Washington DC Area
For nudists in Washington DC and the nearby parts of Maryland and Virginia
- created by HarryCovert
Hiking in VA -DC area
Return to DiscussionsHas anyone done some nude hiking in the area? A great day hike with nice views, or great swimming holes. I have done nude hiking in CA, FL, GA, and NH but have not found a safe place to hike here in the DC area. If anyone has some experiences or great location advice please let me know. Or if you want to get a small group together for a weekday or weekend hike let do it.
Any places near here would be considered the "opportunistic" type. I.E., it's not somewhere I could say with certainty hey, go and you can definitely hike naked for some number of miles. More of, hey, there was no cars in the parking lot, I sortof know the trail, it's blazing hot/no one is out here/it's a dead end trail etc., and slip the shorts off for maybe a few minutes or miles or so.
I've read parts of Billy Goat trail can be very, very remote. I've skinny dipped in Patapsco State Park once in what I though was a very remote area, and all was well until 4 horse riders came along. They couldn't see me from where I set up, but still, there went that remoteness idea. But for a few minutes, yeah, you could do it! The C&O Canal has a lot of walk/bike in camp areas on the potomac...that if you went camping and no one was around, I'm sure you could hang there naked. Maybe! Lots of smaller parks and trails but all are in pretty built up areas.
The DC area, imho, is home to a larger than normal group of very proper suburbanites (and urbanites) who would be the ultra specific kind who would cry "police" at almost every level if they think something is even remotely wrong and raise a stink. NOT EVERYONE, but, a higher percentage than normal! Think of it this way: the types of people and their attitudes on the Appalachian Trail in the middle of nowhere with thru hikers, or skinny dipping in Vermont...now compare that with ultra-regimented somewhat snobbish rule-happy HOA mindset people of Montgomery County Maryland and Fairfax County Virginia (half of which are activists or lawyers). Not trying to sound rude myself, I just live here - work here - and I know! People call the authorities for anything they think is remotely 'wrong'. That's a dangerous mix when weekend warrior glamping moms and their kids and dog are out exploring and you may happen to be skinny dipping or hiking sans clothing.
I live just north of Baltimore and have a spot where I have hiked/walked naked on numerous occasions -- generally during the week later in the evening when odds of folks being around is low --- but always have to have an eye for someone coming the other way -- have run into folks a couple of times. Never quiet as relaxing when always having to keep an eye out for other folks...
From another website HikingNaked.com I found a post saying that the person has hiked naked many times in George Washington National Forest going to Signal Knob. Anyway know anything about this area. Would love to learn more and know if it is a nice hike, views, typically traffic etc...
As far as I am concerned about Chillnuderox comments about other people, I would expect that any hiking in the buff would require a careful attention to other hikers, cars parked, time, day of the week etc... Lastly that a cover up would be required. I also would expect that there would be no places anywhere inside the DC metro to skinny dip or hike naked. I would however hope out in the national forests there maybe some opportunities. It would be odd to think you could hike for hours anywhere naked without issue, caution and respect. These are the keys to a great naked day. That an very few if any other hikers. :-)
Anyway if anyone here has nay information on sparsely used trails or areas that would be great.
Nude hiking in the area intrigues me as well, if anyone finds anything. I've hiked a few trails in the George Washington National Forest in Va, and although some of the trails were remote, you still ran across other hikers fairly often.
True to all of the above. It is possible to hike naked locally, I've done it, but usually only for a very short while or in places I knew no one was likely to be, or, gotten off a beaten path to some water area. I've found if it's really hot and you're off the beaten path and near a river/creek/stream, it's easier to do and even if caught, it's much more socially societal acceptable to be caught swimming naked aka skinny dipping, than just hiking.
The key for me is mesh shorts. Extremely easy on, easy off. Not stretchy shorts like under armour, not running shorts, or even most hiking shorts - something with a slick type fabric like mesh shorts basketball shorts etc.
BTW, there is some info on that nude hiking website and a lot of it can be very outdated or wrong. For example, there is info about hiking in the great falls (Maryland) area, parking at the old anglers inn, walking up the c&o trail, taking a turn and heading to an island. Let me say, I've been to that island and paddled around it, it is NOT remote and there are TONS of people there on weekends and holidays! Even if you had no one on the island - any of them - the paddlers and kayakers WILL see you!
Having said that...if it was a weekday or not many people out...you *could* find some areas that were more remote for a quick dip or chill. And there's lots of areas of the c&o/potomac/great falls, but, the one on the website hiking naked is NOT a great one.
I used to practically live on Signal Knob. Hiked it about a thousand times. It's about a half an hour outside of Front Royal in Elizabeth's Furnace. Great hike, but a tough one. You could probably get away with nude on a weekday. Don't even try on the weekends as there are a lot of people that hit this trail. Some great views along the way as well, especially from Buzzard's Point overlook and beyond. Most people actually stop there and turn around, never making it out to signal knob. It's a tough, dry hike though. Bring water, warm clothes(in case you get caught after dark. I've seen it happen to a lot of people). You can camp up there as well, as long as you are 1/2 a mile from the road.
I recently went nude hiking and swimming in Fredericksburg, Virginia along the Rappahanock River. I was out for several hour's and only noticed four people. I would definitely recommend this trail. If anyone is interested in meeting up and going for a hike just let me know.