Old Rag to require reservations

Impromptu visits to Old Rag Mountain will eventually be a thing of the past.

Shenandoah National Park’s latest plans for future parking changes at the mountain’s trailhead in Nethers include a seasonal reservation system.
Once the park completes the planned construction of a new parking lot at that site, officials will start requiring visitors to call ahead and pay to reserve a parking space, according to recently released park documents.

However, it’s unclear how soon any of the proposed parking changes – signed off by National Park Service Regional Director of the Northeast Region Dennis Reidenbach June 18 – will take place, according to park officials.

“We do not have a timeline for the parking lot construction at this time,” Shenandoah National Park Public Affairs Officer Karen Beck-Herzog said in an e-mail response last week. “We still do not have the money necessary to complete the construction and stimulus funds will not be used.”

(Shenandoah National Park is set to receive more than $17 million in stimulus money from the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced earlier this year.)

The park service initially OK’d Shenandoah National Park’s plans to build a new parking lot on privately-owned land adjoining the park in 2003. These plans sat on the shelf for a few years until 2006, when the park’s superintendent at the time, Chas Cartwright, “determined that a re-evaluation of the proposed actions was warranted based on new information and the desire to re-engage the public,” according to a park document.

The following year, park officials then re-started the legally required planning process, which included an environmental assessment of the property, public meetings and the receipt and consideration of another round of letters from the public. The most recently released “Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)” document regarding the park’s plans is the last step in this planning process.

Longtime parking problems

Parking problems at the mountain’s major trailhead in Nethers are nothing new. Accommodating the spot’s approximately 50,000 annual visitors has been an issue for the park for more than three decades, park representatives have previously said.

Historically, hikers accessing the mountain through Nethers were served by a lot with about a dozen spaces at the end of Nethers Road (Route 600) within the park’s boundaries (sometimes known as the Upper Lot).

In the mid-1970s, after an increase of visitors to the national park through Nethers, a Route 600 property owner started leasing out his cow pasture to the park to be used as a parking area. This 250-space leased lot – known as Weakley Hollow Parking Area or Old Rag Parking Area – is about .8 miles from the mountain’s major trailhead. Since 1974, the park has been continually renewing its lease of the property, which is currently owned by Steve Lillard of Ruth Road.

Lillard, who inherited the land from his parents, says he’s happy with the current lease and has no issues with the park, but that he cannot agree to the park’s desire to secure an “infinite” lease on the land.

“The park service is essentially looking for a 100-year lease. You and I can’t talk about 100 years,” he told The Eagle this month, adding that a situation could arise in the future, such as an unexpected health problem, that could change his life plans, and make selling the land, rather than leasing it, something he would need to consider. The property’s current 10-year lease agreement is good through 2017.

Close to a decade ago, the park’s goal of securing a lot that would be available on an indefinite basis seemed it was nearing a reality. In 2001, the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club – a volunteer organization that works to maintain and protect the Appalachian Trail and nearby lands – purchased a piece of Nethers Road property, about a quarter of a mile up the road from the leased lot toward the main trailhead. The club had said it would be willing to donate a 99-year lease to the park for the land to be used as a new parking lot.

Plans revised

The park’s most recently released plans include the construction of a new, gravel parking lot of 140-160 spaces on the vacant property owned by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, and the discontinued use of the smaller, 12-space Upper Lot.

(Although the park eventually plans to close the Upper Lot to public use, park staff would likely continue to use the lot during emergencies and other times.)

During construction – which will take several months – the leased lot will continue to be available at its full 250-space capacity, according to a park document. Once the new lot is complete, the leased lot would be reduced by 90-110 vehicle spaces, in order to maintain the maximum vehicle parking that is currently available in the Nethers area.

Once the new construction is completed and the seasonal parking reservation system is in place, park officials will make a decision about whether or not to close the leased lot completely, the document sates.

Previously, the park had proposed that construction of the new lot would also include the development of a trail, which would connect the new parking lot to the Old Rag Ridge Trail, in order to avoid hikers walking on Nethers Road. The trail’s path would travel along 0.4 miles of an adjoining tract of land also owned by PATC and then go through 0.2 miles of land within the park before connecting to the trail, according to the document.
But park officials decided against pursuing the development of this trail at this time “due to resistance by neighbors adjacent to the proposed connector trail,” the document states.

During the park’s most recent consideration of these plans, officials received at least one letter regarding concerns that “the proximity of the parking lot and connector trail to Old Rag [Mountain] Sportsman’s Club and other private properties would exacerbate existing problems,” according to the document.

Park officials also decided to continue with its current setup of having hikers walk on Route 600, since they anticipate that there will be a decrease of car traffic along the narrow, steep, winding road with the closure of the Upper Lot.

Park representatives may later decide to construct the connector trail if “the need and interest” change, the document states.

There are at least two other parking areas near Old Rag Mountain that are not located in Nethers -- the ones on a different side of the mountain near Syria. These include a lot (sometimes known as Berry Hollow Parking area) with about a dozen spaces within the park’s boundaries at the side of the mountain off of Weakley Hollow Road and a lot (sometimes known as Whiteoak Canyon Falls Parking area) with about 70 spaces on the side of the mountain farther down on Weakley Hollow Road. Although these alternate lots in general receive much less use overall than the Nethers' ones -- they are more accessible to most Madison County residents, since Syria is easier to reach from most of Madison County than Nethers.

The park’s most recently released parking plans at Old Rag do not include any changes to these alternate parking areas.

For a copy of the park’s most recently released plans regarding Old Rag parking changes – called a “Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)” – visit the Web site, http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ and search under “Shenandoah National Park.” Copies are also available by calling (540) 999-3500, ext. 3300, or e-mailing karen_beck-herzog@nps.gov.