Beginning from Jenkins Gap on Skyline Drive, this route follows the Mount Marshall Trail through laurel forests and past cascades that pour down the slopes in the many rivulets it crosses. With many views of The Peak to the south, the trail turns onto the Bluff Trail before intersecting with the Big Devils Stairs Trail that leads down into the Big Devils Stairs Gorge. What had been mostly a steady and flat trail suddenly descends rapidly into the gorge, with many views of waterfalls, cascades, and open vistas to the Rappahannock Mountains in the distance.