A Guide To The General Crook Trail

Hiking The General Crook Trail

A Guide To The General Crook Trail

The General Crook Trail runs roughly eleven miles through the George Washington National Forest in southwestern Virginia, connecting Elkhorn Gap near the Mount Rogers area to the road at Toms Creek. It follows what was originally a Civil War-era route used by Union cavalry under General George Crook in 1863. Today it serves as a backpacking corridor and a day-hike option depending on how you approach it. The terrain is mixed hardwood forest with some exposed ridgeline sections and a few decent elevation gains, nothing extreme but not flat either. I've hiked this trail a handful of times over the years, mostly as a point-to-point between the two trailheads, and occasionally out-and-back from Elkhorn Gap when I didn't have a second car available. The standard direction most people hike it is north to south, meaning you start at Elkhorn Gap and end at Toms Creek. That feels more natural to me because the elevation profile is slightly more forgiving that way. Going the other direction means you're taking the bigger climb early instead of saving it for later, which matters less if you're carrying a full pack but still worth knowing. The most important thing people miss about this trail is the water situation. There are several good water sources along the way, mostly small creeks and one spring near the middle section, but none of them are marked on most trail maps and some dry out completely in late summer. I learned this the hard way on a July hike when I assumed I'd be fine with two liters and hit a four-mile stretch with no reliable water. Carry at least three liters and know where the sources are before you commit. The ones to watch for are the unnamed creek crossings roughly three and a half miles in and again around mile six, plus a seasonal spring about halfway between them.

Trailhead logistics: Elkhorn Gap has a small parking area off Route 677, easily missed if you're not paying attention. There's no signage that's particularly visible and no amenities at all. The Toms Creek trailhead has slightly more room to park but is also unmarked beyond a small wooden post at the road shoulder. Both are Forest Service roads so they can get muddy after rain. I always send my location to a passenger before starting because cell service is nonexistent for most of the trail regardless of direction. The trail surface is mostly well-defined, probably because it sees steady use from hunters in the fall and backpackers in the warmer months. You'll encounter some root tangles and a couple of rocky sections but nothing that requires scrambling. The biggest headache is actually the overgrowth in spots during mid-summer when the forest pushes back hard. Mile five through seven tends to get bushy enough that you're picking your way through sometimes. It gets worse after wet springs when everything grows faster. Bring long pants and don't bother with gaiters unless you're going in a year with heavy rain. If you're doing this as an overnight, the best camping spots are scattered along the ridge sections between miles four and eight. There are several flat-ish areas with minimal tree cover that work for a tent or two. Fire bans are common in the fall so check current regulations before planning a stove-only trip or a campfire if conditions allow. Picnic tables exist at both trailheads but that's basically it for infrastructure.

A word on navigation. The trail is blazed with white rectangles most of the way, which is standard for the region. But there are a couple of confusing junctions where the blazes get sparse and you could easily miss a turnoff if you're relying only on your eyes. My workaround has been to mark the key junctions in my GPS before I go so I know exactly when to expect a turn. The critical one is around mile two where the trail angles away from the ridge toward a valley crossing. I once walked past it because I was distracted and ended up walking another half mile on a faint game trail before I realized what happened. Your phone works for this but don't trust it blindly. Bring a paper map or at minimum an offline map app downloaded ahead of time. The trail does connect to other routes if you want to extend it. Heading south from Toms Creek you can link onto other forest trails that eventually tie back toward the Appalachian Trail network, though that requires multiple road shuttles or a very long out-and-back. More commonly people use it as a segment between Mount Rogers and the greater Grayson Highlands area. It's not as crowded as those popular sections, which is probably why you'll see more deer and turkeys here than on the AT nearby. Don't expect any official trail maintenance to be current when you arrive. The Forest Service does patch up the worst washouts after big storms but leaves the rest alone. You'll find old corduroy sections, washed-out drainage crossings, and a few places where the tread has drifted off into the woods after heavy rain. This isn't a problem for most hikers but it adds time if you're trying to move fast. Plan about five to six hours for the full north-to-south hike at a moderate pace, longer if you stop to explore or deal with any of the rougher sections.

One more thing nobody mentions: the ticks. This area has an unhealthy amount of them, especially in spring and early fall. Permethrin your gear before you go and do a full body check when you get back. I've had worse experiences here than on any other trail in the region, and I've hiked a lot of trails in Virginia. It's just the habitat. Wooded, humid, and full of deer. There's nothing you can do about it except be thorough about prevention. The trail is open year-round. Winter conditions can make the ridge sections slick with ice and the valley crossings muddy, which isn't dangerous but it slows you down considerably. Spring is the most beautiful time to hike it with wildflowers along the lower sections but also the wettest and the tickiest. Fall brings clear skies and comfortable temperatures but also hunter season, which means you should wear bright orange if you're hiking then. Summer is hot and bug-heavy with the dry water concerns I mentioned earlier. There's no permit required and no fee to hike it. The land is managed by the USDA Forest Service and falls under the Jefferson National Forest, which is where Mount Rogers lives too. Leave no trace principles apply as they do everywhere but this trail gets enough traffic that pack-it-in-pack-it-out is straightforward. No one's going to yell at you for leaving a wrapper but the right thing to do is obviously to carry everything out.