Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park in Virginia was established in 1935. The famous Skyline Drive runs the length of the Park, and along it are viewpoints you can stop at along the way. This National Park features forests, waterfalls, and mountain peaks with great views.

What To Do

Skyline Drive

Skyline Drive (bucket list item of mine) is an access point for most of the trails besides the Old Rag Trail.

Old Rag Trail

Old Rag is about a 10-mile hike! The park ranger wasn’t kidding when she said to make sure we had lots of water, food/snacks, and to be ready to climb rocks. This trail has a 1-mile boulder playground for adults and took us about 6 hours for the entire hike.

Dark Hollow Falls Trail

The Dark Hollow Falls trail is a must-see. It is a straight up/straight down there-and-back trail and is slippery (so be careful), but the falls are stunning. We parked at the Harry Byrd Visitor's Center and walked here since it was so close.

Hawksbill Trail

The Hawksbill Trail is a looped-hike and portion of the Appalachian Trail. The directions are tricky so we recommend going counter-clockwise – you would rather go down this steep decline than up the steep incline. Pay attention to the markers for the Appalachian Trail, we got lost at one point haha! You should follow Ducky the Parrot on Insta, he left Emma with a kiss ;-)

Bearfence Mountain Trail

During the trip, one of Emma’s friends messaged her that we HAD to do the Bearfence Mountain Trail. This would mean we would have to south along Skyline Drive for an hour before heading back north to Bmore. I cannot tell you how glad we were that we drove that extra hour or two; this was BY FAR the best hike I’ve ever done, and it was only a mile! There is a rock scramble (albeit shorter than Old Rag). Not only was it fun, but THE VIEWS… We had a 360-degree view at the top that took my breath away. Here’s my video and pictures of the trail. This is a must-do trail.

"Rip Rap Trail"

We thought we were going to do the Rip Rap Trail, but instead we parked at the Rip Rap trail parking lot and continued to walk north following the white blazes which are the Appalachian Trail. Luckily, 4 miles in after multiple steep inclines, we reached the Blackrock Summit. We think our decision wasn’t too bad for missing a turn, but the hike was definitely difficult! Apparently RipRap is the best hike in the national park. It is less than 1 hour from Charlottesville.

Accommodations

We stayed in Luray, Virginia. What a cute, quaint town! Our motel was The Cardinal Inn. It wasn’t the most luxurious of places, but it hit the mark for being clean and staying away from other humans during the pandemic.

Where To Eat

Moonshadows Restaurant

We decided to choose one fancier restaurant for dinner, and we picked Moonshadows Restaurant. This place was REALLY nice and super cute. We missed that they had homemade mimosas, so we just got straight up Prosecco ;-) The food was top notch. We got the sweet potato soup of the day, creole red bean rosti, grilled jumbo shrimp, and adobo-brined chicken half.

Wisteria Winery

Wisteria Winery is about 15 minutes from Luray. Our favorite wines were the Adonis and the Sweet Daisy (the only sweet wines). It was such a cute winery. It even had a “secret garden” type of atmosphere in the back – the paths led to a creek! Would definitely recommend this place.