The easiest hikes in Virginia, by the numbers
Of the 256 trails in Virginia in our dataset, 78 (30 percent) rate easiest on the gain-and-distance scale we use, run 1 to 6 miles and climb 500 ft or less; these are the 25 with the lowest rating.
Fork Mountain Horse Trail has the lowest rating: 4 ft of gain over 1.7 miles, 2 ft per mile.
Across the 25, gain runs from 3 to 115 ft and distance from 1 mile to 5 miles; the median gain is 18 ft and the median distance 1.8 miles.
23 of the 25 are point-to-point routes; the rest are loop (2).
How this list is ranked
Rating = the square root of 2 x elevation gain (ft) x distance (miles), the gain-and-distance formula Shenandoah National Park publishes for its own trails. Bands: under 50 easiest, 50 to 100 moderate, 100 to 150 moderately strenuous, 150 to 200 strenuous, 200 and over very strenuous.
This list: band easiest (under 50), 1 to 6 miles, no more than 500 ft of gain, ordered by rating asc, miles asc, capped at 25. The rating column is computed from the miles and gain printed in the same row, the numbers each trail page uses, so every row can be checked from the row itself. The rating says nothing about exposure, scrambling, altitude or conditions.
Only trails with a full page count, so "Virginia" here means the 256 trails in Virginia in our dataset, not every trail in Virginia.
Each trail page shows the full elevation profile behind these numbers and the same data drawn as a topographic print, made to order. Start with Fork Mountain Horse Trail.
Easiest hikes elsewhere.
The same ranking for other states in our dataset.