North Fork Moormans River

North Fork Moormans River runs a modest path down the foothills of the Blue Ridge along Shenandoah National Park’s east boundary. Fly fisherman work the stocked waters. Hikers push upstream toward the waterfalls on picturesque mountain streams that feed the North Fork. Beyond the most popular day hikes lies rugged Shenandoah backcountry. From Sugar Hollow Reservoir deep into the park, the landscape shows scars of a 1995 flood that swelled the river and tributaries with water, rocks, trees, and mud. This is not only a great day hike; it’s a firsthand account of earth-shaping events, and the process of recovery that follows. Terrain: Mostly dirt roads, occasional stream beds wind through an expansive stream valley hewn by flood waters and fed by numerous small mountain streams. One tributary, Big Branch, drops 50 feet off barefaced rock into a deep pool.