A ranger in Shenandoah told me to skip the AT shelter at Gravel Springs and tent instead, and she was dead right

Lily Ramirez · 2026-09-21T07:35:03.604341+00:00

Last October I did a 3 day loop through Shenandoah and a ranger at the Dickey Ridge visitor center told me the Gravel Springs shelter gets packed on weekends and the water source there runs dry by fall, so I should carry up to the tent sites past the gap. I ignored her for about 5 miles, then saw 14 people crammed around a trickle of a spring and kept walking. The tent spot 2 miles further had a real stream and zero company, and I slept better than any night of that trip. Anyone else had a ranger talk them out of a shelter at the last second, and did it work out?

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A ranger in Shenandoah told me to skip the AT shelter at Gravel Springs and tent instead, and she was dead right | Backpacking Routes - Librear