Shenandoah: Getting There

Shenandoah National Park
Distance: 615 miles
Drive Time: 9 hours, 30 minutes.

Shenandoah National Park is in Northwest Virginia less than 100 miles away from Washington DC. It is located on the Blue Ridge Mountains and overlooks the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Its main feature is Skyline Drive, a road that rides near the top of the mountain range with multiple overlooks on either side. It is a wonderful, picturesque drive. Unlike some of the other parks we have been to, this one is far way from any major city. It is surrounded by small towns, farms, and rural villages. You would never guess that you were less than 2 hours from the 7th largest metropolitan area in America. Shenandoah Valley is a relaxed atmosphere full of woods to explore and history to learn.

The Official Shenandoah Website lets you know pretty quickly what this park is about-hiking. In addition to over 400 miles of hiking trails,it hosts 101 miles of the famous Appalachian Trail. The park is also full of waterfalls, which are always a treat to hike too.
Shenandoah National Park Brochure:
Part 1
Part 2

Given the nature of the valley, there were many cabins available to rent, and we eventually decided we go with Woodside Cabins and stayed at the cleverly named site: The Cabin. This was located in Rileyville, VA, just 8 miles north of Luray, VA. It was nestled away in the woods and completely cut off from civilization. Needless to say, our cell phone didn't work. The picture of the cabin makes it look bigger than it is. That is because fully half of the cabin is a screened porch, with a picnic table and a hot tub. The rest of the cabin was a cozy kitchen / living room with 2 bedrooms and one bath. Every room had heat, but the only A/C was a window unit in the living room. Since we were there in May, the bedrooms did get a little uncomfortable on the warm nights.

Virginia is in the Eastern Time Zone, so even though we left before 7am, it was quite late before we got to the cabin. Part of that might be because we stopped at Cracker Barrel in Harrisonburg, VA to give Stacy an early Mother's Day treat. But even with the long day, we had enough time to unpack before it started to get dark.