Just over an hour drive from our doorstep in Charlottesville sits the only National Park in Virginia- Shenandoah. This is basically one of the biggest reasons why we chose to work in Virginia for three months. We could not resist living so close to nature and so close to hiking opportunities. We went straight from work on Friday to arrive in the park for an evening campfire before another outdoor weekend began!
Big Meadows Campground
Our 2-night stay in the heart of the park happened at Big Meadows. There are a few other well-known campgrounds scattered throughout the park, but Big Meadows essentially puts you at the midpoint to go either north or south. This area came complete with a gas station, a snack shack, and visitor center, among other buildings to make your stay even more enjoyable. It is a very large, popular campground, so expect to definitely have some neighbors- some loud and some quiet. We spent our Friday evening making grilled cheese over our fire with our pizza pie makers and then hit the hay.
One of our favorites – grilled cheese over the fire!
One of our favorites – grilled cheese over the fire!
Skyline Drive
This windy highway courses through the park north-south for over 100 miles and is ranked one of the top drives you can make in the US. And rightfully so- it is an absolutely beautiful drive. As we were driving these windy roads Saturday morning before the majority of people woke up, we came across a black bear!
Frazier Discovery Trail
As we first drove down south on Skyline Drive Saturday morning, we stopped for our first hike of the day- Frazier Discovery Trail. This trail is located right at the parking lot along the highway where some may turn in for the Loft Mountain Campground. It is a solid 1.5-mile loop to start a day for anyone with a pretty good view off some rock bluffs to the west.
Frazier Discovery Trail
Bearfence Trail
Hike #2 had us drive back up north on Skyline a bit until we hit a small side of the road parking lot labeled for Bearfence Trail. This is a 1-mile loop with 250 feet elevation. If you have any little kids with you, or if you’re not a serious hiker, but still want an awesome view with the challenge of brief rock scrambling near the top- this is the best hike for you. We were pleasantly surprised with this short trail.
A glimpse of the rock scrambling on the Bearfence Trail.
Great views from the Bearfence lookout!
A glimpse of the rock scrambling on the Bearfence Trail.
Great views from the Bearfence lookout!
Dark Hollow Falls Trail
This next hike’s parking lot is located maybe one mile north of Big Meadows Campground, and it is very popular- as it is known for being one of the best waterfall hikes in the park. The Dark Hollow Falls Trail is roughly two miles, and near the end it has a pretty good switchback down to the base of the falls- but it is very worth it. What a beautiful waterfall and no wonder we weren’t the only ones there! Definitely one of those background-worthy pictures.
Dark Hallow Falls
Upper Hawksbill Trail
A 10-minute drive further north on Skyline sits the Upper Hawksbill parking lot on the left-hand side. This 1.5-mile trail winds you up to the tallest peak in the park- but there is no rock scramble to be had. It’s views rival those of Bearfence for sure, and it has more room at the top bluffs to have a snack and relax for a bit. FYI- there is a Lower Hawksbill Trail, which also gets you to the peak, but this is a slightly longer trail.
Upper Hawksbill
Stony Man Trail
Just another 5-10-minute drive north we have yet another peak hike! The Stony Man Trail (which sounds super cool) is a 1.5-mile meander through the forest until you reach another rocky bluff. Unfortunately, this view is not nearly as good as Bearfence or Hawksbill, so we don’t recommend it for your hiking journey. It was kind of a “been here- seen that” feeling- we only stayed at the peak for about two minutes.
Stony Man Trail
Overall Run Falls Trail
For the last hike of our Saturday, we drove up Skyline just a little bit further to hit Mathews Arm Campground. You drive all the way to the campground entrance hut and directly to your right-hand side is a parking lot for Overall Run Falls. Now this 5-mile hike is part of a system of trails made in the Mathews Arm area, so you have to do some navigating to get where you want. If you talk with the entrance hut worker a little, you’ll likely get a map and they can highlight it for you- but essentially you take your first right, then a quick left and this will lead you on to the falls. To make it simple, we just came back the same way. Due to some damage from mother nature, you can’t actually get to the base of the falls… But you can get to a viewpoint of the falls. It appears a bit small from far away, but still a cool area to see!
Overall Run Falls
Another nice overlook on the Overall Run Falls Trail.
Overall Run Falls
Another nice overlook on the Overall Run Falls Trail.
The Mountain Taproom
We learned that Shenandoah really became a camping destination because the east-coasters were jealous of all the parks out west- so they created their own version of the “glamping” experience, and out popped the Skyland area. Seriously, even we were shocked that this area existed in the middle of the park. It had numerous expensive cabins to stay in- all surrounding an impressive restaurant, taproom, and gift shop complete with a patio area overlooking the forest as you watch the sunset. The Mountain Taproom had a full-service bar and extensive menu, not to mention live music starting at 8:30 PM on a Saturday night. So, we said why the heck not? To find this one-of-a-kind wooden cabin resort serving beer in a dense forest full of black bears and not participate would’ve haunted us forever. After we enjoyed a splurge, we headed back to our lowly campsite to prepare for Sunday.
Skyland
Outdoor Patio Area in Skyland
You can catch a good view of the sunset right from Skyland!
The Mountain Taproom impressed us with their food…
…and tasty desserts accompanied by live music!
Skyland
Outdoor Patio Area in Skyland
You can catch a good view of the sunset right from Skyland!
The Mountain Taproom impressed us with their food…
…and tasty desserts accompanied by live music!
Old Rag Mountain
We were pretty tired on Sunday from our extensive hiking day, but this did not stop us from wanting to conquer Old Rag. Countless people had told us this was the best hike around, and it’s on the very edge of the park boundary. We had to travel 1.5-2 hours circling over to the northeast side of the park boundary to reach the parking area where National Park Rangers will check for your park passes. And the parking lot will fill up by 10 AM just so you’re aware. This is a 9 mile- 2,000-foot elevation hike that starts out for half a mile on country road until you’ll take a left at the fork up the Ridge Trail. From here the last 1.5-2 miles consist of significant rock scrambling which was super fun! I even got stuck in some places! Once you get to the peak (there’s a few false peaks at first, so keep going until you see the summit signs) there is plenty of room to sprawl out and find your favorite spot to take in the panoramic views- and the views were the best of the weekend by far! This was easily our favorite hike of the weekend, even with the back quarter of the hike being on a wide fire road. It felt like we were getting the true western Virginia nature experience.
The beginning of Old Rag on somewhat normal trails.
But it eventually changes to pure rock scrambling!!
There are several fun passageways you’ll come across!
And you’ll even find some rocks above you!
The 360 degree view from the top of Old Rag!
There’s plenty of rock up here for people to spread out!
The beginning of Old Rag on somewhat normal trails.
But it eventually changes to pure rock scrambling!!
There are several fun passageways you’ll come across!
And you’ll even find some rocks above you!
The 360 degree view from the top of Old Rag!
There’s plenty of rock up here for people to spread out!
We were extremely happy we got to explore Shenandoah National Park! In our minds we essentially covered at least 50% of the park that we could have without going on their tremendously long hiking paths-upwards of 14 miles. We would definitely go back to the Mountain Taproom, and maybe even explore the Luray Caverns next time!
Shenandoah National Park!
Love the rock scrambling! And seeing you eat campsite grilled cheese with your headlamp! Standing amidst God’s majestic creations, you have to be in awe