Along the way, you will cover a rocky road with a few water holes, washed out sections, quite a few play areas and some steep grades. The trail is gravel for a short distance but quickly changes to a rock bed trail. Nothing will be too daunting, and a stock 4X4 will be just fine. At one point in this trail, there is a long hill climb, and in that hill climb there is a nice rock obstacle after making a 90 degree left turn. The road to Flagpole Knob wobbles along the top of the Alleghany Mountains following the border between Virginia and West Virginia. This high elevation access route brings the wildlife watcher into habitats not encountered elsewhere on the loop. If visiting in spring, search the roadside woods for warblers, which are sure to be singing in spring and early summer. Species to look for include black-throated green, worm-eating, chestnut-sided and Canada warblers. Fall presents a different wildlife viewing experience. As the fall migration gets under way, hundreds and, at times, thousands of migrating hawks can be seen along the ridge. Depending on weather conditions, migrating songbirds could also turn up in numbers along the ridge. Even outside of migration, the views from the ridge top, combined with dark-eyed juncos, cedar waxwings and red-eyed vireos, certainly make the trip worthwhile. NOTE: A 4-wheel drive vehicle with high clearance is strongly recommended to drive this road. It is very rough year-round and may be impassable in the winter. The road is not appropriate for low clearance vehicles.

Directions:

From Harrisonburg take I-81 to exit #235 on to route 256 west , north on route 11, west on route 727, north on route 613, west on route 257, this turns into route 924 west, which becomes a ridge road up to the intersection for Forest Road 85A / Flag Pole Road.