THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 1, 1996 TAG: 9604010105
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NETHERS LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Shenandoah National Park officials are moving ahead with plans to charge fees for hiking up the popular Old Rag Mountain.
Under an experimental program to begin Memorial Day weekend, each hiker over 16 must pay a $3 permit fee when entering Old Rag's trailhead near Nethers in Madison County. The only other fee the park charges is at entrances to Skyline Drive.
Park officials tried the idea last October, issuing free permits on a first-come, first-served basis on weekends, when people wait in line to make the 2,380-foot climb to the mountain's top.
About 2 million people visit the park every year, park officials say, and 100,000 of them hike Old Rag. The 7.2-mile circuit has a rock scramble at its top that hikers find an enticing challenge.
``People are pretty understanding that we had to do something,'' said Lyn Rothgeb, a park spokeswoman. ``A couple of people did comment that they hated to see any restrictions on any use of a national park.''
Parking also is a problem. When the 200-car lot is full, some visitors illegally park along the road and sometimes block residents' driveways. But without the funds to build an additional 100-space lot, the park has decided to stick with what it has and turn away visitors when the lot is full.
On busy weekends, a park ranger will be on hand to collect fees and oversee parking. At other times, an honor system will be used, with a collection box to take hikers' money. The fee system will be in effect through October.
``This is a new thing for us,'' Rothgeb said. ``We're trying to stay flexible. I suspect at the end of the season we'll look hard at the way the whole thing went.''
By charging a small admittance fee, the park hopes to recoup some of the cost to maintain Old Rag and attendant problems with sanitation, littering, illegal camping and trail erosion.
While park officials have shelved the idea of expanding parking, they are considering a shuttle service that would take hikers the eight-tenths of a mile to the trailhead.
``It's interesting that many people who are going to do that hike, they work hard to try to park as close to the trailhead as possible,'' Rothgeb said.
A few enterprising Madison County residents started a taxi service last fall, charging 50 cents to run people to and from the start of the hiking trail, she said.
``We probably will not shuttle folks ourselves,'' she added, but will allow individuals or the county, if interested, to start a service. by CNB