Hungry Mother State Park (Marion, VA)

ABOUT THE PARK: Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation

TRAIL MAP:
Online Map
Maps available in the park office and throughout the park at trailheads.

DIRECTIONS:
An 8 hour drive from Central New Jersey
I-78 west to I-81 south to Marion, VA exit 47; go one mile on Route 11 toward Marion; turn right on Route 16 north and travel four miles to the park.

ACCOMMODATIONS:
We stayed in cabin 7 on the top of a mountain overlooking the other cabins below which were spaced a nice distance apart from each other. Click here for information on cabin rentals. All cabins are pet-friendly. Our trip was from Saturday, June 19, 2010 to Saturday, June 26, 2010. We hiked a total of 56.5 miles during the week.

Outside of cabin:




Living room/dining room with fireplace and door to covered stone porch:


Kitchen:


Bathroom with shower:


Bedroom with two twin beds:


Bedroom with double bed:


HIKES:
Hikes at Hungry Mother State Park (described below in this post):
Hike 1 - 2 miles - Raider's Run/Old Shawnee Trail
Hike 2 - 4 miles - Molly's Knob & Molly's Vista
Hike 3 - 6 miles - Lake Loop Trail


Day Hikes Outside of Hungry Mother State Park (links to individual posts for each hike):
Jefferson National Forest, VA - Crawfish Valley - 13.5 miles
Grayson Highlands State Park, VA/Mount Rogers - 10.5 miles
Stone Mountain State Park, NC - 9.5 miles
Cumberland Gap National Forest, VA-KY-TN - 9 miles & Wilderness Road State Park, VA - 1 mile

Hike 1 - 2 miles - Raider's Run/Old Shawnee Trail
For the trailhead, park in parking lot P2 across from the restaurant:

Follow Raider's Run to Old Shawnee Trail to the other side of Raider's Run, back to the parking lot for about a 2 mile loop.



There are limited views with foliage, probably better views when leaves are down.


Hike 2 - 4 miles - Molly's Knob & Molly's Vista
Park at the end of Lake Drive. Walk a short distance north (away from the lake) along the road to the Molly's Knob trailhead on the right.

The Legend of Hungry Mother
Legend has it that when the Native Americans destroyed several settlements on the New River south of the park, Molly Marley and her small child were among the survivors taken to the raiders’ base north of the park. They eventually escaped, wandering through the wilderness eating berries. Molly finally collapsed, and her child wandered down a creek until the child found help. The only words the child could utter were "Hungry Mother." The search party arrived at the foot of the mountain where Molly collapsed to find the child's mother dead. Today that mountain is Molly’s Knob, and the stream is Hungry Mother Creek.

Follow the white-blazed Molly's Knob Trail where you will find a nice overlook deck at .5 miles.

If you have had enough uphill walking, you can go back down and call it a day for a 1 mile hike but you will be missing out on a lot. Bring plenty of water so you can keep on going up, up, up... You will catch a couple of views along the way:


At about 1.6 miles, turn left and head up the purple-blazed Molly's Vista Trail.

At the 2 mile point, arrive at the amazing vista:





Simply retrace your steps back to finish - it's all downhill!

Hike 3 - 6 miles - Lake Loop Trail
There are multiple parking lots around the lake and you can start at any of them. Just keep in mind that on the map above a section indicated by an arrow follows the road to connect the loop as the trail does not actually connect. We started at the parking pad at the end of Lake Drive at 6 am just as the sun was rising and started counter clockwise so that we would be on the road side first while there was minimal traffic. Even at that hour of the morning you will run into a few others taking advantage of the peacefulness of the early morning. This is a very easy, mostly flat trail. From that parking area, walk along the road turning left into the parking lot opposite the campground. The trailhead is at the other end of that parking lot. The trail will start out paved, turn to gravel and then dirt on the other side of the dam.









After passing the dam you'll be going through quiet rhododendron tunnels and forests until you connect back up with the lake.


When you reach the split below, if you parked on Lake Drive or walked down from the cabins, turn right towards the parking area. If you parked elsewhere along the lake, take the left trail which will bring you out on the road where you need to walk along Lake Drive to reach the trailhead across from the campground.

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