Skyline Drive is a 105-mile road in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park, built in the 1930s and named a National Historic Landmark in 2008. It is a popular tourist destination for hiking, horseback riding, and wildlife sightings, with a speed limit of 35 mph. The road offers views of plant life and landscapes year-round, and features Grand Caverns, the oldest public cave system in the US.
Skyline Drive is the only public road in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park and runs north-south for 105 miles (about 169 km) from Front Royal to Rockfish Gap. Construction of the road began in 1931 as a Works Progress Administration project and took eight years to complete as workers built and graded the road, erected guardrails, and planted thousands of trees and shrubs. Skyline Drive is a popular tourist destination that attracts two million visitors a year and was named a National Historic Landmark in 2008.
The speed limit on Skyline Drive is only 35 miles per hour (56 km/h), but fans say it’s fast enough. The road runs along the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains and drivers tend to slow down to enjoy the scenery. The road is shared between cars, bicycles, and pedestrians, and wildlife tends to appear frequently, so the speed limit is strictly enforced by park officials.
Skyline Drive parallels the Appalachian Trail, making it a popular hiking destination and features numerous hiking and horseback riding trails. The road is more of a destination than a transportation artery, so there’s also a visitor center, camping areas, rental cabins, and a variety of restaurants that offer diners breathtaking views. Miles markers help keep visitors oriented and serve as directional landmarks.
Early morning or late evening travelers are likely to see wildlife approaching the road. Deer, rabbits, wild turkeys, and even black bears are frequently sighted, and Shenandoah National Park boasts the densest black bear population in the United States. Although many drivers pull to the side of the road to enjoy the wildlife, feeding the animals is strictly prohibited.
The park also boasts a wide variety of plant life and the roadsides are purposely left unmowed to allow for wildflowers to show year round. Lawns are common, and the route offers vistas of vast landscapes of trillium, azalea, black-eyed susan, and goldenrod, depending on the season. Though best known for its fall foliage, Skyline Drive offers an impressive display of color year-round.
Toward the south end of the street is Grand Caverns, the oldest public cave system in the United States. The caves were visited by soldiers during the Civil War, and today the signatures of both Union and Confederate soldiers remain visible on the walls of the cave’s largest room. The park offers guided tours of the cave, and the park features several miles (kilometers) of hiking trails and picnic areas.
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