Strickler Knob Camping

Around this time every year I start to go a little crazy since the pandemic started and I'm stuck inside all the winter. Last year I did the Dolly Sods trip which honestly ended up being a little too gnarly, so this year I wanted something a little easier. I asked a friend with a lot of backpacking experience and this was his suggestion and it ended up being an excellent one.

• These are the nicest views I've ever seen in Virginia and that's including being up and down skyline drive and also on top of Old Rag. I think it's maybe the layers of mountains or being surrounded by mountains on all sides or being able to see plenty of towns, but it was the best.
• This is about 30 minutes west of Luray, VA so you have an easy spot to grab supplies and good meals before and after.
• We had planned to do about 6 miles a day, but the road that lets you access most of these trails is Crisman Hollow Road. It was closed on both the south and the north side I think for the winter. We parked on the north end near where it meets Camp Roosevelt Road/675 and hiked the extra 3 miles along the road in.
• We ended up taking more of the road than trail on the first day and skipping Duncan Knob on the way down to still make decent time given the extra miles.
• The best map to use is on hiking upward.
  • We hiked in on Crisman Hollow
  • Cut into the trails on Scothorn Gap
  • Switched to the Massanutten trail
  • Took the spur over to Strickler Knob and there's a really good campsite along here where we dropped our bags and then hiked out to the excellent views.
  • The next morning we kept going on the Massanutten trail and then took Gap Creek trail back over the mountain to Crisman Hollow
• The trails are mostly really easy and wide except for the bit out to Strickler Knob which is real rocky and a little scrambly towards the end. Most of the trails are 6 ft wide except for some parts of the Gap Creek trail on the east side.
• There were plenty of spots to get fresh water except for when you're up top near Strickler Knob
• I'll probably head back for a day trip to checkout Duncan knob sometime in the spring
• The rules for hiking in George Washington National forest are pretty permissive and can be found here.

Route

Day 1

Day 2

Photos