George Washington National Forest

Sherando Lake is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western Virginia, just south of Shenandoah National Park. A 25-acre spring-fed lake is at the center of the Sherando Lake Recreation Area, which offers camping, water activities, hiking and mountain biking.

The trails at Sherando are mostly intermediate to advanced, requiring both a significant level of technical ability as well as the lungs to back it up. Sections of Turkey Pen Ridge Trail, Kennedy Ridge Trail, and Cold Spring Bald Mountain Trail can be very steep and long with significant elevation gain. Many of these trails are quite remote and appropriate plans should be taken for food, water, medical kit, and perhaps notifying next of kin. Point is, you are out there and it is very unlikely that you will have cell service, so be prepared if something happens!

By the way, while riding at Sherando, we encountered our first rattlesnake in an up close and rather unsettling personal kind of way. No snakes or humans were harmed during the encounter.