Mountain Loop recomendations near WashingtonBaltimore

[Stephen M]

Folks,

Looking for some help.

I can get fairly cheap flight from a local Airport to Washington/Baltimore BWI Airport and was wondering can folks recommend any decent mountain loops within 2 hours drive.

Cheers,

Stephen

[Luke Schmidt]

Check MidAtlanticHikes.com and see what they have in the Shenandoah area.

[Stephen M]

That's great Luke, much appreciated.

[BlackHatGuy]

There are no mountains within 2 hours of BWI. Not really. Make it four hours and you'll have some great hikes in PA and WVa.

[Stephen M]

Wishful thinking on my behalf Doug :-(
Back to the drawing board for me.

[Luke Schmidt]

See if there are cheap flights into Lynchburg or Roanoke. Both are withing 2 hours of mountain hiking in VA. From Roanoke you can reach a trailhead for Grayson Highlands in 2 to 3 hours. Driving time depends on which TH you pick. I recommend the Mt. Rogers Trail, Grayson Highlands State Park TH will be a longer drive down some very windy roads.

[Stephen M]

Will check those out but would mean getting a connection thought Detroit or Atalanta, it would be just as quick to drive at that stage.
I know there is a direct flight to Atlanta that's cheap so will check out what's close to their.

[John Rowan]

I just wanted to chime in and say that, while it's true that there might not be a ton within 2 hours, Shenandoah (which has already been recommended above) is less than 3 hours away and is a pretty easy drive from BWI, especially if you're hitting the road at a reasonable hour of the day. I live in Philadelphia, and the drive usually takes me about 4.5 hours, so hitting the road at BWI definitely shaves a good bit of that drive time off.

That being said, the DC beltway and I-66 can easily add hours to a drive if the traffic is feeling cranky, so it's probably worth trying to drive at low(er) traffic times. I have a lot of experience either driving or being a passenger in this area and I've had numerous 6-8 hour trips that would normally would be 3-4 hours.

[Stephen M]

I kind of gueesed the traffic could be bad in that neck of the woods.

I think I am just going to have to bite the bullet and drive from Michigan.

[BlackHatGuy]

Generally (barring accidents, which screw everything up), if you leave from BWI by 1 p.m. heading west, traffic won't be horrible (it'll only be bad). Except Fridays, sucks pretty much all day.

Also, you have to be aware of whether or not the Nationals/Redskins/Caps have a home game that day, and when it is, as that can affect traffic greatly from about 2-3 hours before the event. Major concerts too, though those are less regular. And weather events, since the morons around here only know how to drive in nice weather (and even then, a bit iffy), add hard rain or a touch of snow and traffic snarls ensue.

[Stephen M]

I think I will give flying in to BWI a miss so Doug :-)

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