Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park protects a beautiful section of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, the easternmost range of the Appalachian Mountains. Forested ridges, rocky summits, waterfalls and deep valleys create a landscape that changes with the seasons and stretches toward the Shenandoah Valley in the west and the Virginia Piedmont in the east.

Skyline Drive follows the crest of the mountains for 105 miles, connecting Front Royal in the north with Rockfish Gap in the south. Its numerous overlooks provide expansive views in both directions. The road can be traveled in several hours, but its winding course and frequent overlooks encourage visitors to slow down and experience the changing landscape.

I have driven Skyline Drive several times. Each journey offered a different view of the mountains, shaped by the season, weather and light. Rocky outcroppings rise above the forest, while distant ridges gradually fade into shades of blue. The drive makes the scale and beauty of the Blue Ridge accessible without requiring a long hike into the backcountry.

Congress authorized Shenandoah National Park on May 22, 1926, but the park was not formally established until December 26, 1935. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated it on July 3, 1936. During the 1930s, members of the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed trails, overlooks, stone walls and many of the facilities that continue to shape the visitor experience.

The creation of the park also displaced hundreds of families who had lived and worked in these mountains for generations. Their former homes, farms, cemeteries and communities remain part of the landscape’s history. Today, Shenandoah National Park preserves both the natural beauty of the Blue Ridge and the human stories connected to the land, while Skyline Drive continues to provide a path through the center of it.