Devils Fork Loop Trail:
Virginia
Trail Map
- Get Personalized Driving Directions!
- Find Trail Side Shops with Google Search!
- See Users’ Geocoded Photos!
- Get a Print-Friendly Map and Get Outdoors!
Description:
The Devils Fork Loop Trail is extremely challenging, with as many as 18 stream crossings (at the height of the winter thaw), a 1200-foot elevation change, and many opportunities to lose the trail. Be sure to bring enough water for this arduous hike; there are no facilities on or near the trail.
The Devils Fork Loop Trail provides an impressively beautiful-and strenuous-hike through an old-growth hemlock and rhododendron forest. Amazing rock formations, waterfalls, swimming holes, and mountain views give you plenty to see and do, but keep one eye on the trail, as the going can be rough. Although the trail follows yellow blazes for its entire 7 miles, poor maintenance means it is often difficult to find the blazes-and the path, which, in several places, scrambles over large rocks or up very steep cliff faces.
The western leg of the loop follows the Devils Fork, and your first crossing is about one quarter of a mile from the parking lot. Be prepared to get your feet wet. This, like many of the trail's water crossings, has very slippery rocks and seasonally changing water levels. After this, the trail breaks in two directions. The less strenuous route is to the left, following the loop clockwise. This also lets you hit the highlights of the trail much earlier.
The only hint that you are on a rail-trail is the abandoned coal car that sits on the trail about halfway up Little Mountain. In fact, the western side of the loop is the only portion on an old rail bed. This railroad was used to transport logs and coal, and thus the corridor is not as wide as a standard-gauge railway, and the grade is much steeper, which provided the trains with better access to these resources.
The trail's main attraction is Devils Bathtub, located just 1.5 miles from the start. The rushing water of Devils Fork shoots out of the soft sandstone and swirls quickly through this stone luge, plummeting into a beautiful pool of blue-green water. Another trail highlight, shortly after Devils Bathtub, is the 50-foot waterfall at the mouth of Corder Hollow.
The trail enters a very different landscape as you leave the Devils Fork and begin hiking along the ridges of several mountains. The forest has little underbrush and the path can be easily lost.
Your adventure concludes on an old logging road with about a mile of steep switchbacks to the loop's end, where you cross Devils Fork for the last time. There are primitive camping facilities near the parking lot. You can continue hiking by taking the Straight Fork Ridge Trail (1.8 miles) via the parking lot. The scenery on Straight Fork Ridge is similar to the Devils Fork Loop Trail, but the latter is considered the more interesting hike of the two trails.
... Click to read more
Parking & Trail Access:
From US Alternate Hwy. 58, take VA Route 72 south toward Fort Blackmore. In Dungannon, Route 72 merges with VA Route 65. Just before they separate in Fort Blackmore, take VA Route 619 to the right.
Alternatively, you can take US Hwy. 23/US Hwy. 58/US Hwy. 421 (Daniel Boone Heritage Hwy.) toward Gate City. In Gate City, continue going straight as the road becomes East Jackson Street and, ultimately, VA Route 71. Head east on Route 71 for a little over a mile. From here, take VA Route 72 to the left toward Fort Blackmore. Shortly after VA Route 65 and VA Route 72 merge, turn left onto VA Route 619.
Once on Route 619, follow VA Route 653 for a short segment, and when they break, look for the Devils Fork sign where Route 619 takes a sharp left and becomes Forest Road 619 (there is no street sign). Travel over the one-lane bridge and turn left just before the abandoned white house. Follow this unmarked dirt road to the end, where you will find parking for the trail. The road to the parking lot is very rutted and may not be accessible by all vehicles. You will pass the trailhead on your right just before you reach the parking lot; there are also stairs up to the trail from the parking lot.
... Click to read more
... Click to read more