In the U.S., driving along the crest of a mountain range might be something many would associate with trips in the West, but one of the country’s most beautiful high-altitude road trips is far from the Rockies or the Cascades. It’s actually in Virginia.
Just 75 miles outside of Washington, D.C., is Shenandoah National Park, home to the 105-mile Skyline Drive, and traveling the road by car is one of the most iconic American road trips you can undertake.
Developed in the 1930s at the height of the Great Depression, the driving route welcomed a staggering 500,000 people in its first year (1934 to 1935). Decades later, driving the route still retains an air of midcentury Americana, with rustic, throwback park lodging like the Skyland Resort and Big Meadows Lodge. Even today, though the Skyline Drive welcomes over a million visitors annually, the route feels far away from the rest of the world and holds its own as one of the great American road trips.
The Skyline Drive is the only public road in the entire park. Following the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains, it cuts through about 200,000 protected acres and provides access to more than 500 miles of hiking trails. It climbs up to 3,680 feet above the Shenandoah Valley, providing views that are nothing short of commanding. And visiting in the fall during peak foliage weeks—or around sunset—is worth planning your visit around.
The drive stretches north to south along the Blue Ridge, and if you were to travel the full route it would take at least three hours, not accounting for any inclement weather, lookout stops, or wildlife crossings. Visitors can plan their route based on the four entrances to the drive: the Front Royal entrance (mile 0) in Front Royal, Virginia; the Thornton Gap entrance (mile 31.5) near Luray, Virginia; the Swift Run Gap entrance (mile 65.5) near Elkton, Virginia; or the Rockfish Gap entrance (mile 104.6), which is also the northernmost entrance to another scenic drive: the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The Skyline Drive is best undertaken with plenty of time to stop and enjoy the view. There are over 70 vantage points along the drive perfect for a picnic or photo stop, with notable pit stops including the dining hall-turned-visitor center at Dickey Ridge (mile 4.6), the Thornton Hollow Overlook (mile 27.5), and the Crimora Lake Overlook (mile 92.6). And even if you are looking to breeze through it, the 35-mile-per-hour speed limit will set your pace.
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