Hiking Shenandoah: Fox Hollow Loop at Dickey Ridge Visitor’s Center
Shenandoah National Park stretches over 100 miles through the center of Virginia. The park is filled with great mountain hikes. For families and day visitor’s a great introductory hike is Fox Hollow Loop at Dickey Ridge Visitor’s Center near the northern entrance.
- Starting Point: Dickey Ridge Visitor’s Center, Skyline Drive mile 4.6
- Length: 1.2 miles
- Elevation: 300 ft gain and loss
- Type: loop
The heart of Shenandoah National Park is the Skyline Drive. Shenandoah is a long, skinny park that runs about 105 miles from north to south. The Skyline Drive is the primary road running through the park. Attractions in Shenandoah are labeled by what mile marker they are on starting from the north entrance at Front Royal.
Dickey Ridge Visitor’s Center is located at mile marker 4.6. This means it is 4.6 miles south along Skyline Drive from the Front Royal entrance. Thus, it is the first major stop for most visitor’s coming from Washington, D.C. and points north.
Dickey Ridge is a small visitor’s center in an older building. It has a bookstore and guides to the area. There are also quite a few hiking trails in this area. This includes a long 9-mile out-and-back hike from the park entrance along the Dickey Ridge Trail. You can find the official map of the area here.
Personally, we prefer the longer and steep hikes for higher up in Shenandoah National Park. At Dickey Ridge, there is the 1.2 mile Fox Hollow Loop that provides a nice short introduction to the area for kids. It has just enough elevation gain (300 feet) to make you feel accomplishment.
Fox Hollow Trail is part of the Kids in Parks program. There are brochures for kids you can pick up at the visitor’s center or trail entrance. They contain information about the trail and specific things to look for during the hike. You can see the Fox Hollow Loop brochure here.
Fox Hollow goes through a forest at a lower elevation, so you do not get the valley views from hikes higher in the park. In addition, the lower altitude means it will be hotter in the summer. However, this is a great hike for colder seasons and fall colors.
Fox Hollow Trail is a loop that starts directly across the Skyline Drive from the visitor’s center. You can go either way but they suggest you head left. This takes you down the Dickey Ridge Trail a short distance before splitting off going downhill on Fox Hollow Trail.
The trail goes down to a cemetery. This was where the Fox Family lived in the 1800s as homesteaders. There are also rock piles and remnants of an old millstone the family used.
From the cemetery, the trail starts to head south for a short distance before turning back north towards the start. This is the short uphill portion of the hike.
If you want a longer hike by Dickey Ridge there is the 3.7 mile Snead Farm Loop Hike. We have not done this hike. For our longer hikes we decided to head higher up in the park. You can check out the full guide to our Shenandoah visit here.
