McAfee Knob Loop

Jefferson National Forest, VA Shenandoah + Northern Blue Ridge Mountains

Trip stats

Distance
8.5 mi
Net Gain
1,600 ft
Time
3-5 hrs
YDS Rating
Class 1
Route
Loop
Peaks
1

Ratings out of 10

Effort
2.9/10
Personality
4/10
Beauty
6/10
Solitude
1.3/10
What do these mean? →

Peaks on this hike

Summits listed in route order

  1. McAfee Knob
    3,197′ elevation · 1,217′ prominence

Route map + Trailhead

Trailhead Coordinates

37.380100, -80.089560

The directions link below drops a pin on the trailhead coordinates and lets Google Maps pick the route. If the drive has rough roads or access issues that GPS nav might get wrong, I cover that in my trip report.

Get directions (opens Google Maps in a new tab)

Trip report

Apr 29, 2017 — From the quite large parking lot, cross the street and head into the forest where I soon met with the Appalachian Trail, following it rather than the fire road that parallels it. The trail leads through the forest, passing Johns Spring Shelter, and then bends north, passing the fire road and up to McAfee Knob. Rather than turn back here, I continued east along the ridgeline, dropping down to a campground with a shelter called Campbell Shelter. I would say this short descent from McAfee Knob was my favorite part of the hike and I'd recommend adding this small extension rather than just turning back. From the campground, I rejoined the the fire road and took it back west.

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Photos

27 photos

  1. Cross the street from the parking lot and head up this obvious trail.
  3. Soon, the trail gets to an information kiosk (not pictured) and splits off from the wide trail (which ends up being a fire road), and becomes the Appalachian Trail.
  4. Along the AT.
  6. Passing a Johns Spring shelter.
  11. Passing a power line clearing.
  12. Last bit of uphill to reach McAfee Knob.
  15. Approaching McAfee Knob.
  16. View at McAfee Knob.
  17. The ridgeline in the distance goes all the way over to Tinker Cliffs.
  19. In order to make this a loop, I continued along the Appalachian Trail farther east. Shortly, I passed through a bunch of big boulders.
  20. I would say the trail becomes more interesting, and more narrow, compared to the first bit of the hike.
  22. Back past the power lines clearing.
  24. After descending for a while, you get to an Appalachian Trail shelter, Campbell Shelter. A small trail (pictured) takes you to the fire road mentioned earlier. This fire road leads back to complete the loop.
  25. The boring fire road.

Photo 1 of 1

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Hire or refer me as a web developer, or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so it's funded by yours truly. It also takes a ton of work to edit photos and write these reports. I really appreciate it!

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