Andreae Family Wellness & Recreation Trail, Front Royal, VA

This 2.5 mile easy to moderate loop hike took place on Friday, January 9th ,2026. it was sponsored by the

Shenandoah Take A Hike Group

and was led by Cynthia Uber.

I left Manassas, VA at around 8:00 AM, stopped at the 7-11 in Linden, VA at around 9:00 AM for a bathroom break and a donut. I then got to Warren Memorial Hospital in Front Royal, VA at around 9:15 AM. The Andreae Family Wellness & Recreation Trail was constructed on the hills surrounding this hospital. Our original hike leader, Michelle House, had the flu so Cynthia Uber, who lived close by, filled in for Michelle. Michelle called this trail “The Hospital Trail” in her email.

The hike started around 10:10 AM. There were about 26 people on this hike. The name of the initial trail was the Northern Trail. We started at the North Trailhead. It was .90 miles. This was billed as an easy hike. I thought that it was more easy to moderate myself. We went up about 300 feet within about a mile. The weather when we started this hike was breezy and in the mid 40’s. I had some nice conversations with my fellow hikers on the way to the top of this hill and the Upper Overlook.

As far as the trail itself went it was very well constructed. There was signage at every intersection so one knew where one was at all times. We got to the Upper Overlook at around 11:15 AM. It was cloudy out so I could not see all of the sites but could make out the town of Front Royal and Skyline Drive. We spent about 10 minutes at the Upper Overlook, then started our decent back to the hospital parking lot and our vehicles.

For our decent we took the Green Hill Trail, passed by Rest Area 2 and arrived at the Lower Overlook in about a mile. The downhill walking was much more pleasurable than the ups. This was a very nice view of the hospital, which was fairly new, having been completed in 2021. It was a beautiful structure and will serve the people of this area very well for a long time to come.

At this point I decided to take a shortcut trail back to my vehicle. So myself and 3 other hikers descended along the woodline and made it back to the south trail head in about 10 minutes. I used the facillities, found my vehicle and proceeded to two other locations in Front Royal. I lived in this town from 1976 until 1984. During that time both of my sons were born here. I had a third son that died before childbirth. I went to Prospect Hill Cemetery and said hello to him. After that I drove to Royal Plaza Shopping Center. I opened and managed a Radio Shack store there from 1976 to 1981. It is now a T-Mobile phone store.

Finally, I drove home at around 1:00 PM. Temps were in the low 50’s around this time. Right when I passed the Fauquier/Prince William county line along I66 at Throughfare Gap, it started sprinkling. The rain varied in intensity the rest of the way home. I got home before 2:00 PM. I was aprehensive about doing this hike today because I had the flu last week and wasn’t 100% yet. But I wasn’t contagious. And I felt great afterwards so I’m glad that I made the last minute decision to do this hike.

Mike C

Map of where we hiked