Parking
Start at the Mathews Arm Campground registration parking area on Skyline Drive at mile 22.2; the park entrance fee applies. If the campground is closed, use the mile 21 parking area and Appalachian Trail alternate, which adds about a mile.
Overview
About Overall Run Falls
Why go
- The open gorge view is still worthwhile when waterfall flow is low.
- The route reaches Shenandoah’s highest waterfall and a separate upper-falls view.
Heads up
- The long climb back to the campground is the hardest part.
- After dry weather, the lower falls may be little more than a trickle.
Overall Run Falls is a 5.1-mile out-and-back from Mathews Arm Campground's registration parking area to two waterfall viewpoints, including the 93-foot lower falls. Allow about four hours. It is moderately strenuous: you descend toward the falls and face a long climb back out, with 1,291 feet of elevation gain listed for the full hike. I'd choose it for the open gorge as much as for the water. After a dry stretch, the falls can be only a trickle or have no flow, but the view into the tree-lined canyon and valley is still a good payoff.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the hike for you?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Shenandoah map
Full mapElevation1,992–2,810 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Shenandoah alerts
- ClosureOld Rag Trailhead main lot closedThe Old Rag Trailhead main parking lot is closed to vehicles and pedestrians for infrastructure improvements; use the existing overflow lots. - Work is expected to be completed by November 2026.Official details
- ClosureBackcountry camping and zone closuresBackcountry camping is prohibited on the Appalachian Trail from Lewis Mountain to Big Meadows, and the Naked Creek backcountry zone is closed.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Shenandoah Tour Guide
Your drive to Overall Run Falls, narrated.
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 trailhead
Mathews Arm: The Hike to Overall Run Falls0:00 / 0:25
“You're nearing Mathews Arm, where a substantial hike leads to Overall Run Falls. The ninety-three-foot drop is the park's highest, with a wide gorge view, though it can have little or no flow after dry weather.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Shenandoah Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Piney River: A CCC Office and a Longer Walk
- Rattlesnake Point Overlook: Tiny Bubbles in the Rock
- Hogback Overlook: A Quick Valley Panorama
- Elkwallow: Burgers and a Picnic Break
- 146 audio storiesacross Shenandoah’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Bald Eagle, White-tailed Deer, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 163 trails, 142 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Overall Run Falls
Follow the campground routeStart at the registration area on Skyline Drive at mile 22.2.
Start at the registration area on Skyline Drive at mile 22.2. The route takes a connector section of Traces Trail, then joins the yellow-blazed Mathews Arm Road, which becomes Mathews Arm Trail. At the Beecher Ridge Trail junction, stay right on Mathews Arm; later turn left onto Tuscarora-Overall Run Trail. This is the campground-start hike, not the separate approach from Thompson Hollow or the full Traces circuit. On the Traces section, look for old rock walls and roadbeds around a former homesite. The walk is fairly smooth with a few moderately steep places. Shenandoah was created from more than 1,000 privately owned tracts, and these remains make that history visible. The yellow-blazed road is open to horses, so give any you meet room on the wider stretch.
Upper falls, then the big dropAbout a tenth of a mile after turning onto Tuscarora-Overall Run, a side trail brings the upper…
About a tenth of a mile after turning onto Tuscarora-Overall Run, a side trail brings the upper falls into view. Continue downhill on the main trail another 1,300 feet for the lower falls, then turn around and retrace the route. Overall Run's lower fall drops 93 feet, making it the highest waterfall in the park. Its flow depends on plentiful rain; a low-water visit can leave you with a thin stream instead of a broad curtain. The gorge and rock face give you something to look at either way. For a photo, keep the cliff and some of the tree-lined canyon in the frame instead of filling it with water alone.
The climb and the rulesThe main cost comes after the waterfall: the same path back to the campground climbs out of the…
The main cost comes after the waterfall: the same path back to the campground climbs out of the gorge. Four hours is a sensible plan rather than a quick stop. Do not climb on rocks beside either waterfall; a fall there can be deadly. Avoid any stream crossing in icy or flooding conditions. Backcountry camping is prohibited along a half-mile stretch on both sides of Overall Run; that restriction does not close the day-hiking route. Dogs are allowed on a leash no longer than six feet.
Make the start workUse the Mathews Arm Campground registration parking area; the park entrance fee applies.
Use the Mathews Arm Campground registration parking area; the park entrance fee applies. If the campground is closed, the alternate start is parking at Skyline Drive mile 21 and taking the Appalachian Trail to Tuscarora-Overall Run, which adds about a mile. Potable water at the campground is seasonal. Elkwallow Wayside, about two miles away, offers food service and camping supplies; it is a separate stop, not a trail amenity.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Shenandoah
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.
