Introduction

When you’ve had it with beltway gridlock and the DC vortex seems inescapable, there’s an easy remedy. Point your wheels west on I-66 and make a beeline toward the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah National Park. Just an hour’s drive will adjust your big-city perspective. Shenandoah mixes the perfect elixir for escaping modern urbanity: rolling, fog-shrouded hills draped in multi-hued forests, wildlife galore, classic, small-town American kitsch and curios, and heaps of chances to stretch your calves along dozens of rarely crowded trails. When I need an outdoor fix, I head straight for Shenandoah.

The park stays open year-round, but unless you’ve got a thing for snowshoes, it’s mainly a three-season park. Like its surprisingly healthy population of black bears, the park hibernates in winter, re-emerging around Easter with an unfolding of wildflowers, twittering songbirds, dozens of cascading waterfalls, and a mere trickle of visitors compared to mid-summer’s impending gush. In the spring, Shenandoah offers full access, too: lodges and waysides reopen, once-muddy hiking trails firm up, visitor centers schedule their full range of activities, and elbow room is plentiful. During the week in particular, the park can be all yours.

Four entrances run north to south along the park’s famed byway, Skyline Drive: Front Royal (mile marker 0), Thornton Gap (mm 31.5), Swift Run Gap (mm 65.5) and Rockfish Gap (104.5). Entrance costs $15/car, twice that for an annual Shenandoah pass, or $80 for the big kahuna, the National Parks all-access annual pass.

Shenandoah See & Do

The landscape rules in Shenandoah, and Skyline Drive is the royal road. Angling 105 miles southwest astride the Blue Ridge, the road opened in 1931 and now guides more than 1.5 million drivers annually. It’s a fantastic stretch of macadam and an engineering marvel, a ribbon of twists and curves that noodles its way down the spine of the park, connecting all the park’s entrances and attractions. You could stick to your car if you’d like, cruising the drive, content to kick back with your iPod blaring and shifting gears to ride the road. Skyline is a driver’s road, with lots of quick-turning action and magnificent views that unfold suddenly alongside its many dips and bends.

Skyline Drive can bog down too, particularly on weekends. If you get stuck behind that RV from Minnesota, don’t stress out. Just pull over for a stretch and a glimpse at one of Skyline Drive’s 75 roadside pullouts, with their numerous trailheads leading into the park. And while you’re there, you’ve got to do some hiking. To truly be in Shenandoah, and get away by yourself, you’ve got to trade your road map for hiking boots (though on many trails sneakers would suffice) and start tramping. You don’t need to go far; the pullouts provide great access for quick strikes into Shenandoah’s outback. Musky, pine-scented breezes, gurgling streams, crunchy rocks and sticks crumpling underfoot provide a lovely contrast to that Killers CD that was just pumping on your car stereo.

Hiking is the most popular activity in Shenandoah, for 112 reasons, at least; more than 500 miles of footpaths crisscross the park’s (you guessed it) 112 trails, including a 101-mile swath of America’s most famous thru-hike, the Appalachian Trail.

For suggested trails, read about hiking in Shenandoah.

If you’d rather slip on a pair of waders and stand in swirling currents, Shenandoah stocks about 30 streams for catch-and-release brown trout fishing. Anglers without a Virginia fishing license needn’t sweat or sneak about: temporary licenses are sold in the park’s general stores. Shenandoah is also a beautiful backdrop for horseback riding, with 150 miles of dedicated horseback-only trails (not that you’d actually want to walk on them). If you’ve forgotten to pack your own pony, Skyland Stables leads guided group tours on horseback throughout the park.

An increasingly popular sport, rock climbing remains unregulated in the park, but plenty of scramblers head to Little Stony Man Cliffs and, just outside park boundaries, Old Rag Mountain, widely considered Virginia’s best climbing mountain. Period.

Like to bike? Sorry. Keep on driving. Skyline Drive’s too tight for two-wheelers, whom the park steers toward the nearby George Washington National Forest. Makes sense, I suppose: no one likes to scrape pancaked pedalers off their bumpers. It sure would be nice to see the National Park Service wake up to the 21st century and start crafting some plans to support bikers in their parks, whether single-track dirt baggers or sleek highway gliders.

Whether you’re driving or hiking (or wishing you could bike) it, Shenandoah offers some of the premiere wildlife watching in the east. The park’s ecosystem supports dozens of mammals and reptiles, with white-tailed deer, lizards, and woodchucks fairly common to spot and more elusive bobcats, foxes, bears, and box turtles deeper in the park. Birders can spot more than 200 bird species, local and migratory, including red-tailed hawks, wild turkeys, and barn owls. Park rangers are invaluable sources of up-to-date info on what’s flying, where, and why; seek them out, interact, and when you’re done downloading all their information, consider joining the National Parks Foundation, the leading advocacy group for America’s national parks.

Rangers lead or help with many of Shenandoah’s special events as well, including Wildflower Weekend (May 12-13) and the North American Butterfly Association’s annual summer Butterfly Count (July). Come summer, more ranger-led programs embark on edu-adventures to ancient volcano sites, raptor habitats, hidden overlooks, and much more. City dwellers and night owls alike gape in awe at one of Shenandoah’s most stunning visuals—its milky, thick collection of night stars—thanks to telescopes loaned out by the park’s Night Skies program.

The park offers a window onto Virginia’s cultural heritage as well, with more than 300 structures—bridges, culverts, buildings—within its boundaries listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On your hikes you’ll encounter these architectural remnants. When you do, remember that before politicos grew enamored of Shenandoah and started crafting grand plans for a park here (inspired in part at least by envy for Rapidian Camp, President Herbert Hoover’s summer retreat within the park), actual people lived here—families, mountain folks—who received settlements from the government to relocate, not that they had much choice.

Shenandoah Restaurants

Chances are, you’re not coming to Shenandoah for fine dining. Still, ya gotta eat. Shenandoah food runs from predictably simple, grab-and-go roadside grub (sandwiches, burgers) sold at three Skyline Drive “waysides” to two larger, lodge-based dining rooms plating oversized portions of standard mid-American fare. (Panorama Restaurant, once the park’s finest eatery, has closed for its makeover into a new park visitor center.)

More or less, you can guess what you’re going to get: cheeseburger platters, roast turkey breast, ham and cheese omelets, New York strip steaks. But a few dishes (not to mention the blackberry ice cream) do stand out. Skyland Resort’s Pollack Dining Room ($$) scores points for atmosphere. Large bay windows overlook a thickly wooded grove, and the menu offers regional staples like baked Virginia trout and prime rib.

The dining room at Big Meadow Lodge ($$) serves up apple-smoked pork chops and fried chicken as well as views of the valley. There’s not really much difference between the two dining rooms. Both are overseen by Aramark food service, so the food probably all shipped in on the same truck. Unadventurous, a bit overpriced, and with hit-or-miss service that can wilt with mid-summer’s heat, the dining rooms disappoint, but after a day tramping the White River Gorge, you probably won’t care.

Another food option is to stock up at gateway towns like Fort Royal, Luray, or Charlottesville. Whatever you do, don’t forget the wine. In Hume, near the park’s northern entrance, Oasis Winery sells boutique cuvée d’or sparkling wines, with a 60/40% chardonnay/pinot noir blend that’s soft and oaky, just right for scenic ponderings at the Pinnacles (mm 36), Rocky Ridge (mm 4.6), or Loft Mountain (mm 79.5) picnic areas.

Shenandoah Lodging: Lodges, Cabins & Campsites

Shenandoah’s bunking options are threefold: classic grand lodges, ‘tweener tent cabins, and campsites, both backcountry and park-and-pitch. The park’s answer to the classic national park lodge, Big Meadows ($$; mm 51.3) delivers an old-school experience: broad stone and wood walls surrounding a main sitting room that’s centered around a stout fireplace, with cozy rockers arranged by oversized windows for contemplating the expansive Shenandoah Valley. Rooms, far from huge, are clean and clustered in rustic cabin suites around the grounds (end units have fireplaces) or upstairs in the main lodge; buck up the extra twenty for terrace rooms and killer valley views.

Situated at Skyline Drive’s highest point (3,680 feet), Skyland Lodge ($$; mm 41.7) evolved from the vision of naturalist George Freeman Pollack, whose dreams of a summer Shenandoah retreat led to its 1894 unveiling. Though not as grand as Big Meadows, Skyland’s lodge and attendant cabins and motel-like wings are a pinch more bucolic, with wooded surroundings and more rooms overlooking the valley (again, ask for view rooms). Both Big Meadows and Skyland are refreshingly media-free. (If you need to feed your TV jones, you can watch in the taproom—but you’d better have a taste for the Weather Channel and college sports.)

If, like me, your lodging preference trends toward the Great Escape rather than Grand Central Station, skip the lodges for Shenandoah’s more rustic bunking options. Lewis Mountain ($–$$; mm 57.5) is a cluster of hard-shelled tent sites and rustic wooden cabins, tucked into a grove of elms, hemlocks, and birch trees and decked with amenities like private bathrooms, towels and linens, electric lights, heat–the works. The tents are great, but if you can, snag one of the cabins, each of which has its own outdoor grill, picnic table, and little balcony where chipmunks jockey for your leftovers. A campground store can help you restock.

Less accessorized but even cooler, the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club’s PATC cabins ($) provide a unique respite in the backcountry. The club offers up six cabins to the public in varying points along the AT in the park. (Want in on the other 22 cabins? You’ll have to join the club.) The cabins have stoves, water, and bunk beds, but little else. Ah, but that location. There’s nothing like waking up in your own little backcountry home, free from neighbors and noise. Reserve well in advance.

Shenandoah offers five organized campgrounds ($), two of which, Big Meadows (mm 51.3) and Dundo Group (mm 83.7), you can reserve in advance. Otherwise, it’s first-come, first-serve, which isn’t too tricky provided you beat Friday traffic on I-66 west. Frankly, I’d stay away from overcrowded Big Meadows and stick to Lewis Mountain, which is tiny (32 sites) and intimate (even if you can’t score a cabin), or Matthews Arm (mm 22.1), which has fewer facilities (i.e., no store) but has a sweet location close to Overall Run Falls, the highest falls in the park.

If the simple life ain’t cutting it, and neither is Staunton’s Super 8, check out the creature comfort options (whirlpools, wireless, etc.) you’ll get from the Bed and Breakfasts of the Historic Shenandoah Valley, strung along the Blue Ridge Mountains from Wincester to Roanoke, or the statewide Bed and Breakfast Association of Virginia.

Vacation Rentals

Vacation rentals can be tricky to navigate, but the payoff is huge. Whether you’re a budget traveler who can’t afford the double-whammy cost of hotels and restaurants, or a luxury traveler who wants seclusion and over-the-top grandeur, you’ll get more space and privacy for your money by booking a rental property. And you’ll have a kitchen too. Read our vacation rentals how-to guide to find our how, and where, to rent.