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| Trailhead for Cedar Run Falls (point B) |
THINGS TO DO:
1. Drive to Whiteoak Canyon Parking Area (97 miles, 1 hour 58 minutes)
2. Hike a couple miles (round trip) to Cedar Run Falls:
- Enjoy sliding on the natural water slides
- Have a picnic
- Hike to other water falls in teh area if you have time and energy
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| Our favorite natural slide |
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| The view when you realize the hike was worth it! |
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| Smaller natural slide (the youngest kids enjoyed this), first falls found about a third to half of the way to our favorite slide |
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| Other waterfalls in the area (youtube videos show some daredevils sliding down) |
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| Hiking the trail |
THINGS TO KNOW:
We began our hike at Whiteoak Canyon parking area (near Syria, VA). While this parking area is not off of popular Skyline Drive, it is still a part of the Shenandoah National Park. Be sure to pay the fee at the trailhead (it is free if you buy and bring an annual National Parks pass for $80).
To get to Whiteoak Canyon parking area, either: 1) follow Google maps' directions to "Whiteoak Canyon, Robertson, VA" or, if that doesn't work, 2) follow your GPS to Syria, VA, take Route 643 in Syria (about .8 miles) to Route 600, and stay on Route 600/Weakley Hollow Road (about 3.6 miles) until you reach the parking area.
There are portable restrooms at the parking lot, but there are not any good places to change into swimsuits. Some of us changed into swimsuits in the van, while others wore their suits the whole time. Personally, I didn't feel there was enough privacy to change, so I recommend wearing your swimsuits during the entire trip.
We carried towels to dry off, flip flops (in addition to our shoes, which were nice for playing in the water and drying off), bottled water, cameras, etc. in a backpack. We put bug spray and sunscreen on the kids, but I was fine without it. The next time we go, I plan to take a life vest for our youngest, who is still learning to swim. This will allow him to have more fun on the slides, on his own.
The round trip hike to Cedar Run Falls is a couple of miles. Don't be fooled by the fun, small slide found at the first waterfall area you come to on the hike; there are better slides up the mountain. That first waterfall is only about a third to half of the way to our favorite natural slide. The trail leading to the first waterfall was fairly flat. After crossing the river, the trail became much more steep and strenuous, but everyone made on their own (even our 4 year old!). We did give ourselves enough time to go as slow as necessary, to ensure everyone made it to the top (and it was worth it).
There are a number of waterfalls along the trail between the parking lot and Cedar Run Falls. Depending on your group, I recommend you take time to explore the falls and see if you can find better natural slides than we found (see youtube video above). Most of the other falls were well off the trail and difficult to get to with kids in tow. That said, we didn't feel we missed out by not visiting them. The two natural slides we found on the trail were plenty of fun for our family.
If you have more time and energy (which our family did not have), I recommend you back track to Cedar Run Link Trail (or do the entire loop found on the map) and visit Lower and Upper Whiteoak Falls. My research tells me these falls are much more picturesque; however, they are not natural slides.
We began our hike at Whiteoak Canyon parking area (near Syria, VA). While this parking area is not off of popular Skyline Drive, it is still a part of the Shenandoah National Park. Be sure to pay the fee at the trailhead (it is free if you buy and bring an annual National Parks pass for $80).
To get to Whiteoak Canyon parking area, either: 1) follow Google maps' directions to "Whiteoak Canyon, Robertson, VA" or, if that doesn't work, 2) follow your GPS to Syria, VA, take Route 643 in Syria (about .8 miles) to Route 600, and stay on Route 600/Weakley Hollow Road (about 3.6 miles) until you reach the parking area.
There are portable restrooms at the parking lot, but there are not any good places to change into swimsuits. Some of us changed into swimsuits in the van, while others wore their suits the whole time. Personally, I didn't feel there was enough privacy to change, so I recommend wearing your swimsuits during the entire trip.
We carried towels to dry off, flip flops (in addition to our shoes, which were nice for playing in the water and drying off), bottled water, cameras, etc. in a backpack. We put bug spray and sunscreen on the kids, but I was fine without it. The next time we go, I plan to take a life vest for our youngest, who is still learning to swim. This will allow him to have more fun on the slides, on his own.
The round trip hike to Cedar Run Falls is a couple of miles. Don't be fooled by the fun, small slide found at the first waterfall area you come to on the hike; there are better slides up the mountain. That first waterfall is only about a third to half of the way to our favorite natural slide. The trail leading to the first waterfall was fairly flat. After crossing the river, the trail became much more steep and strenuous, but everyone made on their own (even our 4 year old!). We did give ourselves enough time to go as slow as necessary, to ensure everyone made it to the top (and it was worth it).
There are a number of waterfalls along the trail between the parking lot and Cedar Run Falls. Depending on your group, I recommend you take time to explore the falls and see if you can find better natural slides than we found (see youtube video above). Most of the other falls were well off the trail and difficult to get to with kids in tow. That said, we didn't feel we missed out by not visiting them. The two natural slides we found on the trail were plenty of fun for our family.
If you have more time and energy (which our family did not have), I recommend you back track to Cedar Run Link Trail (or do the entire loop found on the map) and visit Lower and Upper Whiteoak Falls. My research tells me these falls are much more picturesque; however, they are not natural slides.
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