George Washington and Jefferson National Forest · Virginia, West Virginia

North Mountain

14 mi of trail, end to end · native material surface · trail No. 263 · trail class 3 · typical grade 12-20% · tread 18-24 inches wide · hiking, horse, bike

Begins at the forest's mile 0, 37.3784, -80.1547 - no trailhead mapped Drive to where the trail begins

Tuscarora - Little N. Mountain (Forest TR #405.4) the Forest Service's write-up

No fee. · season Open year round to

Trail Hiking
Photo: US Forest Service

Ascends from Fetzer Gap to ridge of Little North Mountain, goes south and descends to Sheffer Gap, crosses Cedar Creek, and ascends to ridge of Paddy Mountain (state line). The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) maintains and manages the approximate 250 mile Tuscarora Trail that is located in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia. The trail follows an extensive route that bypasses the Appalachian Trail by following mountain ridges to the west. It connects to the Appalachian Trail at both its northern and southern ends. This complete trail was originally built as separate trails—the Tuscarora Trail in the north and the Big Blue Trail in the south. The Tuscarora Trail departs to the west from the Appalachian Trail at the top of Blue Mountain about 10 miles west of the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, PA. and rejoins the Appalachian Trail in the North District of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

Trail Open To:

This hike on fs.usda.gov

Every trail in George Washington and Jefferson National Forest

All 610 trails in George Washington and Jefferson National ForestFind a trailForest on fs.usda.gov

About this trail's facts

The lines are the US Forest Service's National Forest System trails layer (public domain), read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end, and the class, surface, grade and tread width are the forest's own entries where it publishes them - a forest that publishes the centreline alone has none. The trailheads and the points along the way are the Service's recreation points, and the write-ups its own recarea text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the forest's own site before you go.