2/10/2024 0 Comments Skyline drive national parkIt's a very popular national park to visit in the fall, when swaths of golden yellow and fiery amber leaves draw in visitors. Summer brings lush green foliage and relatively cool temps thanks to the elevation-the highs rarely exceed the mid-70s. In spring, wildflowers, like phlox, buttercups, and trillium, come into full bloom and line the hiking trails. No wonder many consider Shenandoah among the best national parks in the US-it has something to offer park-goers in every season. When is the best time to visit Shenandoah National Park? The Rockfish Gap entrance, at the south end of Skyline Drive, is 90 miles from Richmond. This entrance is 70 miles west of Washington, D.C., and the closest major airport is Washington-Dulles International Airport, just 55 miles east of the park. The majority of visitors enter Shenandoah National Park through the Front Royal entrance at the north end of Skyline Drive. Here’s how to make the most of a trip to Shenandoah National Park, Virginia’s one and only. The park is also the ancestral home of the Massawomeck, Manahoac, and Monacan tribes today, the Monacan Indian Nation sits just south of the park. No wonder this area first served as hunting grounds for early Native Americans, as far back as 15,000 years ago. ![]() Expect to share this land with wildlife, too: Lumbering black bears are well-known within the boundaries of this national park, as are white-tailed deer, red foxes, raccoons, and the rare Shenandoah salamander, which can only be found on three mountain ridges within Shenandoah National Park. In fall, leaf peepers from across the state and well beyond inch along 105-mile Skyline Drive, all jockeying for the best foliage views at more than 75 scenic overlooks and pull-offs. Some 1.5 million visitors each year now enter Shenandoah National Park for its bucolic landscapes. Throughout all of it, lush rolling hills, breathtaking hollows, high peaks, and cascading waterfalls welcome visitors as they have since 1935 when the park was established (Shenandoah was one of the first parks created east of the Mississippi). ![]() Covering 197,439 acres, Shenandoah National Park is a long stretch of land within Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains-as wide as 13 miles at points and narrower than one mile at others.
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