(map is at bottom of page)
A thousand feet below the 2,800-foot summits of Lookout and Trimble mountains, the serpentine North River Gorge Trail {FS 538} twists and turns on a nearly level route of exuberantly full, vibrant, and green foliage. This is a hike for those who don't need far-off vistas to feel that they're having a worthwhile woodlands experience. The lack of views is more than offset by the freedom to saunter down the gorge with almost no rise in elevation and to wander around its broad floor, searching out hidden burrows of beavers on the river banks or standing in far-reaching gardens of wispy ferns.
The best time to visit the gorge is in late spring and early summer, when literally hundreds of opulent pink lady's slippers will accompany you on almost every mile of the hike. This time of year also permits you to negotiate the nine fords of the river when there is still enough water flowing in the stream to make the crossings exciting and challenging. It's best to avoid the hike during the spring runoff season, and don't ever attempt to cross North River (or any stream) after heavy rains. The fords will slow your progress and you'll certainly be walking in wet boots, but think of the crossings as a chance to rest for a few moments and refresh tired feet. Consider bringing along fishing gear; North River is stocked with trout by the Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries.
You'll need a car shuttle, so follow these directions for reaching the Segment A trailhead of the Wild Oak National Recreation Trail: Get there by following U.S. 250 west from Staunton. Passing through Churchville in about 10 miles, make a right onto VA 42. In 1.3 miles, turn left onto VA 760 for 3.4 miles to a left onto VA 747. Another 1.1 miles brings you to a right onto VA 730 . Don't follow VA 730 when it makes an abrupt turn in 1.3 miles; keep straight, following VA 718 and making a left onto FDR 95 for about 1 mile to a paved parking area on the left side of the road.
You can leave one car here, or a few hundred feet beyond, next to the gated dirt road on the left (which is where you'll finish the hike ) . Continue with the second car, passing by Todd Lake in another 1.6 miles, where FDR 95 becomes dirt. At 1.3 miles from the lake, turn left onto FDR 95B, following it for 1 mile to the North River Campground. The campground was once a base of operations for the Civilian Conservation Corps. It's now open year-round and has vault toilets, fireplace grills, picnic tables, and water provided by a hand pump.
If you're not staying in the campground, leave your car in the parking area at the North River Gorge Trailhead, .2 mile beyond the campground entrance. Begin hiking by passing through the gate, and in less than 200 feet keep left on the orange diamond-blazed dirt roadbed. Tiny, pale bluets hugging the ground next to the roadway are hovered over by the light purple of wild geranium petals. Because all parts of the wild geranium contain tannin, it was once used as an astringent, and its leaves were brewed into a tea to treat diarrhea and bleeding ulcers.
Ford North River for the first time at .4 mile, passing by a wildlife clearing and crossing a side stream. The second ford is trickier, with large, slippery boulders causing your feet and ankles to twist and turn. You'll make good use of your walking stick as a brace for the third ford at .7 mile. Because the riverbed is made of large, flat, smooth, slippery slabs of rock, there are very few cracks in which to wedge your feet to keep them, and you, from being pushed downstream by the current. Probably the best place to cross is a few feet upstream from where the trail actually comes in contact with the river. Use caution and common sense!
After the ford, the roadway becomes soft and grassy, passing a wildlife clearing at 1 mile. From May to July, the forest floor erupts in a riot of six- to fourteen-inch-tall pink lady's slippers. They're next to the road, spread throughout the woods, and on the other side of the river. Like other orchids, the pink lady's slipper's exotic structure is designed to attract certain pollinators. After insects work their way through the slit in the red-veined pouch, they deposit pollen from other plants by brushing against the stigma -- the tip of the pistil, or female organ. Exiting the flower by way of the two openings at the rear of the slipper, the insects then pick up that plant's pollen by grazing the anthers -- the pollen-producing part of the stamen, or male organ. It appears that at one time or another almost every plant has been used for medicinal purposes, and the lady's slipper is no exception. Native Americans made a tea from its dried leaves as a cure for insomnia, and physicians, up until the 1930s, used its roots as a nerve medication. Don't, however, be tempted to touch the lady's slipper. Some people report having experienced a mild to severe skin inflammation after doing so.
At about the same time of year the pink lady's slippers are in bloom, the vanilla-sweet smell of autumn olive, planted in the wildlife clearing at 2.2 miles, can be almost overpowering just before you ford the river for the fourth time. You'll ford it again at 2.5 miles, and a sixth time at 2.8 miles.
The seventh crossing, at 2.9 miles, is made a little more interesting as the trail crosses a small island that formed after the great flood of 1985. There are also a number of side streams you'll cross in order to continue to the eighth ford at 3.1 miles.
Scores of additional pink lady's slippers may keep you from being alert when coming to the far end of the Adirondack shelter camping area (used by Girl Scouts from Camp May Flather) . The roadway continues straight, but your route makes an abrupt turn to the left to ford the river for the final time at 4 miles. It may be a little confusing after crossing the river. Do not make a turn to the right, nor follow the pathway going uphill. Instead, turn left, crossing two small streams in quick succession, and emerging onto FDR 95 at 4.5 miles.
