Northwest River Park Loop (Virginia)

At the Virginia / North Carolina border, just south of Norfolk lies this wonderful county park. I was in the area visiting relatives in Moyock and doing my usual looking for trail options while in town. Seeing that this park had a nice series of trails it was definitely worth checking out. Added bonus was the Disc Golf course. Two of my older sons are very into disc golf at the moment and so I was able to bring them along for them to check out the course.

It became a family outing as I ran the trail loop, two sons were on disc golf, and my 3rd son hiked the Molly Mitchell side of the loop. It was a nice December day in the lower 40s and a good outing to get some fresh air. The trails were very leaf covered though in some places had been groomed clean. The trails were very rooted and the leaves made that more of a challenge. It was a small bit of fortune that I didn't eat dirt once today.

First Landing State Park Trail Mix (Virginia)

Cape Henry Trail to Bald Cypress Trail to Cape Henry Trail to Kingfisher Trail to Long Creek Trail to Cape Henry Trail to Long Creek Trail to Cape Henry Trail.
Trailhead Elevation: 10 ft.
Distance: 12.00 mi. (my Forerunner 235)
Elevation Gain: 179 ft. (my Forerunner 235)
Start Time: 6:38am
End Time: 8:53am


Trip Report:
Norfolk has a trail-running and hiking gem in First Landing State Park. It is an easily accessible and beautiful place with more than enough trail options to make regular return visits. I know if I lived here that would be true for me. This was a vacation run for me while I was in town for my sister-in-law's wedding. As usual I looked for an early morning spot for some big miles and am most pleased I found this.

Humpback Rocks (Blue Ridge Parkway)

Humpback Rocks Trail to summit, descent on Appalachian Trail

Trailhead Elevation: 2,371 ft.

Humpback Rocks Elevation: 3,117 ft.

High Elevation: 3,250 ft.
Distance: 4.00 mi.
Elevation Gain: 1,141 ft.
Start Time: 7:04am
End Time: 8:11am


Trip Report:
This hike didn't show up in our original plans for Shenandoah National Park and neither is it in the park. However some local searching for other trails for a morning trail run quickly turned this up as a great option. Its not so much a hidden gem as it appears it is a quite well used trail by locals and others alike. I was glad to have found it and given it a try this morning.

Blackrock (Shenandoah)

Appalachian Trail/Blackrock Summit Trail to Summit, descent on Blackrock service road

Trailhead Elevation: 2,908 ft.

Blackrock Summit: 3,087 ft.
Distance: 1.26 mi.
Elevation Gain: 217 ft.
Start Time: 11:08am
End Time: 12:08pm


Trip Report:
The Blackrock Summit loop is billed as one of the great short and easy family hikes in Shenandoah National Park. The loop is just over a mile, is fairly easy in elevation gain, and is wonderful with the scenery and ability to scramble on rocks. For us this checked all the boxes.

Hogback & Hawksbill (Shenandoah)

[Hogback] Appalachian Trail from Little Hogback Overlook to Hogback Overlook with detour to Hogback Mountain summit.

[Hawksbill] Hawksbill Gap up Lower Hawksbill Trail to Hawksbill Summit, descent on Salamander Trail to Appalachian Trail to Spring Cabin Parking area.

Hogback
Trailhead Elevation: 3,031 ft.

High Elevation: 3,464 ft.
Distance: 1.81 mi.
Elevation Gain: 586 ft.
Start Time: 1:27pm
End Time: 2:28am

Hawksbill
Trailhead Elevation: 3,367 ft.

Hawksbill Elevation: 4,050 ft.
Distance: 2.56 mi.
Elevation Gain: 670 ft.
Start Time: 3:42pm
End Time: 4:37pm

Trip Report:
To hike Hogback Mountain we decided to try a shuttle hike. It is entirely along the Appalachian Trail which runs almost entirely along the Skyline Drive. We figured this would be a family-friendly hike and the only way to pull it off, short of doing an out-and-back, was the shuttle option. So we dropped everyone off at Little Hogback Overlook and then Lisa and I drove the vehicles to the Hogback Overlook at the end of our hike. We left one vehicle there and then came back to the starting point. This worked out great for us.