Molly’s Knob at Hungry Mother State Park in Marion, VA

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Planning our Trip to Hungry Mother State Park

HOW WE DETERMINED OUR DESTINATION: hungry mother STATE PARK

A few years ago, we discovered the joy of staying in state park cabins to put ourselves within walking distance of many hikes. We visited West Virginia’s largest state park, Watoga, and stayed in a rustic CCC cabin. In fact, we liked that so much, we took a second trip to Watoga. Read about both our first and second trips to Watoga here. Next, we explored the borderlands between Virginia and Kentucky at Breaks Interstate Park, where we stayed in a much more modern, nicer cabin. (Read about that trip here.)

When we decided to do a short fall getaway, we wanted a Virginia state park within a few hours of our home for convenience and, of course, one that would allow our three large dogs. While state park cabins are typically much more accommodating to dogs – especially large ones and more than two – not all allow them.

With Douthat State Park and Hungry Mother State Park both in the running, we finally decided on Hungry Mother for the number and length of trails and the fact that smack dab in the middle is a large lake. Late October in Virginia can still bring beautiful fall colors, so we decided to cross our fingers and hope for fall leaves set against the lake backdrop, and boy did we luck out in that toss of the dice!

But yes, before we go further, we should respond to the question in your head: “Why on earth is this called ‘Hungry Mother’ State Park?” It does merit some attention, that’s for sure. The thing is, while we wondered, we also didn’t take the time to research it until we got to the park and found the history, so I’m going to make you wait a little longer, too.

Since we would always prefer to avoid crowds, it also means that visiting off season is more low-key. In the summer, there is a beach and swimming area in the lake, replete with life guards. There are kayaks, canoes, paddle boats, and stand-up paddle boats for rent. There is also a snack shop.

where is hungry mother STATE PARK?

The drive from Roanoke (where we live) to Hungry Mother State Park, in Marion, Virginia, was a little less than two hours, most of which is on I-81, making it really easy to access. The park is in Southwestern Virginia, a rural part of the state, meaning that it is more often close to cities in other states. The park is about 2.5 hours from Charlotte, NC, and Knoxville, TN. It is a bit over 4 hours from Richmond, VA.

WHERE WE STAYED: CABIN ACCOMMODATIONS IN hungry mother STATE PARK

There are several campgrounds within the park. With temperatures above average during our fall visit, there were a large number of visitors camping in tents in late October. Yeah, mid-70s in the mountains of Virginia in late October is not the norm, but lucky for us!

The park has 20 cabins for rent. They are a combination of the older CCC cabins and newer ones built out of cinder block. Having stayed in a CCC cabin in West Virginia and found it to be a bit drafty, we opted this time for the new cinder block build, which has less aesthetic appeal, though it’s absolutely functional with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a family room/dining area around a fireplace. Of the various state park cabins we’ve stayed in (in VA, WV, and KY), this one was the least visually appealing on the inside.

The appeal of the park is, for us anyway, hiking!

WHAT WERE THE HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR TRIP TO hungry mother STATE PARK?

This was truly an entirely hiking-filled vacation, and the highlights were the gorgeous views of the lake within the park. The surrounding mountains, particularly from Molly’s Knob, offer a sweeping view.

Hiking in Hungry Mother State Park

trip overview

Hungry Mother has 10 distinct trails, though a few are only accessible via others. They range in length from a small cut-over trail at 0.2 miles to a 5.7 mile Lake Trail Loop (which our GPS clocked at about 6 miles). All but one are jointly usable by hikers and mountain bikers. Only one – a short cut-over between two other trails – is listed as an easy trail. The rest are classified as moderate or difficult.

With three full days in the park, we decided to map out the various hiking routes we planned to take. Since several of the trails are only accessible by first taking another path, or you can use a few to form a loop, we determined six individual hikes we could take that would cover just about all of the trails in the park. Our standard schedule when visiting and staying at a state park is to go for a morning hike, return to the cabin to walk the dogs, eat lunch, and refill our water, then go on an afternoon hike before returning for dinner and to relax in the evenings. Based on the combination of trails we planned, each day would have about 7-8 miles of hiking.

Day 1: Raiders Run Trail to Old Shawnee Trail and Lake Trail Loop

We started the day hiking Raider’s Run Trail, which begins at Parking Lot 2 with an immediate incline. The trail eventually connects to the Old Shawnee Trail, which loops out and around before catching up with the remainder of Raider’s Run. These trails had some elevation change – about 200+ in net gain – and mostly were undulating hills and valleys in the woods. The fall leaves made for beautiful vistas, and we walked through and near a number of Rhododendron thickets. This hike took us just over an hour.

In the afternoon, we decided to take the longest single hike in the park, the Lake Trail Loop. While the park map says it is 5.7 miles in length, our GPS counted it as 5.95 miles. We spent about 2 ½ hours on this hike, which first skirts the road along the lake shore before crossing beyond the earthen dam and heading to the opposite shore. Once on the other side of the lake, the trail becomes more difficult – less flat, more climbing up and down minor hills. We passed about 7 people biking along the lake in the first section but saw no bikers on the other side of the lake.

The biggest highlight of this hike was simply the views. You can’t beat beautiful fall leaves next to the lake and with bright foliage on the surrounding hills. Add a picture perfect blue sky day to the mix, and you come close to what we experienced. This is – we assume – the most popular hike in the park. During our morning hike, we saw no other hikers. On this one, we passed perhaps 15 people on the first leg of the trail; on the opposite bank, we passed two couples and one solo female hiker.

DAY 2: STONE LICK TRAIL AND CLYBURN RIDGE AND MOLLY’S KNOB TRAIL TO VISTA TRAIL

For our morning hike, we decided to take Stone Lick Trail, loop a section at its summit that overlaps with a portion of Clyburn Ridge Trail, and head back down Stone Lick Trail for a total hike of 2.4 miles that took us an hour and 15 minutes. With over 400 feet in elevation gain, the first part of the trail was fairly steep, and the top part was a more low-key ridge walk.

We really enjoyed this trail and the beautiful coves of trees. On one side of the mountain on the way up, all trees in our view were toting yellow leaves. As soon as we curved around a mountain bend, the other side held trees of orange and red hues. From atop the ridge, we had views of surrounding ridgelines and one in particular stood out as being particularly tall and more steeply angled than many of Virginia’s undulating hilltops.

As we would discover later in the day, that tall mountain is actually the highest point in the park – Molly’s Knob – and the views from it are wide-reaching.

In the afternoon, we selected Molly’s Knob Trail (1.9 miles) to Vista Trail (0.4 miles), an out-and-back trail that doubled the length. Because the last bit of Molly’s Knob Trail continues in a different direction than the Vista Trail and then meets up with another trail (the C.C.C. Trail), we decided to take Molly’s Knob straight up to Vista Trail and cut off the tail end of the trail. Our total hike was about 3.8 miles.

The elevation change from the start of the hike to the summit is 1,010 feet, the last 347 of which occur in a strenuous 0.4 mile climb. There is a section in the middle of this hike that is relatively flat along a ridgeline but other than that, it is very much uphill. The views along the hike are definitely worth it, especially in the fall. But the view from the top is amazing.

Mount Rogers, the highest peak in Virginia, is visible from the top of the summit off to the left, and out in front are sweeping views over multiple ridgelines since Molly’s Knob is the highest in the area, coming in at 3,270 feet. We met a couple of hikers on our way up and four more plus a golden retriever on our way down.

DAY 3: CLYBURN RIDGE TRAIL

The Clyburn Ridge Trail sits along the Hungry Mother Lake and spends that first half of its distance climbing up several hundred feet where it then runs alongside the lake, weaving in and out of the mountains. Before heading away from the lake, the trail first descends and then ascends back to an absolutely gorgeous spot overlooking the lake and the surrounding mountains. Across the way, we could see Molly’s Knob towering above. That is always a weird feeling to see a very tall mountain and to know we’ve climbed it just the day before.

Once Clyburn Ridge Trail veered away from the lake, it dipped down to a spot where it met up with the Clyburn Hollow Trail, a cutover for those interested in a 2.5 mile hike instead of a 4.0 mile hike. We continued on our original path, winding in and around the curves of the hills. Taking the longer route, we clocked in at just over 2 hours hiking this path.

We really enjoyed the trail – it was peaceful and just the right mix of hilly and flat along ridgelines. And ultimately, that’s how we felt about all of the hikes we took in Hungry Mother State Park – we truly enjoyed them all, which is not always reflective of a series of hikes. I’m sure the fact that we were able to enjoy fall colors helped, but the area is gorgeous and most of the hikes provided various views of the distant mountains and scenery.

We were tentatively thinking of tackling the last main trail in the park we hadn’t gotten to you – the C.C.C. – in the afternoon, but we’d also been sleeping horribly at night for whatever reason. So we weighed doing this extra hike, followed by a final poor night’s sleep or returning home a little early and sleeping in our own bed. We voted for an early departure to get better sleep and wrapped up a wonderful three fall days at Hungry Mother!

Why is the park called Hungry Mother?

the legend of hungry mother

Because I can’t take any credit for the tale behind the name, I’m going to quote verbatim the brochure we received in the park.

“The Legend of Hungry Mother takes many forms and all have whispers of the truth. The one widely accepted by the people of Southwest Virginia goes like this . . .

“Legend has it that a pioneer named Molly Marley and her small child were captured by a Native American tribe and taken to their mountain camp. Molly and her little one eventually escaped and wandered through the woods foraging for food and searching for shelter. One day Molly collapsed from exhaustion and the youngster continued along the creek until help was found. The only words the child could utter were ‘Hungry Mother.’ A search party later found Molly dead at the foot of the mountain near the creek.

“The mountain went on to be called Molly’s Knob and the stream Hungry Mother Creek. In the 1930s, the park was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the creek was dammed to form the lake. The name of hte park is wrapped in its own mystery. Originally to be called Forest Lake the name was changed to Southwest Virginia Lake and then to Hungry Mother State Park not long before the park opened. The debate over the legend and the park name continues to this day.”

There you have it!