This 2.9 mile (1.45 miles up, 1.45 miles back) linear hike occured on Friday, February 7, 2025. It was sponsored by the
and was led by Michelle House.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go on this hike. I thought that since it was my birthday (I am 71 today) that maybe I should just stay home and do nothing. But then again I thought that if I didn’t go hiking, I would soon weigh 500 pounds. Therefore, I reluctantly set out for Middletown, VA.
So I got my free birthday Starbucks, then got a prefab sub at Food Lion and ate half of it on the way out. I only had an hour to drive the 62 miles to Belle Grove Plantation in Middletown, VA. I didn’t want to get a ticket so I drove 73 miles an hour on I66 west and I81 south. I made it to the meeting spot as the group was gathering. I was the 31st person there out of 32 hikers.
This group consists of mostly retirees, the majority of which are female. Everyone has been very nice to me and we had some great conversations as we hiked. We started this hike around 11:05 AM. We basically went around the perimeter of a farm field and stayed slightly in the woods. Elevation changes were minimal, about 150 feet. After about half a mile we stopped at an over look of the farm field that we were walking around. The views were fantastic.
According to
the 19th Corps of the Union Army consisted of 360,000 men from Louisiana and East Texas. They fought at the US Civil War Battle of Cedar Creek. They dug a series of breastworks along this trail, which are still visible today.
Again, according to
the Belle Grove Plantation was completed in 1797.
About half of this trail was on Belle Grove Plantation property, The other half was on Cedar Creek National Historical Park property. The first half of the trail was blazed neatly in yellow. The second half was blazed in not so neat and faded white blazes. Once we hit the one mile mark we turned left onto an old road. I was told by another hiker (and this was verified by the Cedar Creek Visitor Center Manager) that this road was built by a construction company wanting to build a housing development in the late 1970’s, early 1980’s. The project was abandoned because the land wouldn’t perk.
We arrived at US11 at around 11:30 AM There were a few civil war monuments along this stretch. There was also parking for a few vehicles from US11. We took a break there and then started our trip back. Again, I had some neat conversations with my fellow hikers on the way back. I saw various good size holes in the ground on the way back. The Cedar Creek Visitor Center Manager confirmed that these were probably perk test holes.
Around 12:10 PM we arrived back at the Belle Grove Plantation parking lot. A good number of the hikers were going to the nearby Star in the Valley Vineyard for wine and further conversation. However, My hiking buddy Charlie Johnson wanted to go to the Cedar Creek National Historical Park Visitors Center just north on US11. So we went. The manager there was very friendly and told us a lot about the nearby park as well as then various foundations that fund and maintain this park.
Charlie bought a medallion for his walking stick. Afterwards, we decided that since we were probably too late to go to the winery, we went to the Waffle House in nearby Stephens City, VA. Man, it was good.
So we ate and said our goodbyes around 2:20 PM. I got home by 4:00 PM. This was a nice hike. It was easy, there was a lot of history and there were some great fellow hikers along. The last two hikes that I have done with this group have been very easy. However, these guys and gals also like to hike in the Massenutten Mountains. There are some pretty hefty elevations there. If you are interested in joining a futre hike with the Shenandoah Take A Hike Group, please use the
on this site and I will tell you who to contact to get on their mailing list.
Mike C
By Charlie Johnson
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