Virginia · National Park trail

Old Rag Fire Rd. - Limberlost Trail Junction

in Virginia · centroid 76 mi from Washington

While the Limberlost Trail is a gentle, accessible hike, it does cross over several other trails to be wary of. Some trails, like the Old Rag Fire Road, are not typically used for hiking at all, but instead provide access routes for Park personnel to reach areas such as backcountry cabins or other remote areas of the Park in the event of an emergency. The Old Rag Fire Road is primarily used when emergency response staff from the mountain need to get to Old Rag Mountain quickly to assist in Search & Rescue operations or fires.

However, this trail is still available to hikers and horseback riders. Visitors taking fire roads should always be aware that in the event of an emergency, vehicles could be using these routes as well.

States
Virginia
Trail type
National Park trail
Centroid nearest city
Washington, DC · 76 mi · ~2.2 hr drive
Centroid coords
38.5777°, -78.3755°

About Shenandoah National Park

National Park

This trail is inside Shenandoah National Park, a national park managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.

Entrance fee: $30 per vehicle (verify current rate on the park page). An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units.

Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/old-rag-fire-rd-limberlost-trail-junction.htm

Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/shen/index.htm

Plan your hike

Practical notes

Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.

Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.

When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.

If you've hiked Old Rag Fire Rd. - Limberlost Trail Junction and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.

Stay nearby

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Driving in? The nearest documented metro is Washington, DC — 76 miles away (~2.2 hr drive). See accommodation in Washington on Booking.com → RoamFound earns a small commission if you book through this link, at no extra cost to you. How we handle affiliate links.

Other trails within 50 miles

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Sources

Public data + curation

Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.