuing up the trail all the way to Skyland and then up Stony Man and then taking the AT all the way to Hawksbill and then down Cedar Run back to the trailhead. My guess is that this is about 15 miles, but I am not sure. Has anyone ever done this or have any idea how long it really is?

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, October 06, 2007
This hike was great! We saw a small black bear within 15 minutes of the starting point and enjoyed the waterfalls a great deal.

By: Judy	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, October 06, 2007
My husband and I, and our 4 grown kids did this hike. We were disappointed in the dryness of the waterfalls, there was not much water at all. It was in the 90 degrees for an October day, that was pretty surprising. We were huffing and puffing along, the only leaves that had changed were at the very top of the mountain. But once we got up there, the view of the falls was nothing but rock and few trickles of water. It took us 7 hours to go 8 miles and my knees were really giving out on the way down. It was quite steep. We had hiked in PA many times, but not in VA. The mountains were much steeper and the cost to hike for the 6 of us was almost $60. (It's free in PA). We didn't see any widelife either. It was a long day. I suggest that you get in shape for this hike. Plus, there is no view of the Blue Ridge mountains at all, you are in the deep of the forest the whole time.

By: Andy	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, July 21, 2007
I hiked this loop in the middle of July. Overall, this hike was awesome. The waterfalls are spectacular. As far as the difficulty is concerned, I don't think it's quite as strenuous as some make it out to be. The uphill between each of the waterfalls is quite steep, but if you plan on stopping at each of the six falls to take pictures and rest a bit, then it is doable, even for those in moderate physical condition. The one caution I do have is for those with bad knees or weak joints. The Cedar Run trail which brings you back down from the top of the ridge is pretty rocky in spots and not very well maintained. You'll be doing doing some "hard stomping" on parts of your way down. My bud who did this hike with me has some knee problems and while he managed the uphill well, he was defintely hurting on the way down. However, the wildlife everywhere was just gorgeous. Plenty of deer, rabbits, etc. And the neatest surprise of all occurred when we were wrapping up our hike toward the end of the day at the bottom of Cedar Run trail. My buddy's knees were hurting and my wife and I were pretty tired as well, when we heard some lout rustle not too far off to our right. At first we couldn't make out what it was, but it became evident soon afterwards when we caught sight of a mother black bear and her two cubs about 200 yards away from us. The two cubs were running around and playing. Eventually the mother made way over a ridge out of our sight and the two cubs followed her. Wow...I never saw a bear in the wild before and it was a truly exhilarating experience. My buddy was totally psyched seeing these bears as well and totally forgot about his sore knee joints!

By: Beatlunch	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, July 07, 2007
My bride and I are either just shy or just over 50, in generally average cardio fitness, non-runners (we walk instead, she does yoga, I lift, etc. etc.) We had our donuts and coffee and drove up from D.C. Did the loop from lower parking lot up White Oak Trail to Horse Trail to Cedar Run and back to the lot. Beautiful cool morning to start and made good time up W.O.C. Cool breeze and lots of shade helped temper what was to become a 90 degree day later. Found that walking around the neighborhood did little to prep our 50 year old bodies for the verticals. Turned off W.O.C. at the junction with the Horse Trail and followed it steadily upward for about 2.5 miles to junction with yellow markers and Skyline Dr. We then took Cedar Run, had lunch at a nice falls pool and made it back to the car at 4 p.m. (We set off at 8:45 A.M., took lots of breaks, and had a "swim" with our lunch - 'bout an hours' worth...) All in all, about 7 hours of walking, 8 miles or so, and about 5K up and downs. Here is what we learned: 1. Need to do this more to get in shape for it. 2. It was difficult to gain 10 pounds of weight (backpack with lots of water, lunch, etc.), and do 2 hours of stair climbing. Cool thing is is that as I type this the night of, my legs are once again happy. Once accomplishment sets in, its all worth it and you wanna go back for more. 3. The horse trail, that others have said was uneventful or boring was frustrating in this direction for those so out of shape 'cause it was mostly uphill. 4. Most of the cement marker posts have little silver bands near the top. We only today discovered (this was our third time out here) that the bands give you directions. We finished the horse trail and initially missed the turn for Cedar Run because we strayed onto the yellow trail instead of hanging an acute left at the three-way intersection. 5. Cedar Run was a tough go for us because by the time we got going down, our muscles and joints had pretty much been used up for the day. This is a trail with few level or even stretches, and all of the loose stones and irregular steps were pretty challenging. Lastly, we were thankful to have more water waiting for us to drink in the car. We went through around one and a half to two liters per person, but were thirsty and out of liquid with about a 1/4 of the trip remaining. Bring lots of water on these hot, dry days... We will return , but will probably avoid Cedar Run to save time, frustration, and spend more time in the water near the falls on W.O.C. Beatlunch

By: Kris	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, April 29, 2007
This hike was just wonderful! I did add to the hike by hiking the full length of the White Oak Canyon trail up to Skyline Drive. I crossed Skyline at Skyland and headed south on the AT. I took the spur trail up to Betty's Rock to gain the summit. I then continued down the AT to cross back over Skyline and head back down the Cedar Run Trail. The hike was 11.1 miles with about 5000 ft. in total elevation change. I started at 6:50 am and was off the trail at 2:30. The trails are well marked and obviously well traveled. I was fortunate and did not see a single soul heading up White Oak until I reached the intersection with the Limberlost trail. The Streams and waterfalls were perfect and beautiful! Wildflowers lined the trail most of the way, though Spring lost it's grasp a bit towards the top. Trails were well maintained and without obstacles. A trail crew had recently cleared the Cedar Run Trail per the ranger I contacted to check on conditions. some loose stones on the Cedar Run Trail bear a bit more caution when you are tired and heading down. I stopped for a half hour, much needed, rest and lunch at Betty's Rock. Conditions were a bit raw on the western side of the Mountain making me wish I had packed a light pullover. The streams offer multiple opportunities for cooling off and resupply of water if you have a filter. This hike is a must do and would be gorgeous in the Fall. Absolutely one of my favorites!

By: Dan an' Cal	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, April 28, 2007
This is a great hike. First off, the drive just getting there is fantastic. White Oak trail itself is a bit steep, but thats better anyways since its good to be really hot before jumping into one of the many great swimming holes. And the waterfalls are beautiful. The only downer really is the amount of people. The Cedar run return hike, in my opinion, is even better because its less crowded and feels more secluded. And there are a few really beautfiul spots on Cedar Run as well. Also, something no one has mentioned here, when the horsetrail turns into Cedar run, you come close to another parking lot. If you go to the parking lot and cross it, there is another trail that leads to the highest point in all of the Shenendoahs. Its short, but really steep. That add one hike is estimated to take 2 additional hours. We didnt have time because we started our hike late, but i think it would be a really great add on. The loop took us 6 hours, and that includes a really long lunch, and few scenic detours. Overall it was a blast.

By: tawlk	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, April 08, 2007
We really like this hike, even though the first time we took it we didn't know if we would make it back to our Jeep. Last summer we found this hike in a book that we bought and parked at the Cedar Run parking lot on the Skyline Drive as suggested....little did we know that the White Oak Canyon would kick our butt. It didn't help that we were hiking on 4th of July weekend, the temperature was over 90, and the sun directly overhead. I would highly suggest following the route as described here; starting at the bottom and going up the White Oak Canyon was much easier. Also since you will be doing this segment first, your chances of getting some good pictures without huge crowds greatly increases. This time, we hiked on Easter Sunday. The trail wasn't too busy, we only met 4 couples and a group of 6 (safe to say no one was swimming this time). There was about 3" of snow at the top from a storm the previous day, but the trail was well beat. As for camping, good luck... There are a few spots on the Cedar Run side, but this is definately a day-hike.

By: Michele P	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, December 17, 2006
We had an unusually warm day for December, but still had the trail almost all to ourselves. We were surprised at how beautiful everything was, considering the rating for Views was given a 1 out of 5. It was a great workout, with plenty of photo opportunities. We look forward to returning in the Spring, with more greenery and more water. White Oak Canyon Trail is prettier than Cedar Run Trail, and the fire road is completely boring. Next time we will try it backwards, climb up CRT and down WOCT.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Monday, December 04, 2006
Where to begin..well, it was cold. Not just cold, but darn cold. The trip up through White Oak Canyon was great. Absolutely beautiful. Even with the cold, biting wind, the views were so nice that it made up for everything. We had the entire trail to ourselves, never seeing another human being from start to finish. Some obvious blowdowns from the recent ice storm, but this trail was clear. We stopped and enjoyed a nice lunch out of the wind up past the second falls. Things at this point were going well, but our progress was a bit slow due to freezing and thawing trails (depending on the sunlit areas). Things were a bit messy, but not too bad. Things began to get rough on the hike across the White Oak fire road. The steep nature of the road began to take its toll on my wife -she is a runner and is in great shape. We started to see a lot more blown down timber on this trail, things were getting sloppy due to thawing, except in the shade areas which were still frozen. We noticed our water bottles were freezing. Thermometer said 31 at 1pm. Wind was in the teens. We thought once we got off of the never-ending steepness of the White Oak Fire Road that things would improve. The Cedar Run trail was a mess. Massive blowdowns, trail blockages. The rocks were slippery due to ice and mud and a lot of negotiating the fallen mess was required. Our progress was incredibly slow which was frustrating. The views along the Cedar Run trail were not as good as WOC, but there were a couple of nice spots. Unfortunately, we were running low on time so the time to enjoy then was short. Overall, Cedar Run trail was arduous. I love hiking in SNP, but I'm not sure if I would repeat Cedar Run. Tough on the knees and feet. Still, any day in the woods is better than a day in the office! I recommend enjoying the WOC trail. If you decide to do the WOC Cedar Run loop, leave plenty of time. It took us 5 hours 20 min and there wasn't much daylight back in those coves on the way down! We only stopped 10 min for lunch and we did not linger too long, save to take pics at the various falls. We normally keep a pretty nice pace.

By: denise	Rating:	Date of Hike: Friday, November 17, 2006
Most of the fall foliage was gone, but none the less, this is a great hike especially since the area had over four inches of rain the day before. The rain made the stream crossings a little deeper than advertised; there was no way to stay dry. Much of the Cedar Run trail was a stream. These were small inconveniences when compared to listening and seeing both Runs roaring down thru the canyon. Water rushed over the lower falls so fast, on impact there was mist flying 20 feet into the air. As you hiked up the canyon to the upper falls, you can hear and see the constant flow of the runs making their way to the bottom. I'm not sure of the nature of this hike without a previous down pour, but if you time this hike right, you are in for a treat.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Wednesday, August 30, 2006
There are three hikes in Virginia that I continue to return to time and time again, this is one of those (St. Mary's and Old Rag rounding out the 3). I'm a sucker for any kind of waterfall, and this one definitely does not disappoint. The two trails, white oak and cedar run are two completely different trails. White oak contains the most waterfalls, and it seems like every few minutes you find another one. It is definitely crowded between the parking lots and the first waterfalls, but the falls and trail in between aren't too bad. White Oak is also very rocky and I find that my knees tend to ache for a day or two after this hike. While Cedar Run is quite a bit easier on the knees (not as rocky), but still contains some falls. I've only passed one person on this trail so its been great for wildlife (my parents have seen bears). Oh, and if you are a photographer, you can pretty much guarantee you'll never hike the whole trail ... too much to photograph (more of my photographs can be found here).

By: Lesley	Rating:	Date of Hike: Monday, August 28, 2006


By: JL	Rating:	Date of Hike: Monday, July 04, 2005
This is a very pleasant hike with plenty of spots to stop and look at the stream for pools or waterfalls. On the way up the White Oak Canyon trail there is a small copperhead snake (venomous) that has decided to make the trail its home. It is marked with an orange ribbon and stones on the path encourage hikers to walk around its house, inside a rock crack. We extended the loop by continuing up on White Oak Canyon trail (i.e. not turning left on the fire road) till we reached the Limberlost trail. Turned left on Limberlost (easy trail going through a hemlock forest devastated by the Woolly Adelgid insects) then continued till we saw on the left the sign for Crescent Rock Trail. We continued on the Crescent Rock Trail till we reach the road. We turned left on the road and enjoyed the beautiful views off Crescent Rock Outlook. Then we continue on the road descending till we reached the White Oak Fire Road on the left and finished the loop as described here. This longer loop took 6hrs and added summit views to the hike.

By: Jeff	Rating:	Date of Hike: Wednesday, May 05, 2004
The Cedar Run-Forest Road-W.O. Canyon hike is my all-time favorite hike in Virginia. Gorgeous water falls, lots of exercise. My record time for the loop is 3-1/4 hours, starting-ending at the lower parking lot. In spring 2004 I hiked the trail 4 Saturdays in a row. It's also a good winter hike, since there's almost no one else hiking and the views are better. I love starting the hike at sun-up to beat the crowds. And it's nice to stop at the church-bookstore in Sperryville for coffee on my way home.

By: M.R.Hyker	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, October 11, 2003
I've been doing this hike at least every other year since 1999. It does get crowded but most of the traffic is at the top from people who walk in from Skyline Drive. Most of who park off-park hike up and back down White Oak Canyon. The Fire Road and Cedar Run is travelled far less than White oak Canyon. As with all of the other Waterfall Hikes in the Park, they are at their best in the early spring after ice out or a prolonged period of rain. However, I like to do this one in the fall. I guess because the canyon gets cooler faster than the surrounding landscape the colors come in earlier and seem more intense. See the following link: http://maryland.sierraclub.org/hc/pictures/2003/20031011WhiteOakCanyon.asp If there is one thing prettier than a waterfall hike it is a waterfall hike with some splashes of color.

By: Carl Hanbury	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, December 03, 1911
With 4-friends, I hiked clock-wise the Cedar Run-White Oak Canyon circuit. I was surprised at seeing so many people on the Cedar Run portion as 10-years ago when I'd hiked it solo, I only saw 4-scouts. This time there was even a group of 4 from PA. Ascending Cedar Run was not as tough as I'd expected it to be. The sun was out it was cool, but not cold. Our group found the hike a challenge, but were very pleased with the beauty of both trails. A word of caution, near where the White Oak Canyon Fireroad, and White Oak Canyon Trail meet, don't ford/ cross the stream because it is slick and can result in serious injury. Instead continue on for maybe 30-yards and cross on the bridge. The bridge is almost impossible to see from the dangerous crossing. This is an exceptional hike.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, July 09, 1911
Great hike! My boyfriend and I really enjoyed this hike. The scenery was beautiful and the weather was perfect! We did the white oak/cedar run hike. To add to it, we did the entire white oak hike, then turned around and hiked down the mountain and hiked across the fire road to do the cedar run section. (we actually got lost because we missed the fire road on the first run, but we will just pretend that we were super ambitious!) Only complaint I would have is that the paths aren't marked all that well, however if I would have pulled out the directions I printed from the website we wouldn't have had a problem! The pictures I took were fabulous! Can't wait to hike this again in the fall when the leaves change!

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Monday, July 18, 1910
Great hike to do. Finished in about 5 hours. I'm 46, work out regularly, and run marathons/ half marathons. Had actually run 10mi the day before so my legs were a bit tired but I did surprisingly well. Next time will take a bit more time to stop for pix and enjoying the waterworks. Started at the Hawksbill Gap parking lot around 10:30. It was about 77degrees [DC was about 90.] Took the CR down. The trail wasn't too crowded at all. I came across a few deer, a bear cub along the trail and a few human families enjoying some of the CR swimming holes on the way down. There were a few hikers doing the loop in reverse and we crossed paths on the WOC. Connected to WOC at the bottom of CR and looped back up. The WOC is a relatively steep climb and not as shaded as CR. It was definitely sunnier and hotter. Be sure to pack enough water and other goodies to keep you going. Took the fire road back to the parking lot. Was in my car by 3:30-3:40. Would also like to do this loop during the fall and spring to see how things are during those seasons.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, January 30, 1910
What a great challenge! The snow must've been 6-8 inches and drifts were up to a foot. I Learned a valuable lesson on this hike When it snows, add at least an extra couple of hours on your estimated finish time. I went up there with 6 others and even at starting around 8:30 am, did not finish until 4:30pm. With the snow covering up most of the Cedar Run portion, there were a number of slips and slides to say the least, but no one was injured. The last two stream crossings were challenging with the water high and the snowmelt, but beautiful. The falls were incredible and are well worth seeing. I would not recommend those who aren't fit to do the whole loop. At the most, make it and out and back from rte. 600 to the top of the higher falls. I've done this loop at least three other times and it seemed like a totally different hike with these conditions. Plan accordingly, be careful, but enjoy.

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