Skyline drive shenandoah valley full#
Skyline drive shenandoah valley series#

Running parallel to 1-81, it was originally formed by migrating buffalo and the Native American hunters who pursued them. 11, once called the Wilderness Road, also stretches north and south through the Valley, from Martinsburg to Roanoke. The views are spectacular the entire way! Rt.

Skyline drive shenandoah valley series#

You’ll climb a switchbacking trail up to the top of a series of waterfalls. Hop off the Parkway for a hike at Crabtree Falls. The colors will drip down to the valleys by November. Expect the fall leaf extravaganza to begin in early October for elevations over 5,000 feet. The drive itself is stunning and it offers regular places to pull over to enjoy the magnificent overviews and scope out the trails exploring the wilderness surrounding the Parkway. This road has been one of America’s most popular for 90 years, and with good reason. It would take you 10 and a half hours to drive the entire 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway as it connects the south end of Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Really adventurous fall color seekers might want to take a detour to swoop through the trees at Bear Mountain Ziplines, which is only 1.9 miles off the route near Luray.

Skyline drive shenandoah valley full#

Food is available at wayside food stops every 25 miles, but there’s only one spot to stop for gas, so make sure you enter with a full tank! Entry fees apply. Access to Skyline Drive is limited to four places: Front Royal, Thornton Gap, Swift Run Gap, and Rockfish Gap. This drive is incredibly popular with leaf peepers, and trees like red oak and chestnut grow high on the ridges, giving way to mixed hardwood and yellow poplar forests as you descend. Stop at one of more than 75 overlooks and trailheads. You might also catch a glimpse of native Virginia species like deer, bear, bobcat, fox, or Eastern box turtle crossing the road. Take your time (the speed limit is only 35 mph) and absorb the endless panoramic views with blankets of trees spreading out below to the valley floor. Alternatives to I-81 Skyline DriveĪrguably one of the most famous drives in the country, the Skyline Drive that runs north and south and bisects Shenandoah National Park for 105 miles. If you’re looking to take in all the Valley has to offer, here’s your chance to pack a picnic and a camera and check out one of these leisurely drives.

Luckily for us, Virginia has 2,500 miles of road that’s been designated “scenic byway” and many of those miles travel through the Shenandoah Valley. Skyline Drive is closed only in snow or ice, and at night during deer-hunting season.Interstate 81 is a convenient and efficient way to move through the Valley, but autumn days call for more bucolic drives that are full of fall colors and vibrant culture. Skyline Drive is your gateway to Virginia adventure. Clearance for Marys Rock Tunnel (just south of Thornton Gap entrance from Route 211) is 12’8”. It takes about three hours to travel the entire length of the park on a clear day. The mileposts begin with 0.0 at Front Royal and continue to 105 at the southern end of the park. These posts help you find your way through the park and help you locate areas of interest. June’s display of azaleas is spectacular, and cardinal flower, black-eyed susans, and goldenrod keep the color coming right into fall.Īs you travel along Skyline Drive you will notice mileposts on the west side (right side if you are traveling south) of the road. In early spring, you can see trillium peeking through the grass. Roadside wildflowers put on a show all year long. While you are gazing out at the views, keep a close eye on the road too, as deer, black bear, wild turkey, and a host of other woodland animals call Shenandoah home and regularly cross Skyline Drive in their daily travels. There are 75 scenic overlooks that offer stunning views of the Shenandoah Valley to the west or the rolling piedmont to the east. Shenandoah National Park varies in width from less than one mile to about thirteen miles, so that views from peaks and overlooks will captivate and delight. The mountain top highway winds its way north-south through Shenandoah’s nearly 200,000 acres along the spine of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. The historic 105-mile Skyline Drive, a National Scenic Byway, traverses Shenandoah National Park, a beautiful, historic national treasure. You are invited to “ride the sky” along Skyline Drive, one of America’s favorite mountain drives. For the most up-to-date road status, call 54 (option 1, option 1). Winter conditions on Skyline Drive may necessitate closures at any time.