Old Rag is a 9.4-mile circuit with about 2,348 feet of elevation gain, rated very strenuous. The signature feature is a rock scramble near the summit — hands-on boulder navigation, not a maintained trail surface — followed by wide views from the summit.

A $2 per-person day-use ticket is required March 1 through November 30, sold only through Recreation.gov. Tickets release in two batches — 400 released 30 days out and 400 released 5 days out, both at 10am ET — and this is in addition to the standard Shenandoah National Park entrance fee, not a replacement for it. Dogs are not permitted on this trail. On a warm weekend the scramble itself can back up into a 60–90 minute queue; an early start, a weekday, or the off-season are the real ways to avoid it.

2026 note: the main Old Rag parking lot was closed for construction, reported for May 4 through November 2026, with overflow lots in use during that window. This is a temporary, dated condition — confirm current parking arrangements and ticket availability directly with the National Park Service before you go, rather than relying on this note once 2026 has passed.