Cat Gap Loop/Art Loeb Trail Junction (Cat Gap) -- 3,350'

Looking back at the point where the Cat Gap Loop arrives at the east end of Cat Gap. The Cat Gap Loop is on the left (where the last photo was shot from) and the Art Loeb Trail is on the right heading southbound. The two trails coincide, for the next hundred yards, through the gap...

Cat Gap Loop/Art Loeb Trail Junction (Cat Gap) -- 3,350'

The Cat Gap Loop and Art Loeb Trail coincide for the hundred yards they travel through Cat Gap...

Cat Gap Loop/Art Loeb Trail Junction (Cat Gap) -- 3,350'

At the west end of the gap the Art Loeb (left) and Cat Gap Loop (right) once again diverge...

Cat Gap Loop/Art Loeb Trail Junction (Cat Gap) -- 3,350'

As you can see here the west end of Cat Gap is wide open. A couple of fallen logs even provide some convenient seating...

Cat Gap Loop/Art Loeb Trail Junction (Cat Gap) -- 3,350'

Continuing the clockwise circumnavigation of the Cat Gap Loop...departing now from Cat Gap...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 3,320'

The Cat Gap Loop departs Cat Gap west and north by descending through this gorgeous laurel tunnel...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 3,280'

It quickly, however, breaks back into a landscape much like what has come before...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 3,230'

Cutting a swath through the undergrowth...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 3,180'

Another laurel tunnel...not quite as pretty as the last...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 3,150'

The trail is now descending the upper reaches of the valley containing John Rock Branch...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 3,100'

The trail stays just below the east side of the ridge crest...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 3,050'

The Cat Gap Loop as it approaches the lower end of the Cat Gap Bypass, heading south...

Cat Gap Loop Trail/Cat Gap Bypass Trail Lower Junction -- 3,020'

After about 2/3-mile of descending from Cat Gap, the loop reaches its junction with the lower end of the Cat Gap Bypass Trail (seen here on the right)...

Cat Gap Loop Trail/Cat Gap Bypass Trail Lower Junction -- 3,020'

Looking in the opposite direction at the lower junction of the Cat Gap Loop (right) and Cat Gap Bypass (left)...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 3,000'

Continuing northward, the trail is now seeking out a good place to drop down off the end of the ridge...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,950'

Steeper terrain alongside the trail means it's nearing the north end of the ridge...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,900'

The drop off the ridge separating John Rock Branch and Cedar Rock Creek involves some of the steepest terrain of the loop. Wet and/or icy ground could make this section tricky...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,800'

The downhill grade as it eases up once again...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,750'

The surrounding forest remains quite beautiful...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,700'

Dropping through the laurels as the trail nears Cedar Rock Creek from the south...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,650'

The trail reaches the floor of the valley and makes this slight right bend before reaching the crossing of Cedar Rock Creek, seen in the next couple of photos...

Cat Gap Loop Trail @ Cedar Rock Creek -- 2,630'

Around a half-mile below the lower junction with the Cat Gap Bypass the Cat Gap Loop reached its upper crossing of Cedar Rock Creek. Please note the water levels seen here are extremely low. This crossing is rarely problematic, but it ought to be trickier than what is shown here...

Cat Gap Loop Trail @ Cedar Rock Creek -- 2,630'

Looking back at the Cat Gap Loops upper crossing of Cedar Rock Creek. Please note the water levels seen here are extremely low. This crossing is rarely problematic, but it ought to be trickier than what is shown here...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,630'

Immediately north of the crossing the trail enters this large pine grove and the route can be a bit hard to spot. Just keep a close eye out for orange blazes, however, and you should be able to stay on the right course without any issue...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,620'

Passing through a forest of ferns and pine...pretty much perfect surroundings in my opinion...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,620'

Looking into the pine canopy...high above...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,610'

The pine forest just seems to just go on and on...it's incredible...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,610'

Just before reaching the next creek crossing the trail enters an area where the forest floor is all but devoid of undergrowth. Again this could make the route difficult to follow if one doesn't keep an eye out for trail blazes...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,610'

This simple log bridge makes the next crossing of Cedar Rock Creek much easier than the upper one...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,600'

The river bottoms are expanding at this point, allowing for a much thicker lower growth of plant life...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,590'

Passing through a rather marshy, fern-covered area...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,580'

Just before arriving at the Butter Gap Trail junction there is one more bridge across Cedar Rock Creek. This is a cool one as the creek is compressed into a narrow sluice beneath it tumbling into numerous cascades just downstream...

Cedar Rock Creek -- 2,580'

Looking downstream from the bridge at the Butter Gap Trail junction...Cedar Rock Creek tumbles over numerous ledges and boulders just downstream...

Cat Gap Loop/Butter Gap Trail Junction -- 2,580'

The junction with the lower end of the Butter Gap Trail is reached about 1-mile below the Cat Gap Bypass lower junction. In case you find yourself doing the Cat Gap Loop in the opposite direction I was it's also at a point about a mile above the hatchery southwest trailhead...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,590'

The trail as it heads north from the Butter Gap Trail junction...

Cat Gap Loop Trail @ Upper Falls Spur -- 2,590'

Barely 100-yards after departing north from the Butter Gap Trail junction, a scramble path appears on the right leading to a large campsite below. Hidden by the rhodo from this angle is the upper of the two named waterfalls on Cedar Rock Creek, located directly above the campsite...

Upper Cedar Rock Creek Falls -- 2,560'

Of the two cascades on Cedar Rock Creek, the upper seen here is the smaller one at barely 10-feet in height. Its form, though, is what makes it such a beauty as the initial vertical drop of the water turns and spreads out in a beautiful veil below...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,580'

Back on the trail heading northward again...it's barely a minutes walk until the spur for the lower falls on Cedar Rock Creek...

Cat Gap Loop Trail @ Lower Falls Spur -- 2,580'

Approximately 200-yards down the Cat Gap Loop from the path to the upper falls, the trail arrives at the wide junction where the spur path to the lower falls is located. If hiking the Cat Gap Loop in the opposite direction, to hike directly to the falls, its about 3/4-mile above the southwest trailhead...

Lower Cedar Rock Creek Falls -- 2,500'

Lower Cedar Rock Creek Falls is definitely the nicer of the two cascades on this stretch of creek. A bit taller than its upper counterpart this, actually feels much bigger as its drop is much more vertical...

Lower Cedar Rock Creek Falls -- 2,500'

Lower Cedar Rock Creek Falls is definitely the nicer of the two cascades on this stretch of creek. A bit taller than its upper counterpart this, actually feels much bigger as its drop is much more vertical...

Cat Gap Loop Trail @ Lower Falls Spur -- 2,580'

Back up on the main trail this is the how the junction of the spur trail to the lower falls looks if one was arriving from the north... i.e. directly from the hatchery southwest trailhead...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,530'

Departing the lower falls, it's only about 3/4-mile back to the trailhead...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,480'

The stretch of the Cat Gap Loop between the Center for Wildlife Education (fish hatchery) and the waterfalls is easily one of the busiest in the District. One good way to avoid the crowds is to go on a day similar to this...damp and dreary...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,420'

A couple of old forest roads branch off along this stretch but the main trail remains obvious and easy to follow as it continues down the valley...

Cat Gap Loop Trail -- 2,390'

Arriving at the floor of the valley, again, for yet another crossing of Cedar Rock Creek...