
It’s also one of the only restrooms on the drive, since there aren’t any along the way. You can learn all about the wildlife you might encounter, such as black bears, and what to do if you come across them. It’s located to the North of the drive and is where you can get maps and information from park rangers. If you want to get more information about the drive and the things to see, we recommend making a trip to the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center.
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If you want to have a full day exploring the drive, we recommend staying at Skyland Resort or Lewis Mountain Cabins, which are around halfway on the drive. The Thornton Gap Entrance is also popular as it’s located near a town you can stay in.ĭriving the Skyline Drive is one of the top things to do in Shenandoah National Park and should not be rushed. There are many entrances onto Skyline Drive, but the Rockfish Gap Entrance Station in the South or the Front Royal Entrance in the North tend to be the most popular as it allows you to drive from one side to the other. Here’s some more information on the different overlooks. Some notable viewpoints: Range View Overlook (one of the best views of the northern section of the park), South River Overlook (great for sunrise), Baldface Mountain Overlook, and Moormans River Overlook. The East is more mountainous with lush forest, and the West is more mountains with expansive views of the Shenandoah Valley. Despite the beauty of each overlook, you can quickly catch fatigue, so plan your stops well on either side of the road as the views are different.

There are viewpoints every couple of miles.

Plan your drive well to incorporate hikes, picnic spots, the best viewpoints, and lodges. It’s one of the USA’s best scenic drives in the USA.īe prepared for endless viewpoints over the Shenandoah Valley, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the Massanutten Mountain Range. The Skyline Drive catches the baton at the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway and runs through the entire 105-mile length of the Shenandoah Valley National Park on the crest of the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains. Of course, we took the National Scenic Byway to Massanutten Resort. Drive the Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park We were disappointed we didn’t have more time and have bookmarked it for a return visit so we can hike and camp in this beautiful US national park. Driving through Shenandoah NPĪ long stretch of the famous Appalachian Trail winds through Shenandoah National Park. Opened in 1935, the park encompasses nearly 200,000 acres along the Blue Ridge Mountains to enjoy with dozens of waterfalls, 500 miles of hiking trails through lush forests, and 75 scenic overlooks of mountain vistas. When researching what to do in Shenandoah Valley VA, the highlight for many visitors will be the spectacular Shenandoah National Park. Things to Do in Shenandoah National Park Gorgeous scenery History buffs will also love to know that the Shenandoah Valley was once considered the American Frontier and played a crucial role in the American Civil War. In between these two mountain ranges, and rising up from the Shenandoah Valley floor, is the 50-mile long, 6-mile wide Massanutten Mountain Range, which is home to the massive and popular Massanutten Resort, which was our home base for our trip. It stretches approximately 200-miles from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia to Roanoke, Virginia, and is about two hours west of Washington D.C.


The Shenandoah Valley is sandwiched between the spectacular Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Alleghenies to the West.
