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Map &
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This northern end of this section is at the crossing of the north entrance road to Skyland resort, a few feet west of the road's intersection with Skyline Drive at Mile 41.7, 10.2 miles south of Thornton Gap (US 211) and 23.8 miles north of Swift Run Gap (US 33). The Stony Man Nature Trail Parking area is on the north side of the entrance road. The marker on the attached map indicates the trail headfor the AT/Nature Trail which goes north from the lot. GPS: N38.5931 W78.3756 See last Picture for this section for a view of the trail head. See the first Picture for Section 9 for a view of the parking lot.
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The northbound AT (to section 8) coincides with the Stony Man Nature Trail until near the summit. The southbound AT(to Section 9) crosses the entrance road. 1/8/2010 Updated 09/01/18
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20
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David Cullen
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The south entrance to Skyland is at Mile 42.5 of Skyline Drive, 11.0 miles south of Thornton Gap (US 211) and 23.0 miles north of Swift Run Gap (US 33). There is a small parking lot (actually for the nearby stables) on the entrance road just a short diatance west (compass north) of the intersection. Other parking is available in the Skyland area.
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The AT crosses the south entrance road just west (compass north) of the parking area. The parking area can be seen on the satellite view on the attached map. The marker indicates the parking lot. GPS:N38.5869 W78.3835 1/9/2010 Updated 09/02/18
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5-6
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David Cullen
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Timber Hollow Parking Overlook is at Mile 43.3 of Skyline Drive, 11.8 miles south of Thornton Gap (US 211) and 21.2 miles north of Rockfish Gap (US 33). The marker on the attached map indicates the parking area. (GPS: N38.5749 W78.3839) Rotate the street view from this point from north to west to south to see the parking area.
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A short spur trail leads west downhill to meet the AT. It is visible in the satellite view on the attached map. A "street view" of the spur is available at https://goo.gl/maps/K8bHpPNAKDu . The view to the east shows the start of the spur as it leaves the parking area. The south view shows more of the spur with the AT below. At the AT southbound is left, northbound is right. 1/9/2010 Updated:09/02/18
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15-20
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David Cullen
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Crescent Rock Parking Overlook is at Mile 44.4 of Skyline Drive, 12.9 miles south of Thornton Gap (US 211) and 21.1 miles north of Swift run Gap (US 33). The marker on the attached map is set at the southern entrance to the parking area. GPS: N38.5617 W78.3830 The street view to the north from this point shows the parking area. There is a north entrance to the area at GPS N38.5637 W78.3810
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A trail leads to Bettys Rock Viewpoint from the north end of the parking lot. In a few feet, at a signed junction, a spur trail goes west and descends about 0.1 mile to reach the AT. Southbound is left, northbound is right. 1/9/2010 Updated 09/02/18
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30
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David Cullen
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Hawksbill Gap Parking Area is at Mile 45.6 of Skyline Drive, 14.1 miles south of Thornton Gap (US 211) and 19.9 miles north of Swift Run Gap (US 33). There is parking on both sides of the road. The marker on the attached map indicates the parking areas. GPS: N38.5560 W78.3868 Rotate the street view from this point to see the parking at this site.
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A number of trails leave from here. (See attached map). A trail climbs Hawksbill and the Cedar Run Trail goes east. The access trail goes north and downhill from the parking area, intersecting the AT in about 300 feet. Southbound AT is left, northbound right. 11/17/09 Updated: 09/03/18
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10-15
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David Cullen
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Spitler Knob Parking Overlook is at mile 48.1 of Skyline Drive, 16.6 miles south of Thornton Gap (US 211) and 17.4 miles north of Swift Run Gap (US 33). The parking is along narrow strip, essentially one traffic lane wide on the west side of the drive. In addition to the parking at the overlook, there is an adjacent parking lot at the actual trailhead just north of the overlook. This is signed as parking for Rock Spring Cabin. The marker indicates the Rock Spring Cabin parking area. GPS: N38.54805 W78.41384 Rotate the street view to the north and east to see the Rock Spring cabin area and to the west to see some of the Spitler Knob parking area.
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A spur trail descends west 150 feet from the Rock Spring Cabin parking to meet the AT. Southbound AT is left, northbound is right. 11/17/09 Updated 09/08/18
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6 in Rock Springs area, more in Spitler Knob Overlook parking
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David Cullen
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Franklin Cliffs Parking Overlook is at Mile 49.0 of Skyline Drive, 17.5 miles south of Thornton Gap (US 211) and 16.5 miles north of Swift Run Gap (US 33). The Overlook is on the west side of the Drive. The marker on the attached map indicates the overlook.GPS: N38.5369 W78.4193 The parking area can clearly be seen on the satellite view. For a rotatable street view that shows both the views and the parking area see https://goo.gl/maps/dNgmhZwCK9w
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There are two spur trails to the AT from the Overlook. The more northerly descends to meet the AT in 0.3 miles. Northbound AT is right, southbound is left. Note: I have never taken this particular trail, but have seen the post marking the intersection. The AT guide warns that the trail is "obscure". 1/9/2010 Updated 09/04/18
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20
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David Cullen
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2019 Update: I recently purchased the latest edition of the Appalachian Trail Guide to Shenandoah nation Park (15th edition, 2016). This side trail and its more southerly counterpart (Mile 6.3) which were labeled as obsucre in !999 are not even mentioned in the new guide. I do not know if they have been officially abandoned or have been obscured into non-existence. Have the concrete trail posts been removed? Any information we can get from fellow hikers would be greatly appreciated. 06/24/19
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David Cullen
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See previous entry for directions to Franklin Cliffs Overlook.
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This is the more southerly of two spur trails to the AT from the Franklin Cliffs Overlook. This one descends to meet the AT in 0.3 miles. Northbound is right, southbound is left. Note: I have never taken this particular trail, but have seen the post marking the intersection. The AT guide warns that the trail, like its counterpart to the north, is "obscure". It leaves from the south end of the overlook. Note: The usefulness of this access is limited. There is access and parking only 0.2 - 0.3 miles further south on the AT. 1/9/2010 Updated 09/04/18
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David Cullen
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See the 2019 update for the more northerly trail from Franklin Cliffs (Mile 6.0). 06/24/19
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David Cullen
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Fishers Gap is at mile 49.3 of Skyline Drive, 17.8 miles south of Thornton Gap (US 211) and 16.2 miles north of Swift Run Gap (US 33). Official southern end of this section is where trail crosses gated Red Gate Fire Road 350 feet west of Skyline Drive. I have never used it but there is some roadside parking just to the east (compass south) of the trail crossing. This can clearly be seen on the satellite view of the attached map. The marker on the map indicates the intersection of Red Gate Fire Road and Skyline Drive. GPS:N38.5335 W78.4209 This is right next to the north entrance road to Fishers Gap Overlook. The north street view from the point of the marker shows some of the parking pull-off. Note: Ample (and probably better) parking is available at Fishers Gap Overlook. See mile 0.1 of Section 10. Any Parking Safety contributions here should be for the Red Gate Road parking.
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It is just a short distance down Red Gate Fire Road to the trail crossing. There the northbound trail to Section 9 is right, the southbound to Section 10 is left. GPS at trail crossing N38.5343 W78.4216. The AT overlay on the map is slightly off here. For a picture of the trail crossing see https://goo.gl/maps/AEcRL6Zk3k82 . Parked cars can be seen in the background. 09/07/18
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5-6
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David Cullen
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