Big Schloss / Mill Mountain

I decided to come to this area of the George Washington National Forest because I wanted to try something different and didn’t want to deal with the crowds and entrance fee at nearby Shenandoah National Park.  It was more off-the-beaten path than more well-known hikes in the area and I didn’t know what to expect.  I had to drive a gravel road to get in and there were no facilities in sight – only trailheads with information.  I found some helpful locals who told me how to get started.  For specifics on directions and the route, please use the link in the sidebar.

The first part of the hike was the toughest as it ascended quickly up to the ridgeline.  Continuing northeast would continue the loop while going southwest would get me to the Big Schloss.  I didn’t know it at the time, but the Big Schloss – German for big castle – was the big draw of the area.  It was such a big draw that there were literally dozen of people going there.  Luckily, the route I took came in from the northeast as opposed to the direct route from the southwest.  As a result, I was able to avoid most of the crowds.

The Big Schloss was definitely the most interesting part of the hike.  The climb up was fun and the views were incredible.  It was a shame that the nicest part of the hike occurred so early.  Following the visit to Big Schloss, I descended back northeast to rejoin the Mill mountain trail.  At this point, most of the climbing was done and the next portion of the hike traversed the ridge.  Though pretty, I can’t say it was particularly distinguishable from the other hiking I’d done in the region.  The last portion of the hike was a descent down Stony Creek Trail, which was easy and again unspectacular.

In summary, this is an isolated but somewhat unnoteworthy hike.  While I absolute love the website Hiking Upward, it’s estimates and ratings can be off.  For this hike, I’d say it was less precise than usual.  This was rated on the site as a 5 in difficulty; however, I would say it is more of a 3 because it was quite easy.  Furthermore, I had planned to be there all day since the website said it was 7.5 hours to complete.  However, I was done in less than 5 hours.  Knowing nothing more to do in the area combined with the fact that it had started raining left me with nothing else to do but go home.