The weather was supposed to be partly sunny, but we didn't really see the sun at all. However, we made the best of it and did manage to get some good views and shots with the cameras. We started at the North end of that drive at Front Royal, VA. The ride from Gettysburg was fairly easy and straight forward. Just follow 15 South to Frederick. 15 and 340 South combine at Frederick and then split again about 6 miles outside of Fredrick. Just stay on 340 South all the way to Front Royal and you will arrive at Skyline Drive. Takes about 2 hours or so. Also, you go right past Harper's Ferry (another great day trip, we will be going there later this year!) and Charles Town, WV. If you like to waste your money gambling, there are several casinos in Charles Town.
Oh, and I almost forgot...Skyline Cavern is located in Front Royal as well. We didn't go this time, but we will one of the times we go back. I haven't been to this cavern since I was about 12 or so and I want to see it again.
Normally, entrance to Skyline Drive is $15 per car, but this weekend they were having a FREE weekend so we didn't have to pay. The money is used to keep up the park so it really isn't that bad anyway. We spent more than that at the gift shop so that made up for the entrance fee. There are three or four places on the drive where you can buy gifts, some groceries and even burgers and gas. A word to the wise though....you will pay premium prices for these items, especially the gas!
We drove from the northern entrance to about the 1/2 way point. We turned around at Big Meadows which is at mile marker 52 from the start. During the drive we stopped at just about every overlook we past. Many of them provided awesome views and camera opportunities. However, some of the higher overlooks we didn't stop because we were IN A CLOUD and you could barely see the road, much less anything else! The weather wasn't cooperating, but we were still enjoying ourselves. I will post some pictures below.
We bought several trail guides for about $2 each. The ones we bought were: Short Hikes, Hikes to Waterfalls, Hikes to Peaks and Vistas and Easy Hikes on the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (within Shenandoah National Park.) Our next visit will be to do some hiking and I can't wait. The longest of the hikes is 6.4 miles and the shortest is only .25 mile! Of course, they are also graded according to how much of a slope or drop is encountered during the hike. Most of the trails are round-trip, meaning that you go out and come back on the same trail for a total of 6.4 miles (or whatever it is for each trail.) Some of the shorter ones are circuit trips, where you walk a complete circuit (never doubling back over a previous section of the trail) to make the complete hike. Some of the shorter ones can take several hours or even the better part of a day because of the slope or drop of the trail.
We decided at Big Meadow to call it a day. It had really started to rain pretty good and didn't look to be letting up anytime soon. So we headed down and left the Drive at RT 211 heading towards Luray and Warrenton. We hopped over to 522 and followed that until it connected back to 340. If you have the time it is just a short drive to Luray where you can go to Luray Cavern. They have the "World Famous" Stalagpipe Organ. Luray Cavern is pretty cool. I've been there several times (most recently about 20 years ago) and it is always a cool thing to do. Kids will love it!
We stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way home and had dinner. We were famished! We were enjoying the drive and views so much that we didn't eat lunch.
Despite the not optimal weather we still had a great time. Pam had never been to Skyline Drive or Shenandoah National Park and we are both looking forward to going back when the leaves change and to do some hiking!
Till next time....
Craig and Pam
Here are the pix:
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