We spent a lot of time debating whether we’d ever done this walk in this direction before (and I haven’t looked it up, so it remains unsettled). I voted no, since the way we did it this way takes you quickly up onto the ridge and to the high point (lunch!) within 1.2 miles, and it’s always my hope to have at least half the hike–even a short one such as this–done before lunch. The Day Hiker says we’ve done it before this way . . .
Anyway, I bet it is the first time we’ve eaten lunch 35 minutes into a walk; we did agree fully on taking that move, as the wind was cold and from the west, and there along the ridge before we turned off to the west was the last place to drop down the mountainside a little to the east to avoid the wind and take advantage of the intermittent sun, which made for a pleasant, if unearned lunch.
The next debate was over the sign at the intersection, talking about 4 miles back to the parking lot when both the National Geographic map and Allen DeHart’s guide to Virginia trails talk about 2.8.
It’s 2.8, ’cause we just don’t walk 4 miles in an hour an a half unless we really concentrate on it, which we didn’t this day.
A pleasant walk, this, and you’re likely to have the trails to yourself.
Price Mountain and Sulphur Ridge Trails loop. 4 miles
How to get there: From U.S. 220 just south of Fincastle, Va. 606 to the small parking area at the high point before dropping down into Craig County
