Bird Knob to Browns Hollow

This counterclockwise is the southern loop of the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100.

Distance
  • 12.9 miles
Running time
  • 2.5–5 hours
Total ascent/descent
  • 3,050 feet
    240 feet/mile
Start/finish
GPX file
What to wear

Directions

From the trailhead on Route 211, take the orange-blazed Massanutten South Trail for 1.6 miles to a dirt road near a picnic area. Take a right on dirt road and climb 0.5 miles to a wooden bench and trail junction. At trail intersection, make a left on orange-blazed Massanutten South Trail for the climb up Bird Knob. Stay on orange for a total of 3.1 miles. Be alert for a left turn (at a wooden post, 1.85 miles from turn off Wildflower) to stay on orange (do not follow white blazed Bird Knob trail), then continue to end of double track (“Ant Road”) at a gate.

The view of the Shenandoah Valley from Bird Knob
The view of the Shenandoah Valley from Bird Knob.

Continue downhill on gravel orange-blazed Big Mountain Road for 0.85 miles. After the first small climb, look for wooden post at trailhead on left and turn left onto purple-blazed Roaring Run Trail. Follow up and then down for 1.0 mile to Browns Hollow Run Trail (be alert for this trail junction — if you cross any stream, wet or dry, you have gone too far downhill). Take a left on pink-blazed Browns Hollow Run Trail and follow 4.2 miles to orange-blazed Massanutten South Trail (it will be a sharp right — if you reach a gate you have gone about 100 feet past the correct turn). Right off pink onto orange-blazed Massanutten South Trail for 1.6 miles back to Route 211 and your car.

Last updated June 16, 2020

What you do is up to you, but you shouldn't rely on these directions alone; they are often not specific enough to navigate by, and may be incorrect or out of date. Review a map beforehand and carry it with you. Tell a friend where you are going and when you plan to return. Do not count on having cell phone service while on the run. The VHTRC is not responsible for your welfare on any of these runs. If you go on one of these runs and get lost, run out of water, get injured, mauled by a bear, or die, or if anything else goes wrong, it's your fault; not ours. You assume all risks here and the VHTRC assumes none at all. Legal issues aside, some of these runs are more remote than others and the VHTRC is not suggesting that you do any of these runs, unless you are prepared to accept full responsibility for yourself.