Last weekend I went on another hike in the Shenandoah. This time it was the White Oak Canyon trail. The highlight of this hike is a series of six waterfalls! I wanted to do this hike last year, but didn't quite get around to it. Probably just as well though, since I think the best time to go is actually right around now, right after all the rain but before the leaves start coming in an obscuring views to the water.
I started the hike from the White Oak Canyon parking lot inside the park off of Skyline Drive. It's a 7.3 mile round trip to the lower falls and back. Alternatively, there is a slightly longer circuit hike that includes the Cedar Run trail and couple more waterfalls. I also found out during the hike that most people actually start at the bottom from the White Oak Canyon boundary parking lot, hike up to the upper falls, and then back down. I actually hate going down though, so I usually prefer to do that first, get the legs warmed up, and then do the climbing. In any case, the hike was mostly along the water with many views of various sized falls along the way. The beginning and end bits of the hike kinda sucked though (about 4 miles altogether) since there's not much going on the trail closest to the parking lot. This would be a good hike to go on also in the summer since you can jump into the pool of water at the lower falls for a swim :)
