Shenandoah National Park: Fox Hollow Trail (Blog Hike #61)

Trail: Fox Hollow Trail

Hike Location: Shenandoah National Park

Geographic Location: south of Front Royal, VA (38.89003, -78.20240)

Length: 1.3 miles
Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)

Date Hiked: April 2000

Overview: A loop hike through Fox Hollow in Shenandoah National Park.

Park Information: https://www.nps.gov/shen/index.htm
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=717289
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: The trailhead is located on Skyline Drive in the northern part of Shenandoah National Park.  Take Skyline Drive to milepost 4.6 and park in the small parking area for the Dickey Ridge Trailhead on the east side of the road.  The trail begins at this trailhead.

The hike: To form most national parks, the land and natural features are first acquired with the roads and accommodations built to suit.  At Shenandoah National Park, the reverse occurred.  Dedicated in 1936, Shenandoah National Park was built around Skyline Drive, a 105-mile scenic highway first conceived by President Hoover in 1930.  The drive follows the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains for its entire distance and offers some of the best views in the world.  

           The northern end of the Drive is anchored by the Dickey Ridge Visitors Center, located atop the mountain only 4.6 miles from the Skyline Drive's northern terminus at Front Royal.  A system of trails leaves the visitor's center, and one of the better trails in the system is the Fox Hollow Trail.  This short, unmarked nature trail takes hikers along the side of the mountain to the remains of the former home site of the Fox family, for whom the hollow is named.

          The Dickey Ridge Trailhead is located at a black information sign directly across Skyline Drive from the Visitor's Center.  Before starting, take a minute to admire the excellent view of the Piedmont to the east afforded by the trailhead.  The Fox Hollow Trail forms a loop; for ease of hiking, this description starts by going left at the trailhead and uses the right trail as the return portion of the loop. 

View east from Dickey Ridge trailhead

          Going north, the trail maintains a roughly constant elevation on the hillside heading through young maple forest.  The trail comes to an intersection about 300 yards from the trailhead.  The blue-blazed Dickey Ridge Trail continues straight ahead only to terminate at Skyline Drive in about 1 mile.  Our trail turns right to begin a rather steep descent into the hollow. 

          After losing some 200 feet in elevation, the trail comes to an area dotted with piles of stones.  This is the remains of the Fox home site.  This location was probably chosen due to a good-sized spring which can be seen on the right side of the trail.  Before modern plumbing, people living in the mountains too high in elevation for large creeks had to rely on such springs as a water source.

          Also on the trail, this time on the left, is a small cemetery where several members of the Fox family are buried.  The headstones date to the early 1900's.  Past the home site and cemetery, the trail takes a sharp right turn and crosses the stream formed by the spring you passed previously.  Deer are abundant in the park and seem to enjoy feeding on the plants in the groundcover of Fox Hollow. 

On the Fox Hollow Trail

          After another right turn, the trail begins its ascent back to the trailhead, following what appears to be an old road.  Notice the remnants of the fencerow to the left of the trail.  The older stone fence can be seen, combined in some spots with the more modern wire fence, which itself is about 80 years old.  After about 500 yards of ascending gradually along the road, the trail takes an abrupt right turn away from the road to begin a short, steep, final ascent to the trailhead to complete the hike.