Lewis Spring Falls - an Easy Shenandoah Natl Park Day Hike

While I am behind on several posts in this category - I'm planning to catch them up next month in a hiking spectacular - Mary and I decided we might go up to the Park last Sunday for a little hike.  I mentioned the butterflies and wildflowers in the post yesterday; we encountered them on the short hike we took down to Lewis Spring Falls.

In my "Easy Day Hikes" book (Amazon link below) this trail is described as a 3.3 mile loop that descends 990 feet.  I've done that one before, and while I was doing it found that you could short cut some of the loop by taking a fire road down to where it intersects the actual trail to the falls.  On reading the guide book again, this route is mentioned as better for families with young children - and indeed, we encountered a couple of families on the route.

The alternative route turns out to be about 2 miles long, but it still descends (and climbs on the return) almost 800 feet.  I took altimeter readings at the Big Meadows Welcome Center (3,535 feet), where we parked, and at the Falls (2,776 feet), so I came up with a total climb/descent of 759 feet.  Although the temperatures at altitude were 10 degrees cooler than in the Valley, it's still important to be sure that you bring plenty of water for this route.

I like this waterfall - Heatwole lists it as the fourth tallest in the Park at 81 feet.  The view of the falls from the overlook is very pretty.  At the top of the falls, where the water leaps from the cliff, there is a ledge that offers a view to the west, overlooking Tanners Ridge - also worth a stop. 

Those views alone make this a pleasant trip, but for me, because this is one of the headwaters of Hawksbill Creek, which flows through Luray along the Greenway, I especially like significance of this location.

Once we climbed back to the car, we drove to the Big Meadows Lodge for a short break.  There is a lot of construction in the main building this year, while they update the balcony that looks over Page Valley.  We walked over to Black Rock, the southern summit just a few yards from the lodge, and looked down to the Valley - you can see the Jordan Hollow Inn and Wisteria Vineyards from this view point.

We topped it off with a stop at the Big Meadows tap room, grabbing a quick lunch.  Then it was back to the Valley to enjoy a few hours on the brick terrace before packing up for Alexandria.