Mary's Rock - a not so easy day hike

On Saturday, we decided to head up into Shenandoah National Park for a hike. We started off on the assumption we might go to Dark Hollow Falls or to the Hawksbill Summit, two favorites, but once we got to the Park we were warned about crowds. So, knowing that the Panorama parking lot was recently reopened, we thought we might finally try Mary’s Rock, which is immediately south of the Thornton Gap entrance.

Our general contractor, Jesse, had recommended the hike a few years back when we first started working with him (for a reminder of Jesse’s work, check out the label “Big Projects”) – he described Mary’s Rock as a “right nice walk” – so we were looking forward to trying it someday. We were waiting for the construction around Panorama to finish up.

Accompanying this article are a couple of highlight photos from the route up. The trail is essentially the AT, so it is well marked and very well constructed.

Also, the “Best Easy Day Hikes” book includes Mary’s Rock as one of the hikes. What we didn’t know, and what Mary will be surprised to learn, is that there are actually two routes to the summit…and the Panorama route, which we took, with its 1,200+ feet of altitude gain, is the more difficult route. That makes for a steep 2 or so miles, which explains why we found it so challenging.

A downside of this hike is it's proximity to US 211 - like the other highway that transects the Park down in Elkton, it is a favorite route of motorcyclists. The noise of the vehicles follows you up the first half of the route...after a turn in the path, the mountain is between hikers and the highway so it's a bit quieter. I've written about this before - in the Park, since AT routes are rarely far from Skyline Drive, the noise of motorcycles is a constant harrassment to other Park users.

I’ll post a follow-up tomorrow with views from the summit.