Viggen said:
So, 33 west and where do I turn? Is it just an obvious gravel road? Im heading out there from Arlington Saturday morning.
Meadow Knob, AKA Flagpole Knob trail and also "The Meadow"
For clarification, there are two "meadows" here. "The Meadow," refers to a meadow down in the valley by Switzer Lake; this is usually where larger groups running the area stage up and camp. Meadow Knob refers to a meadow on top of the mountain. There are two knobs(peaks) here as well, Meadow, and Flagpole. The trail I'm describing goes by Meadow Knob.
To get to both "The Meadow" and to the trail known as Meadow Knob, take 33W from Harrisonburg. You will be on 33 through Rawley Springs, down through the valley, and then will start to climb the mountain. This will be some 20 miles. Once you start up the mountain, you will finally get to see a left turn lane(the first one as you go up,) take it.
To get to "The Meadow," after you've made the left off of 33, you'll be on a fire road. It will be mostly down the mountain, and during the day you'll see the lake on your left. You'll be on the fire road @4 miles and will cross a concrete bridge. Just after the bridge, turn left into the camping area to your left. You'll see a 4x4 trail at the right of this camping area, take that. 100' or so and this dumps you into the meadow. Park your truck, pitch your tent, drink beer and have a good time!
Meadow Knob (AKA Flagpole Knob) trail. Follow the directions to the Meadow above, but don't turn into the camping area; go straight. Or if you are in the Meadow, exit the way you came in, but make a left. You're now on the fire road heading SSW. This fire road switchbacks all around the mountain, going down and up. There are some nice camping spots for small groups along the way, and even some muddy ruts to hit off the main road if you're into that.
As you continue on the fire road, you will eventually run into a T intersection, take the left. You will pass through a meadow at the top of the mountain. It's a very pretty sight, and a good place to line up the trucks and take a picture of them with the mountains in the background. Once you pass the upper meadow, you'll finally need to shift into 4. Some fun stuff comes around. Nothing a stock truck can't do, but there's one nice rock at the top that's reserved for those who have a few mods. It's off the main trail, but a good place to take pictures. Eventually the trail turns back into a fire road then dumps you out on Union Springs Rd. This will take you to Clover Hill Road. Turn left and keep on that road until it takes you back to 33. You're then back about 5 miles outside the GWNF.
The vast majority of this trail is just a fire road. The obstacles are small rock gardens and some slightly off camber hills and descents with optional rocks to make this a bit more interesting. The parts that aren't a fire road might be a Green I if you take the easy lines, but you can make it a Green III if you take it the hard way. For some reason it seems like they used to be more difficult than they were last time. Anyway. The one big rock at the top is probably a black obstacle, but it's not very long. It is optional, of course.
