A new parking area at Old Rag Mountain in the Shenandoah National Park is set to open on Thursday.
The new parking area was built to provide improved National Park Service access to the Old Rag area hiking trails. It is closer to the Old Rag area trails than the old (leased) lot and allows visitors to remain in the park without hiking on Route 600.
The new parking lot will be the primary lot with the old lot being used only when the primary lot fills up. The old parking lot will be retained and divided into two sections. One section will be used as a parking area and the other will be used to stage emergency operations when they occur.
This project is not intended to increase public use at Old Rag, only to provide better access. It secures public access to Old Rag on park service property and guarantees access into perpetuity.
New trails have been built to provide access to existing park trails with the goal of keeping visitors in the park and moving them off of Route 600.
- The Ridge Trail trailhead is now located in the new parking lot.
- The Old Rag Access Trail connects the old parking lot with the new parking lot. As a public courtesy, a local landowner has graciously allowed us to build this trail across his private property. Please help us be a good neighbor by staying on the trail when it is finalized next week.
- A portion of the old Ridge Trail has been renamed the Ridge Access Trail.It provides access to the Ridge Trail from the Weakley Hollow Fire Road.
A new fee station building is located at the new parking lot where all visitors will check-in. If the fee station is closed, visitors will pay the park’s entrance fee at a self-pay station.
A vault toilet is located next to the fee station and an emergency phone is available on the outside of the fee station building.
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