Still wanting to take the kids to Humpback Rocks and still having hopes of the fall foliage being peak, Blake and I decided to attempt taking the kids again after breakfast. Taylor got up early and we made our Sunday pancake breakfast. This is the earliest we have ever had our pancake breakfast.
After breakfast we all get ready and got in the car to head up to the Blue Ridge Parkway to hike to Humpback Rocks.
Humpback Rocks:
- Location: Lyndhurst, VA – Blue Ridge Parkway MP 5.8
- Distance: 1.99 Miles
- Trail Type: Out and Back
- Elevation Gain: 804 Feet
- Trail: Humpback Rocks Trail (Blue Blazes)
- Moving Time: 1:16:26
- Weather: 43 degrees and breezy
- Terrain: Rocks, Boulders and Roots (lots of erosion)
On the drive up, I was nervous because our experience trying to get the kids to Humpback Rocks 2 weeks ago was very unsuccessful.
We arrived to the parking area of Humpback rocks around 11:20 and circled the parking lot twice before finding a spot. If you are unfamiliar with Humpback rocks, this trail is a very popular “tourist trail” as we would call it and parking is hard to come by, despite a decent parking lot and visitors center close by. People park where they can squeeze their vehicles and along the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is also the parking lot for the Jack Albright Trail, this trail is the site of a 1960s plane crash involving a Beechcraft Bonanza.
We began our hike at 11:38 and of course the kids go off ahead of us. The trail does not have many switchbacks and is very steep for being such a short trail. What makes the ascent worse it the trail has heavy erosion and is very rough because of it.
The ascent to the summit is pretty rough (I will admit, I am out of shape), even the kids said it was a steep climb. We all made the most of it and the kids found ways to stay occupied on the way up.
About halfway to the summit, there is a side trail that people have made as an “easier” way to the summit, however this is not a sanctioned trail and is not marked with blazes and from the summit it is roped off but people still take it anyways. We continue on the correct trail and continue to follow the blue blazes and make it to the few switchbacks on the trail. Once you get to this point, the rocks are larger and steeper and there is a section of stairs that are spaced out just far enough that the average person would have to take more than one step per stair.
We made it to the summit and the views are immediately breathtaking. The fall colors were in full effect. The summit was very crowded but you don’t even notice due to the beauty of the views.
We let the kids go and explore and we head out to the left rock outcropping. It is extremely cold and windy when we reached the summit. The temperature in the parking lot was around 43 degrees and the summit is almost 800 feet higher in elevation making temperature a lot colder.
We sat at the top for a while taking in the view.
A few minutes later we see a head coming up from the rocks in front of us. We look down and it is Ethan. He had climbed the rocks from the lower platform. We initially got on him for doing it and telling him how dangerous it is. Nick was behind him and we told him to not even think about trying to climb the rocks.
Blake and I take a couple pictures at the top. We never took Taylor out of her carrier because it was too cold and windy.
After we look the pictures, I went back to the base of the rocks and fed Taylor while Blake and the kids explored. Blake also went with Ethan and Nick back to where they started climbing the rocks. We decided that it was okay for them to climb and proceeded to let them have at it. The boys were overly excited and climbed it a bunch of times.
The kids played on the rocks for a little bit longer.
The rocks are directly above the parking lot and from the top we could pick our car out and this kids thought it was pretty cool.
We had a nice descent down the mountain, it was a little rough because of the grade and rocks, all of the kids did great and a lot of times had a lot of momentum and had to run.
1:58 PM, we made it back to the trailhead.
On the way back to the car, we stopped to show the kids where we did the Jack Albright trail with them as well as the trailhead for the hike up the backside of the mountain.
We get back to the car and the kids had a snack and Taylor played on the hill next to the car.
Across the street from the parking lot is the Mountain Farm Trail which leads to the Humpback Rocks Visitor Center (unfortunately it is closed due to COVID). The Mountain Farm Trail is an informational trail that has buildings and signage talking about Appalachian mountain life in the 1890s.
Mountain Farm Trail:
Distance: 0.5 mile, out and back
Elevation Gain: 32 feet
Spring House 
Spring 
On our way back to the car, still on the Mountain Farm Trail, we could see the outcropping of Humpback Rocks.
On the way home, we stopped at an overlook to get some pictures. We drove past the first overlook we wanted to stop at and the second one we tried to stop at had a bunch of trees blocking the view.
The kids asked to eat at Blue Mountain Brewery and of course we stopped there for them. Our experience this time was not the best, not sure what was up that day at the restaurant. Everyone enjoyed their meal though and then we drove the little over 2 hours home.
Nic of Time - Travel 