Sight · Shenandoah National Park
A Blue Ridge mission ruin reached beyond Pocosin Cabin.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Shenandoah Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Shenandoah National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Shenandoah audio tourRecorded for this area
Pocosin Mission: A Walk to the Church Remains“You’re approaching the Pocosin Mission trailhead, for a history walk through the woods.”
Plays on the road 1 mi from Upper Pocosin Mission Ruins in the Parkwolf Shenandoah Tour Guide.
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“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Upper Pocosin Mission Ruins are the scattered remains of an Episcopal mission in Shenandoah’s central district. Look for concrete front steps, low foundation walls and a fallen wooden outbuilding. An overgrown cemetery with unmarked stones sits across the path. The remains are partly collapsed, so look from firm ground instead of climbing through them. The steps and foundation lines make the site easier to read in a photo than the fallen roof alone.
Turn onto Pocosin Fire Road near Skyline Drive milepost 59.5 and park in the small gravel pull-off. The entrance is easy to miss, and the pull-off has room for only a handful of cars. Walk downhill past Pocosin Cabin, about 0.2 mile from the start, then continue roughly another mile to the ruins. Return the same way, climbing back to Skyline Drive. Plan on about 2.5 miles round trip. Check Skyline Drive status before you go, since a closure makes the approach longer. The cabin is a separate PATC rental, not the mission site.
Episcopal mission sites served mountain communities along the Blue Ridge before Shenandoah became a national park. In 1930, more than 800 people lived on land now inside the park. The overgrown cemetery and modest remains here give that earlier human landscape a physical place to meet.
Wildlife
325 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
21 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
1,036 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
167 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
93 sightingsTimber RattlesnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
24 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Shenandoah. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyPocosin Mission Trail2 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.9 mi awayA gravel road through woods ends at a mountain mission's remains.
ModerateEntry Run and Rosser Lamb Loop2.6 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.8 mi awayA short wooded loop with a steep climb and a streamside return.
ModerateDry Run Falls3.4 mi · 2 hr · 2.3 mi awayA wooded fire road toward Dry Run Falls, with off-road access uncertainty.
EasyLewis Mountain Nature Trail1.1 mi · 36 min · 2.3 mi awayA short stair climb through mountain laurel to a small rocky summit.
ChallengingSouth River and Pocosin Loop8.4 mi · 8 hr · 2.3 mi awayA two-day backpack loop to South River Falls and Pocosin country.ModeratePocosin & Dry Run Backcountry Trip7.4 mi · 5.5 hr · 2.4 mi awayAn 83-foot waterfall anchors a flexible two-night backcountry loop.
ModerateSouth River Falls Base Loop4.6 mi · 3.5 hr · 2.4 mi awayGo beyond the overlook to stand beneath an 83-foot, two-chute waterfall.
ModerateSouth River Falls Circuit3.3 mi · 2.3 hr · 2.4 mi awayWaterfall overlook, then a loop back by fire road and the A.T.
Lodging · 0.7 mi awayPocosin CabinA historic log cabin stay, a short walk from Skyline Drive.
Scenic pullout · 1.4 mi awayThe Oaks OverlookA narrow westward window onto the valley's working landscape.
Sight · 1.4 mi awayBaldface Mountain OverlookA quick stop for a ledge view over the Shenandoah Valley.Sight · 1.8 mi awaySouth River FallsAn 83-foot waterfall, reached by a steep wooded loop.
Scenic pullout · 2.3 mi awaySouth River OverlookA field-framed southeast view, right on Skyline Drive.
Campground · 2.4 mi awayLewis Mountain CampgroundA small campground with a defining place in Shenandoah's integration story.
Picnic area · 2.4 mi awaySouth River Picnic GroundsA shaded picnic stop that doubles as a South River Falls trailhead.
Lodging · 2.5 mi awayLewis Mountain CabinsA wooded cabin stay with outdoor meals and important history.Parkwolf’s Shenandoah ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
