SHENANDOAH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK

Now let me see by a show of hands how many of you knew or have heard of Shenandoah Valley National Park?  Well, probably more than I thought.  However, I personally had never heard of it nor did I know we even had a national park named Shenandoah Valley National Park!  Yesterday, I visited there.

A front has come through here and the high for yesterday in the valley was 72, up in the mountains it was in the low 60s with quite a bit of wind.  So, it was a bit chilly as I drove through the park.  This national park is great if you like to hike.  There are lots and lots and lots of trails. There are also about that many pull offs/overlooks to stop and take pics.  There are many campgrounds too.  I drove through several.  Some were set up for tents or small tent trailers and others were set up to accommodate large trailers and motor homes.  I thought it was funny to drive that section and see all the generators sitting outside by the trailers and motor homes.  Remember, there is no electricity or sewer in national parks.  Sometimes there is not even water at a campsite.

They had a couple of areas that had lodges with restaurants and gift stores.  That has always seemed like the place to stay at a national park because they usually have beautiful views from either the common area or from the rooms.  Here's one I stopped at yesterday.



Outside patio. You can sit right inside that wall of windows and see the mountains.

The restaurant at the lodge.

 At one of the lodges, there was a trail that led up to a spectacular view.  So, of course we took the trail. I want you to notice where I, Miss Scared of Heights, am standing.

Pretty proud of myself for being up there by myself!

He always has to show off by standing where I was barely able to work up my courage to sit! :)

At one of the overlooks, there was a trail that led to a better view.  Look what I found.

This guy was painting the valley below.  He was having to hold his canvas everytime the wind blew because it was pretty strong gusts.  My granddaughter, Girl-child, would have loved this.  She is the artist in the family.

Here are some other shots from this overlook.

One good thing about national parks is they give you the distance and the approximate time it will take to hike any of their trails round trip.  There were several hikes that we could have done but it would have meant not being able to spend any time in the rest of the park. So, we passed on the hikes yesterday, but if we have time another day, we may go back and do a hike.

As we were leaving, we stopped at one last overlook.  There was a sign that said if you followed the trail on either your right or left, it would lead you to a better view.  It really took us in the woods and we kept going and going and going until finally Mr. W told me to just wait for him and he would see if he could find the end and if it was worth going to.  So, while I waited for him, I took some pics of the woods.

I did see some beautiful scenery.  It was cold enough that I sat in the truck at one of the overlooks and ate my picnic lunch.  The wind was howling and even with my light jacket, it was too cold to sit outside.  Maybe if I come back another day, there won't be any wind and I can enjoy one of their many picnic areas.  If you are hiker, you really need to visit this park.  Even if you aren't a hiker, it is beautiful and well worth the visit.