Park officials close down Old Rag parking lot

Authorities are permanently closing the nearest parking lot to the Old Rag Mountain trailhead in Shenandoah National Park.

Superintendent Martha Bogle on Thursday announced the decision, which came as the result of a two-year environmental review.

According to a park news release, visitors who didn’t get spaces in the upper lot often parked along the road, rather than retreating to the lower lot. The closure will reduce trespassing and improve emergency vehicle access, authorities hope.

Signs have been posted telling visitors the changes are coming, and officials hope to have a gate up by mid-April.

A leased, 250-space lower lot will remain open.

Park officials plan to build a new parking lot in the area on land purchased by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, said park spokeswoman Karen Beck-Herzog. The construction will begin once the park secures funding for it.

Once the new lot, expected to hold about 150 cars, is constructed, the lower lot’s capacity will be reduced, so that the total parking area available is no more than 262 spaces, the amount of parking available when the environmental review was conducted, Beck-Herzog wrote in an e-mail.

Old Rag Mountain is the most popular day and overnight area in the park, according to the release, with weekend visitation often exceeding 500 people per day. The hike is an 8.8-mile circuit.