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There's nothing quite like a hike to a view in Shenandoah National Park!
NPS Photo | Neal Lewis
Miles 0-5
This 1940 photo of the North Entrance Checking Station shows the newly built structure.
NPS Photo
Mile 0
Welcome to Shenandoah National Park! Experience the 105 miles of beauty and history Skyline Drive has to offer as you navigate each district.
Entrance station staff have welcomed millions of visitors over the decades. First called "Checking Stations," later "Ranger Stations," and now "Entrance Stations" these buildings signal the beginning of a grand adventure for many who pass through them. This 1940 photo of the North Entrance Checking Station shows the newly built structure. It was replaced in 1966 with the current building.
Construction of Skyline Drive predated the dedication of the park by five years. Work began in 1931, when President Hoover authorized drought relief funds to finance the task. From 1933 until its completion in 1939, the job continued as a Depression Era work relief project under the Roosevelt Administration's New Deal.
Skyline Drive was an instant success. Each of the road's three districts opened—in 1934 (Central District), 1936 (North District) and 1939 (South District)—to enormous numbers of motorists. As a result of the Drive's popularity, newly established Shenandoah National Park led all National Park units in visitation by 1937, becoming the first national park to attract one million visitors.
The greatest single feature is a possible sky-line drive along the mountain top, following a continuous ridge and looking down westerly on the Shenandoah Valley and also commanding a view of the Piedmont Plain stretching easterly to the Washington Monument.
North Entrance Sign in 1997—the same year Skyline Drive was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
NPS Photo
Mile 0.6
The birth of national parks in the late 19th centry brought with it a unique and new style known as National Park Service (NPS) Rustic or, as it's more affectionately known by NPS staff, 'Parkitecture.'
Infused with native materials, natural whole logs, and built by hand (or meant to look as if it was), 'Parkitecture' defines the National Park Service experience in the collective memories of visitors just as much as our natural landscapes. In part, this is because the buildings were designed with the purpose of blending into landscapes instead of imposing upon them.
Notice the natural structure of the north entrance sign and building. Throughout Shenandoah, there are even more examples of 'Parkitecture' as you explore entrance stations, lodges and cabins, visitor centers, and informational kiosks at scenic overlooks.
Mile 2
The initial plan called for wooden guardrails made from fallen chestnut trees. However, landscape architect Charles Peterson advocated for stone walls instead, drawing inspiration from those found at Mt Rainier.
During Franklin D. Roosevelt's visit to Rapidan Camp with Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, he was accompanied by Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, who frequently expressed concern regarding the cost of the stone walls, referring to them as a "Hoover extravagance." Prior to arriving at Marys Rock Tunnel, Morgenthau voiced his objections again, prompting President Roosevelt, who was driving, to remark “Aw, shut up Henry…Nobody gets more scared than you do. If it wasn’t for that wall, you’d be out walking.” According to National Park Service Director Albright in an oral history interview, made April 14, 1969, by R. Taylor Hoskins, E. Ray Schaffner, and Bruce McHenry, SNPRMR, Oral History Collection, Box #1
Miles of historic rock walls line the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, many of which have been there since the 1930s. Thanks to your support, we can continue to maintain these iconic structures well into the future.
Mile 2.8
Skyline Drive features more than 70 scenic overlooks and vistas! The first, Shenandoah Valley Overlook, is just beyond the Front Royal entrance.
In January 1935 representatives of the Front Royal Chamber of Commerce, Lions Club, Rotary Club, Retail Merchants Association, and the Town Council wrote to Park Superintendent Ralph Lassiter requesting that "a parking overlook...be constructed on the Sky Line Drive about two miles from Front Royal..."
They submittted these reasons for the request:
There is at present no parking over-look from which the Town of Front Royal is visible...
Such location will call the attention of tourists to the Town and we may thereby profit locally from tourist trade
We also consider this to be worthwhile because of added beauty and interest to that portion of the Drive particularly at night or in the late evening after the Town is illuminated.
Historic Dickey Ridge Lodge
Mile 4.6
Dickey Ridge was initially planned as a multi-use development constructed by the park concessionaire to provide services to motorists along Skyline Drive. The Virginia Sky-Line Company secured the concessionaire contract in 1937, and the next year Dickey Ridge Lodge was completed. Site amenities included a gas station, dining services, overnight accommodations, and picnic areas.
Dickey Ridge Lodge officially opened to the public on July 7, 1938. On opening night there were more than 300 guests in attendance, enjoying dinner and dancing into the early morning! The Park Service purchased the building in 1957, when it was converted into a visitor center. The trees have grown up, the tables and umbrellas are now gone, but the wormy chestnut walls, the flagstone terrace and the panoramic views remain the same.
Shenandoah National Park Association (SNPA) is Shenandoah National Park's official cooperating association that sells books, maps, videos, and other items in the park's visitor centers like Dickey Ridge. All profits are returned to support the interpretive and educational programs of Shenandoah National Park.
Many visitors hike Snead Farm Loop to see the Carter family's barn.
NPS Photo
Mile 5
Snead Farm Loop is located across Skyline Drive from the Dickey Ridge area. A main point of interest along this hike is one of the many orchards that existed before the park's establishment. The fruit trees found in the park remind us that orchards served as an important source of income for farmers who once lived in the area. In the vicinity of Dickey Ridge the Carter family operated Skyland Orchard which, at its peak, had 8,000 fruit trees.
Miles 6-10
The columnar jointing visible at Compton Peak is part of the Catoctin Formation, a geologic unit of bluish-green metabasalt that originated from ancient lava flows.
NPS Photo
Mile 10.4
Along the Appalachian Trail is Compton Peak. This hike is a little more than two miles long, round-trip from the Compton Gap parking area at mile 10.4. Moderate in difficulty, the hike is well worth the effort to see the geologic feature called columnar jointing.
Each joint, or crack, in columnar jointing was formed with the rock itself, as opposed to weathering into existing rock over time. So how did this rock form with its column-like joints? Hot topic! 570 million years ago, lava flowed across the land where we now find Shenandoah National Park. As that lava cooled, a rock called metamorphosed basalt was formed. Much like a risen cake, the surface became smaller as the lava cooled from the outside-in and gave way to the formation of cracks (a.k.a. joints) lining the new rock in long, angular patterns.
Some other examples of columnar jointing include Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming and Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland.
Miles 11-15
Miles 16-20
A 1934 survey of people residing in the park found that only 17 of the 465 families cited moonshine as a regular source of household income. This moonshine still was found on Hazel Mountain and confiscated by park rangers in 1937.
NPS Photo
Mile 17.6
Excerpt from Shenandoah Secrets by Carolyn and Jack Reeder:
A "bark road" from Harris Hollow on the east crossed the Blue Ridge at Gravel Springs Gap and led to the tannery at Browntown. You can trace its route on Park maps where the two segments are known as the Harris Hollow Trail and the Browntown Trail. For two weeks or so each spring, bark could be easily peeled from chestnut, chestnut oak, and hemlock trees. This bark was in great demand because of its high tannic accid content, and local tanneries purchased all that the mountain people could supply for use in curing leather.
A second mountain industry in the Gravel Springs Gap area was making moonshine. "Gravelly Spring was a good place to run off a dubblin'," remembered a women who once lived not far away. The constantly flowing spring and the abundant apple crops grown nearby made this remote area ideal for distilling brandy.
Below the Little Devils Stairs Overlook, a cold trickle of water begins a long journey. Keyser Run forms along these slopes, carving the steep gorge that hikers explore on the Little Devils Stairs Trail, a 7.4 mile circuit hike that begins at mile 19.4. As the water drops from boulder to boulder, the stream picks up strength, joins larger rivers, and ultimately feeds the Chesapeake Bay.
In fact, the hundreds of small streams in Shenandoah are an important part of the headwaters of the Rappahannock, Potomac, and James Rivers. Protecting these streams protects the drinking water for millions from mountain to city and contributes to the health of the Chesapeake Bay.
Miles 21-25
View from Hogback Overlook (mile 21) in spring.
NPS Photo | Neal Lewis
Mile 21
In February 1934, the Public Works Administration funded the northern extension of Skyline Drive for the first 10.456 miles from Front Royal to Compton Gap. In March 1934, officials awarded the contract for the Compton Gap to Hogback Overlook section, covering 10.359 miles. In July 1934, the final 10.693-mile stretch from Hogback to Panorama received its contract.
Mile 22.2
Just down the Piney River Trail is Range View Cabin, one of six cabins operated by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC). With the exception of the stonework, PATC volunteers built the cabin in 1932. The club hired local stonemason, Charlie Sisk, whose skills were also frequently used at Skyland.
Explore the virtual tour to learn more about Range View Cabin.
Left image
PATC members laying out a future trail near the Range View Cabin.
Credit: NPS Photo
Right image
Present day Range View Cabin
Credit: NPS Photo
Miles 26-31.5
Thornton Gap Entrance Station and Panorama Resort circa 1937.
NPS Photo
Mile 31.5
Thornton Gap
Thornton Gap was named for Francis Thornton (1711-April 14, 1749), owner of the land to the east and the "F.T. Valley." In 1740, he built a mansion in the Piedmont region near Nethers in Rappahannock County. The privately-owned Thornton's Gap Turnpike Company was formed to build a road over the mountains at Thornton's Gap. The toll road opened in 1806.
During the Civil War, the Great Valley of Virginia was known as the "breadbasket of the Confederacy" and so was the scene of intensive military action and much destruction. But the Blue Ridge Mountains witnessed only limited military actions and few depredations as the contending armies merely passed through on their way to larger confrontations.
Thornton was one of many passageways that led across the Blue Ridge. Two others were the Gordonsville Turnpike that crossed the Blue Ridge at Fishers Gap and Swift Run Gap Turnpike that crossed at Swift Run Gap. But when Skyline Drive was completed in the 1930s, the National Park Service chose to limit vehicular access to the mountaintop and closed the many roads that crossed the ridge. Today, many of these historic routes are maintained as fire roads or provide limited access for administrative purposes.
Panorama Resort
On July 20, 1924, Panorama Resort opened its doors to guests. Managed by J. Allen Williams of Luray, the resort was located seven miles east of Luray. Straddling Page and Rappahannock counties, the property occupied approximately 350 acres including Mary's Rock. The site had been purchased in 1923 by Williams, his brother-in-law Paul Taylor of Washington, D.C., and R. L. Cheatham and A.M. Priest of Washington, Virginia. By 1928 the resort included a Tea Room, summer hotel, five cottages, dining room, bath house, miniature golf course, tennis court, and various other service buildings.
