How hard is the Old Rag hike?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that trail is closed for social distancing reasons, so check before you go.

It reopened two weeks ago after being closed since mid-March. A few helpful comments:

- The circuit hike might be 8.8 miles but the parking lot is almost a mile from the trailhead. They were building a new lot a bit closer when we were there in March; it may be open.
- There was a ranger at Whiteoak Canyon a few weekends ago when it reopened.
- If you want to buy an annual pass and there is not a ranger to assist, bring a check or cash so you don't have to leave your credit card number. Fairly sure that is where mine was stolen. Potentially by a NPS employee, as I did receive my annual pass.
- The trail is NOT conducive to social distancing. It is popular, and I suspect many people hike beyond their fitness level and thus take a lot of breaks. This is a problem when you get to the rock scramble as there aren't as many places to duck out of the way safely to let others pass. It is not something likely to bother me (not nearly as much as the people who insist on playing their music on speakers as they "hike"), but if you are sensitive to it, be warned.

The above info is spot on. It's not a hard hike, but as stated, there are bottlenecks at the boulders. While the boulder section is fun, I recommend hiking up and down the fire road to avoid the crowds and keep your distance safe from others.

It's not a hard hike, compared to say, Half Dome. But it is a hard hike if you're a novice hiker or aren't in good shape.

Personally, i wouldn't bother just doing the fire road up and back. I find it boring unless i do the rock scramble. (I used to scramble up and scramble back, avoiding the fire road entirely.) I'll wait and go early on a weekday and hope for the best in terms of beating the crowds and limit myself to going up the normal way and down the fire road, like most people do.

I recommended the fire road up. This was only for hiking during COVID. I much prefer the regular route up through the rocks. It's way more fun. My trick is to get there by 7am. Crowds aren't an issue then.