Shenandoah National Park

[Seafood]

Hey all,

Looking to take a few days this summer and doing some hiking/fishing with the wife. Interested in Shenandoah National Park and the brook trout streams there.

Most importantly I am interested to hear if anyone has any lodging recommendatins for that area. I would prefer to stay on the north side of the park if possible but very flexible.

Cabin rentals? B&B's? other amenities?

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[jayL]

I've gone down and fished a few times throughout the park.

So far I've either camped in the park (great facilities if that's your cup of tea) or stayed in a motel in the town of Front Royal. FR has convenient access to the park and just about anything you'd need.

One bit of advice:

Go early in the year, as those little streams dry up quick.

If you are curious to see the pictures of what it looks like in july, I can post a link in a bit.... too busy at work right now :-?

 

[Bamboozle]

IF you want to impress the heck out of your wife and score some huge brownie points you can stay at the Inn at Little Washington.

It doesn't get a whole lot nicer than that although it will set you back quite a few $$$.

 

[Wmass]

I used to fish the Shenandoah when I was living in DC and I loved it. I fished mainly in the spring and early summer months and found it to be great for brookies. I passed up the larger rivers and more popular streams for the smaller, out of the way streams. I caught some beautiful (and big) brookies in some really small streams. The brookies in there will hit anything but you have to sneak up on the streams because the fish tend to spook easy.

Depending on the amount of rainfal and temps I usually stopped by the park headquaters and got a map, then just looked for where a trail crossed a small stream and hiked in. There are some great streams only a 1/4 mile from the road system and they are loaded with fish.

Try elk hair caddis and small olive patterns, the fish can't resist them.

 

[Chaz]

You can stay in Front Royal, Harrisonburg or Charlottesville and get to many streams in the park easily. I assume by the "north side you mean on the north side of the ridge, trouble is I think the best streams are probably on the south side of the ridge. But I've only spent 60 days fishing there so that may not be true all the time.

 

[Seafood]

Chaz,

Could you clarify a bit more on what you mean by North side and South side?

Does the ridge run SW to NE? I thought the slopes would be more west and east?

Thanks.

 

[jayL]

I think he's referring to the northern side of the park as opposed to the southern side. Front royal is at the northern entrance, harrisonburg, i believe, is a good bit south on the western side of the ridge.

I've found good fishing at both areas.

Check out the rose river loop trail for a relatively easy hike with lots of fish. From there, you can get the map out and find some more secluded ones.

If you go to one of the gift shops down there, there's a book written by a local author about many of the streams. For the $18 or whatever it cost, its a great read.

 

[Troy]

Seafood,
I fished it this past Easter Weekend. I camped in the Meadow Campground. I didn't know anything about the park. I bought some topo maps of the park and made a quick glance at a store of a book written by Harry Murray. It was called something like(Shenandoah Blue Ribbon Trout Streams). It named some streams and I found them on the topo maps and went fishing. Be prepared. All the streams run down the mountain and it is a nice hike back up. It was worth it though. Have fun! Use a caddis with a dropper and you will have action.

Troy

 

[JeffK]

Harry Murray's flyshop is a great place to visit in Edinburg, VA and is a good resource for Shenandoah Park fishing.

Front Royal at the northern end is a good place to stay as are the old towns around Edinburg along Rte 11 (which parallels Rte 81). The olds towns along Rte 11 still have a lot of old time Virginia character and are a break from the interstate/fast food joint world.

The website is murraysflyshop.com.

 

[JoeE]

Graves Mountain Lodge http://www.gravesmountain.com/ I would consider that the northern part of the Park. It will put you near the Rose, Rapidan, Robinson and Hughes. Your go in the summer and if you see water snakes don’t waste time move to another stream. I would pick up Murray’s books it will give you the mile markers to hike into the streams from Skyline Drive. He also has maps of the park to get around to the different streams from the local routes. The Park in not that hard to tie for either 5 patterns is about all you need.

 

[JoeE]

I don’t know how many rods or what length rods you fish. But, if you're going to fish some of the no name streams or some of the smaller brook trout streams and don’t want to purchase a small rod for the trip let me know and I’ll hook you up with a short rod for the trip just in case condition require a shorter rod.


Joe E.

 

[Padraic]

Hey,

The guy who quite literally wrote the book on trout fishing the Shenandoah is Harry Murray http://www.murraysflyshop.com/

Getting a copy of Trout Fishing in the Shenandoah National Park isn't just recommended, it could be the difference between a memorable and a wasted trip.
http://www.murraysflyshop.com/bookshmurr.html

And here is the link to his maps and trail books page http://www.murraysflyshop.com/maps.html

I assume you are an experienced hiker, and will have topo maps. But the park is a strange place. If you are going off the beaten path, it's easy to get turned around and loose your way. I would not rely on a GPS either as the steep slopes and heavy forest cover can easily block the signal.

Weather will make all the difference. If you are going in April or May and there hasn't been a good deal of rain, you may want to try some of the rivers on the eastern side of the park. If there is a good bit of rain, you will need to fish from Skyline Drive down. You need to be in really good shape to do that all day. The canyons are quite steep and the only way to fish White Oak Canyon or Cedar Run is to go straight down hill and straight up again. Check Harry Murray's site for current conditions.

The website for the park is here:
http://www.nps.gov/shen/
They have maps (which are not to scale or topographic, so don't rely on them for navigation) and information on campgrounds in the park. Skyland is a beautiful place to stay that is right near White Oak Canyon, Cedar Run, Dark Hollow and the Rapidan. If you want to stay at a campground, I can recommend Big Meadow. These are up on Skyline Drive. If you want to fish the lower streams or fish from the valleys up, you'll want to stay outside the park.

 

[Chaz]

The mountains run SW to NE, so the North side of the ridge is actually NW and the south side is actually SE. I found the lfows during the summer to be much better on the SE side, all of the streams on the NW side sink before they get to the valley, it's limestone. As for hatches there won't be any hatches during the summer, but attractors work. Be prepared for heavy breathing, these streams are very steep gradient streams, hiking in from the bottom is much preferred to hiking in from the top. Most of the streams have good trails along them.

 

[troutbert]

Its a great area, the scenery and streams are really nice.

First step is to get the Trails Illustrated map.
http://www.ngmapstore.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=259&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=134&iSubCat=137&iProductID=259

The Park Service map is just OK, but the Trails Illustrated map is very, very good. They always are. If you are fishing a national park or national forest anywhere in the country, always check to see if there is a Trails Illustrated map, and just buy it. You won't regret the $10. I'm somewhat of a map nut, and these are the best maps I've seen. They are really superb.

With the map, everything is shown very clearly. The streams, the trails, the roads. So you can just explore to your hearts content.

The Harry Murray book is pretty good, and I recommend getting both. But if you are just going to choose one, get the map.

When we went down, we deliberately chose a stream that was NOT in his book. (That's the way my mind works, if you can call it that.) We had wonderful brook trout fishing.

We went around April 22 or so and had excellent conditions. Good flow levels, and the temps were warm enough that the fish were active, especially in the afternoon.

As others have stated, you want to go when there are decently high flows. When it's low, that's bad.

 

[sage]

I live in Harrisonburg for 5 years. Now I fish it 2 times a year with some good friends. I would fish the western side of skyline drive. Head west out of Harrisonburg on rt33 and you can find Dry Run, Rocky Run and Blacks Run. All three great wild brown and brookie fishing. They don't like yankees in those parts April or May is a great time. They are a good month ahead of us on their hatches and weather.


http://blueridgeangler.com/
http://mossycreekflyfishing.com/main.aspx


http://www.virginia.org/site/content.asp?SrchLocality=Rockingham&MGrp=4&MCat=19

 

[Padraic]

Here's an excellent article on fly fishing the park by Harry Murray
http://www.flyfishingnc.com/articles/article3.php#March%20Hatches