EDITOR'S PICK

Big changes are in the works for visiting Virginia's Old Rag, one of the premier hikes in the U.S.

BY FRANK GREEN Richmond Times-Dispatch 2 hrs ago



Outside magazine calls the hike to the top of Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park one of the best in the world.

FRANK GREEN/TIMES-DISPATCH

NETHERS — In the early 1980s at what was then the Old Rag trailhead, there was a parking lot that perhaps a couple of dozen cars could squeeze into. If you arrived early, there was almost always a space or two open.

In the decades since, I have climbed Old Rag more than 200 times — in the summer, fall, winter and spring, daytime and nighttime, in temperatures from the 90s to single digits, in rain, snow and ice. Each ascent is different; the views never the same, but always rewarding.

If that sounds obsessive, two years ago Outside magazine included the Old Rag climb in its list of the 25 best hikes in the world. Fortunately or unfortunately, the mountain is a just short drive from the Richmond, Charlottesville and Washington metro areas, leading to a major drawback: crowds.

Things have changed in the past 40 years: I almost never go there on weekends; the small parking lot is no longer available; there are new, much larger, but still often inadequate parking areas; and the trailhead has been rerouted.

And next year you may need a ticket to hike Old Rag.

In an effort to limit trail traffic to 800 hikers a day, a proposed pilot program would mean that you would need to go online and obtain a ticket from a park vendor, at recreation.gov, for a fee of $1 or $2. You would still have to pay the $30 entrance fee per vehicle, good for seven consecutive days, or $15 for walk-ups or those on bicycles.



People wait in line to pass a section of the Old Rag trail. A pilot program proposes limiting climbers to 800 a day.

National Park Service

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fgreen@timesdispatch.com

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