page_title: Old Rag Mountain
section_title: Hiking
hierarchical_section_title: Old Rag Mountain / Recreation / Hiking
caption_attribution_description: English: Full 360-degree panoramic view from the summit of Old Rag Mountain within Shenandoah National Park, in Madison County, Virginia
context_page_description: Old Rag Mountain is a 3,284 feet mountain near Sperryville in Madison County, Virginia. A part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the peak is located within Shenandoah National Park and is the most popular hiking destination within the park.
  In contrast to most mountains of the Blue Ridge, Old Rag has an exposed summit.
context_section_description: The summit of Old Rag is accessible via a system of trails in Shenandoah National Park. The shorter, most common way is from a parking area in Nethers near the end of Madison County's SR 601, off Virginia State Route 231, at the base of the mountain. A 9-mile (14.5 km) circuit hike or a 5.4-mile (8.7 km) out-and-back hike to the summit can be made. The circuit hike makes use of the Ridge Trail which ascends the mountain 1.6 miles (2.6 km) to the first false summit. The trail then turns into a rock scramble, which can be strenuous for inexperienced hikers, for 1.1 miles (1.8 km) to the summit and intersection with the Saddle Trail which descends 1.9 miles (3.1 km) down the saddle of the ridge past Byrds Nest #1 shelter and Old Rag shelter to the junction with Weakley Hollow Fire Road. The Fire Road then descends 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the Old Rag parking area.
  The upper Old Rag parking area was closed to public vehicles in 2010. Parking is now limited to the lower field parking area, adding a 0.9-mile (1.4 km) walk on asphalt.
  The summit can also be reached from Skyline Drive by following Old Rag Fire Road from the drive at milepost 43 to its eastern terminus with the Saddle Trail and then follow that trail to the summit.
caption: 360-degree panorama from the summit of Old Rag Mountain
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone 6", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2017:11:04 01:26:38", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "220", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[38, 33, 357/50]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "W", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[78, 18, 5283/100]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "47559/47", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[19, 55, 501/20]", "GPS GPSSpeedRef": "K", "GPS GPSSpeed": "0", "GPS GPSImgDirectionRef": "T", "GPS GPSImgDirection": "237735/679", "GPS GPSDestBearingRef": "T", "GPS GPSDestBearing": "237735/679", "GPS GPSDate": "2017:06:21", "Image GPSInfo": "744", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1130", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9534", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/2326", "EXIF FNumber": "11/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "32", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:06:21 15:55:25", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:06:21 15:55:25", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "13051/1167", "EXIF ApertureValue": "7983/3509", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "1412/131", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "83/20", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "360", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "360", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "18125", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2284", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "6", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "29", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[83/20, 83/20, 11/5, 11/5]", "EXIF LensMake": "Apple", "EXIF LensModel": "iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm f/2.2"}