Little Devils Stairs (Rating: A)
Details
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This hike is an ~8 miles’ loop with an elevation gain of ~2000 ft., featuring a beautiful initial hike up the steep Little Devils Stairs Trail canyon, one of the most scenic canyons in SNP. Most of the elevation gain is in these initial 2 miles up the canyon. However, there is another climb toward the end of the hike of 485 ft, starting at the 5½ mile mark where we climb the Hull School Trail from the Piney River up to the Keyser Run Rd to see the Bolen family Cemetery, before descending back to the parking lot.
Trail maps
pdf map:
https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/092HM0dNKDqTu8UpB6TGyilBQ#Little_Devils_Stairs
Shenandoah NP Keyser Run Area map
https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0dagfKAPUnQSGKiNVAD0_73-A#MP_20-26_KeyserRun_RoadTrail
GaiaGPS map:
https://www.gaiagps.com/map/?loc=11.9/-78.2829/38.7286&pubLink=Chv9qJv1m8rhovXfXYaM4lo4&trackId=23e27e16-b81c-4813-b34e-64e759df2618
Difficultly Rating: A
At 8 mi + 2000/400 =13 mi, this makes this on the border of hard B-hike or easy A-hike. So treat it as you will, but I've listed it as an A-hike. The only thing that makes this hike more difficult is the initial climb of the canyon pictured above.
https://nvhc.com/hikeinfo/ratings/
Pace: 2 – 2½ mph on average.
We'll go as slow as 1 mph up the canyon, and as fast as 3+ mph for the easy hike down the Piney River trail with an average of 2 - 2½. In past trips this hike has taken from 4⅓ hrs to 5hrs.
Trailhead: We'll meet at the Little Devils Stairs Parking Lot which is at the end of Keyser Run Road. To get there take US 211 west to Gid Brown Hollow Rd (Rt 622), then 1.9mi to Keyser Run Rd.
TH Coordinates: 38.7305, -78.2583.
It's a 65 minute drive from Centreville Park & Ride.
Dogs permitted per NVHC Dog Policy: https://tinyurl.com/nvhcdogpolicy