Dark Hollow Falls

Kid Friendly: Yes! Short, some steep grades on the return trip.
Dog Friendly: No. Unfortunately, the NPS has decided no furr babies.
Baby-Wearing Friendly: Yes, no major obstacles
Will my kids whine?: On the way down? No. On the way up? YES!

A heavily trafficked but well worth it trail, Dark Hollow Falls is a staple of Shenandoah National Park. It’s beautiful any time of year but I prefer it during a light mist or full-on rain in midsummer. (The mist keeps the rest of humanity away.)

The parking lot is easy to find, but it can be hard to find a spot, especially on the weekends. The lot, regardless, has a pretty large capacity. It’s just past mile marker 50 before you get to Big Meadows.

The trail immediately starts to descend as you start your journey down towards the falls. Keep in mind – this is an out-and-back trail. What you’re walking down, you will walk back up.

The trail itself is only about 1.5 miles ( 0.75 miles down, and 0.75 miles back up) but the return trip climbs over 400 feet in elevation gain in that distance, which gives you an overall grade of 10% which honestly isn’t bad – it’s the stretches of 20% grades here and there that get some people (mainly kids) dramatizing their death.

The trail takes you first to the top of the falls where you can hear, if it’s full, the power of the Rose River flooding over the 70-foot total drop. You’ll then veer off down the side, and to the bottom of the falls for a spectacular view.

I’ve never NOT climbed up the falls- it’s hard not to do it – and I’m pretty sure the view at the bottom is every bit as good as the views from beside the falls themselves. However, the feeling of sitting in, beside, and above the waterfall is always far too refreshing to miss out on. It’s the reason I don’t have an elevation profile reflecting what the return elevation is without the steep climb up the side of the falls.

At the top, the water is calm. You can hear the rush of the water tell a cautionary tale – but it’s generally fine to splash around here, and cross to climb back up to the trail.