We are not alone in the woods! Learn more about our local hiking club and all that they do for our National Forest. You can even join them for a hike or trail work mission. Most importantly, we want you to know about their program of “trail overseers” who are responsible for specific trails in our National Forest. If you notice something that needs attention on one of these trails, then you can reach out to the overseer and let them know. Before organizing any major trail work on one of these trails we do ask that you reach out to the trail overseer out of respect for their hard work. Finally, you can and should take a look at photos of work that the SSVC of PATC performed on the Buck Mountain Trail. Buck Mountain Photo Album
Southern Shenandoah Valley Chapter of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club is based in the Harrisonburg-Staunton-Waynesboro area. In addition to leading hikes, we do trail work on Shenandoah Mountain and Massanutten Mountain and in the South Section of Shenandoah National Park. We have a special interest in maintaining trails in the proposed Shenandoah Mountain National Scenic Area, especially the trails in Ramseys Draft Wilderness, Ramseys Draft’s proposed Addition, and the proposed Little River Wilderness. We sometimes work in conjunction with the Charlottesville Chapter of PATC. SSVC’s efforts complement the trail work done by Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition in the proposed National Scenic Area.
SSVC members currently maintain the following trails on Shenandoah Mountain:
- Grooms Ridge – 4 miles
- Buck Mountain – 6 miles
- North River Trail – 5 miles
- Shenandoah Mountain Trail from 250 north to the intersection with Ramseys Draft Trail – 7.5 miles
- Shenandoah Mountain Trail from Bother Knob to Rt. 33 (unofficially) – 6.5 miles
Members who adopt a trail take primary responsibility for the trail, asking for help when needed. For example Ron Stoltzfus of Harrisonburg maintains Buck Mountain Trail, but other chapter members have helped considerably with clipping vegetation, removing blowdowns, and placing waterbars. Lynn and Malcolm Cameron have been maintaining Grooms Ridge Trail for about 20 years and have often asked fellow chapter members for help.
In 2012-13, SSVC measured all the trails on Shenandoah Mountain with a wheel. These accurate measurements will be used in an upcoming hiking guide for Shenandoah Mountain by local member Tim Hupp, soon to be published by PATC.
During the past five years SSVC has logged well over 6,000 hours of volunteer work on Shenandoah Mountain trails. Since we are working on Wilderness and proposed Wilderness trails, we use hand tools, like loppers, clippers, shears, and handsaws. One of our favorite tools is the 13” Corona pruning saw. We use a 42” crosscut saw for larger blowdowns. We typically install waterbars to control erosion. On steep slopes, we place logs across the trail at a 45 degree angle to divert water off the trail. This method has been effective in restoring trails that were once badly eroded, like Grooms Ridge, and for preventing further erosion.
For our hike schedule, see www.ssvc.org. Contact to stay informed about work trips on Shenandoah Mountain. Since many of us are retired, we sometimes have worktrips on weekdays.
