Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Apple Orchard Falls, Jefferson National Forest, VA


ABOUT THE PARK:  Apple Orchard Falls - US Forest Service

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 37.5296,-79.553

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TRAIL MAP:  Apple Orchard Falls and Cornelius Creek Trails Brochure - US Forest Service

HIKE DISTANCE:  5.6 miles

HIKE DESCRIPTION:
Since I prefer to ascend more steeply and descend less steeply, I took the steeper Apple Orchard Falls trail up.  On this particular day, it was not raining at the beginning of the hike but the higher I climbed, the harder it rained.  Turned out to be a very nice hike anyway.
Where there are two bridges to the left, take the second bridge.
Watch your step!
Apple Orchard Falls
Wooden steps after Apple Orchard Falls
View from a bench almost at the top of the wooden steps - even nice on a rainy day.
The top of the falls.
The Cornelius Creek Trail descends back to the parking lot and is just a plain old trail through the woods in the beginning but once it meets up with the creek you'll be following the creek and rock hopping across several times making this a very pleasant and scenic part of the hike.  Unfortunately, my camera got damp from the drizzle and would not take any more pictures until it had dried out at the end of the hike so I don't have any pictures from the best part of the trail.

 
HIKE SUMMARY:
[  0.00]  From parking lot take the Apple Orchard Falls Trail to left of information board
[  0.20]  Right at fork
[  1.15]  At second bridge turn left and cross bridge
[  1.45]  Trail sign pointing in opposite direction, ignore and continue straight ahead
[  1.70]  Cross two consecutive bridges
[  1.80]  Bridges and decking at Apple Orchard Falls; ascend wooden steps after falls; view at bench
[  2.15]  Bridge at top of falls
[  2.50]  At intersection turn right on woods road, Apple Orchard Falls Road
[  3.50]  At intersection keep straight on Cornelius Creek Trail, a footpath leaving the woods road
[  4.10]  Cross Cornelius Creek; trail becomes very scenic with multiple rock hops across creek
[  4.60]  Cross creek then cross bridge
[  5.65]  Back at parking lot

2 comments:

  1. thanks for great pictures and description. My friends & I are going on a 70 mile AT hike including this hike & the Doyles river/Jones Run Loop this summer to see some the "water features" of the VA mts. ATHikerGal May 2011

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  2. Great shots, thanks for posting about this Falls. I've been hiking the different Falls on both the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah over the last month and thought I'd comment that a lot of the Falls are barely functioning right now due to the lack of rain in the region. The Jones Run was nothing more than a trickle. However, I thought I'd warn others of the abundance of black bears I ran into in the Shenandoah over this past weekend; which made it all worthwhile for me. 8 in the Doyles River/Jones Run Falls area and another 6 in the Lewis Falls area. The reason I mention it is because I was charged on numerous occasions and hikers need to keep a heads up with what's around them or can get into serious trouble. With the drought in the area, food and water are very scarce for them and they feel you are a threat to their foraging.

    PFloydNVa

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