Old Rag Mountain day-use tickets (Shenandoah): dates & how to apply

Before you apply

• Get a ticket for every person. Each ticket covers one person, and "Every person is required to have a ticket, no matter what age" (NPS: Old Rag Day-Use Ticket).
• Split big groups across reservers. You may reserve up to four tickets in your name per day, so a group of more than 4 needs a second person to reserve the rest. Whoever reserved the tickets must show a photo ID at the Old Rag Entrance Station (NPS).
• Buy the entrance pass too. The ticket doesn't replace a park entrance pass, and "Your entrance pass and Old Rag day-use ticket must present corresponding dates." Free Access and Military Veterans and Gold Star Family Access pass holders still need a ticket (NPS).
• Camping overnight? Every person needs a separate ticket for each day spent within the ticketed area of Old Rag Mountain (NPS).

Common mistakes

• Planning to buy at the trailhead. Tickets aren't sold in person at the Old Rag entrance station, which has no internet service, and cell service there is not reliable. Get tickets online or by phone before you arrive (NPS).
• Treating a ticket as a parking spot. "A day-use ticket does not guarantee a parking spot." NPS strongly recommends carpooling (NPS).
• Missing the change deadline. You can cancel or change until noon the day before your ticket date, but NPS says it can't issue a refund for any reason (NPS).
• Forgetting what to bring. Bring an entrance pass (or a way to buy one), a photo ID, and a printout (preferred) or screenshot of your ticket (NPS).

What changed this year

TBA. As of Oct 15, 2026, the official page doesn't announce changes to the ticket rules for the next ticket season. Check NPS: Old Rag Day-Use Ticket.

Tips

• Your ticket covers the whole day. It's good any time from 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on your date, and tickets are required in the Old Rag area "at any time of day, even before sunrise or after sunset" (NPS).
• Know where tickets apply. Tickets are required on the Saddle, Ridge and Ridge Access trails. NPS says trails, roads and areas outside the ticketed area don't need one, "including Weakley Hollow Fire Road" (NPS).

About the forecast link: it's the National Weather Service forecast for Shenandoah National Park as a whole (the park-level location), not for Old Rag's summit or trailhead. We haven't found an official Old Rag coordinate, so expect conditions on the mountain to differ.

• No fee waivers. "Fee waivers of any kind will not be offered" for the ticket (NPS).