At one overlook, four teenagers each bearing massive backpacks and carved walking sticks emerged from the abutting woods on a trail marked by white blazes painted on trees that signify the path as part of the A.T. Shenandoah National Park has over 500 miles of trails, including 101 miles of the Appalachian Trail, which crosses Skyline Drive 28 times. Credit: Meg Pier Skyline Drive Intersects with Appalachian Trail In late May I was witnessing streaks of magenta azaleas and swaths of creamy rose-colored mountain laurel within the infinite green expanse of the forest.Ī turkey vulture soars over the vast forest. Spring is said to climb up these mountains at a rate of about 100 feet per day starting in March. At each, I was awed by the expanse before me, primeval forest across which fell the shadow of passing clouds, verdant peaks piercing a brilliant blue sky.Īt one overlook I saw a lone turkey peck his way across a small field at another, I beheld a soaring bird aloft on wind currents, swooping above one mountaintop to the next without a flap of his wings-perhaps a Peregrine falcons, which are making a comeback in the park. I spent five hours on Skyline Drive in Virginia, meandering along the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains, stopping at overlooks named Calf Mountain, Sawmill Run, Riprap, Doyles River, Rockytop, Eaton Hollow, and The Point. Photo: goshenandoah 100-Mile Skyline Drive in Virginia Traverses Blue Ridge Mountains I immediately walked quickly to the car, shifting into gear and leaving far behind whatever had made the sound. A loud rustling, from where I couldn’t tell, sent a jolt of fear through me–I may now be a city girl but I knew there were bears in these hills. Finally able to nestle my car along the road, I jumped out, slammed the door, and back-tracked at a trot then happily began shooting. Eager to photograph the blooms, I felt a spurt of impatience that there wasn’t shoulder space along the road for me to pull over for several hundred yards. I felt a tinge of uneasiness and then caught sight of a tree laden with unusual, heavy purple flowers. While just miles from a major interstate highway I was nonetheless truly in the wilderness. It occurred to me that in my day-to-day life I would likely have been oblivious to his existence.Īs I drove on, it struck me that I hadn’t yet seen another soul. I happen to look down and noticed a thick fat caterpillar lolling on a stick, master of his domain. Tall grasses merged into brambles and bushes that folded into leafy trees that became an endless cushion of canopy. I pulled into the first of these, McCormick Gap Overlook and got out of the car to stretch my legs and absorb the rich hues of a sea of undulating green waves reaching to the horizon. She handed me a map and told me that there were 75 scenic overlooks along the drive. At the entrance to Skyline Drive, I paid the ranger the $30 fee for access to the 105-mile ribbon of road that traverses the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Skyline Drive is so-named because it crosses the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are part of the larger Appalachian range, affording breathtaking views of an ever-changing horizon.Įast of Waynesboro, I reached Rockfish Gap and Shenandoah National Park. The two-lane road traverses 105 miles of pristine wilderness in Shenandoah National Park, which is about 75 miles south of Washington, D.C. The Skyline Drive in Virginia was something I had never tried, despite having gone to high school just an hour away.
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