Shenandoah

I grew up in the rocky mountains, completely obsessed with fall: seeing all the aspens change to a glowing lantern yellow was magic. Shenandoah is a different kind of magic. You get a variety of fall colors and layers of hills of trees. Fall feels more vast and varied. After several years photographing the San Juans in Colorado (best place in Colorado for fall) I wanted to venture somewhere different, to spend my favorite season doing what I love most, exploring. I had just gotten home from a trip to Ontario with some friends and felt sad I didn’t have my next trip planned. I looked up the cheapest flights to go to national parks in the fall. Flights to Virginia were fairly cheap and the best time to visit Shenandoah is in the fall so I was sold. Bonus, one of the best predicted weekends to go was over my friends birthday, so birthday trip it was!

We flew into Dulles Airport, rented a car, and drove through the Virginia countryside to Front Royal. I wouldn’t recommend planning anything timely after your flight, it did take a significant amount of time to get on the road. The fastest way to Front Royal is on highway 66, however I recommend taking highway 50 through Middleburg. We stopped and had lunch at Lost Barrel Brewing, but there were also a lot of cute options within Middleburg and lots of wineries around as well. Lost Barrel had a beautiful outdoor area that we really enjoyed.

We stayed one night in Front Royal at a truly unique Airbnb that I cannot recommend enough! It’s actually cheaper to book outside of Airbnb, you can make a reservation here.

Lisa and Scott own Mountain Home and are truly wonderful hosts. They decided to buy and renovate this property for hikers on the AT trail, as it is only 120 steps from it. The house is on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places and is truly a unique experience, with part of the house dating back to the 1780s. Lisa and Scott do the most to cater to hikers and adventures alike, providing things like a tea and coffee bar and even a delicious homemade breakfast in the morning.

On our first night we drove into the park, entering at the Front Royal Station, and drove the first 20 miles of the park. We watched the sunset; you can’t go wrong with a good sunset spot. A lot of people were set up by Signal Knob and Gooney Run overlook. We did range view overlook which isn’t necessarily your typical spot for sunset, but we enjoyed watching the sun go behind the mountain and seeing the shadows on the mountains in the east.

There really aren’t bad viewpoints in the park. Some have more tree coverage, and some are more open. I encourage you to stop as much as you want to take in the views! The other stop I really liked in that first part of the park was Little Devils Stairs Overlook.

The Second day we drove outside the park to the Thornton gap station. I also really enjoyed driving through the countryside of Virginia.  From Thornton Gap we went to the Skyland Stables to do a horseback ride through the park. We did an hour long ride and we had a group of about 8 people. The fall colors were beautiful, we saw some deer and an owl and really enjoyed the unique way to experience the fall covers. You can book your ride here.

We attempted to do the dark hollow fall trailhead after lunch, and it was obnoxious. There were so many people there. It was really pretty, but I recommend doing a less popular hike. There are several waterfalls throughout the park.

After this hike we made our way out of the park to our next overnight location.  I had won a gift card to getaway/postcard cabins so we tried them out! The cabins were only about a 20 minute drive to the Swift Gap Entrance Station. We had a lot of issues getting into our cabin and getting a functional code. I like the idea of postcard, but it was a little stressful and I wish they had a phone contact easily accessible on their website. To be fair, they were going through the transition from getaway to postcard, so this process may improve. I do think the cabins are overpriced for what they are, but it is a fun little escape. The beds were comfortable, and we loved having a fire pit outside.

That night was my friend’s birthday, so we found a fun winery to eat at. We went to Hark Vineyards in the middle of nowhere in the countryside where they had a food truck and live music. They also had a decorative skeleton in the vineyard so we were sold.

The next morning we slept in a bit (my body says it can’t chase sunrises every time). Then we drove the southern half of the park. Entering at Swift Gap we drove all the way down to Rockfish Gap. IT was so fun driving through the park and seeing the beauty of the trees. We stopped for a couple hikes. We did just a little bit of Brown Mountain Trail because the sun was catching the leaves just right and I couldn’t help myself. Then we did our planned hike of BlackRock summit trailhead. This was such a cool hike. You get a stunning view in several directions. The colors though

We then drove the highway on the west side of the park back up to swift gap. I really enjoyed the const of being on the other side of the park and getting to see the countryside against the mountains. We explored a bit of Lydia and Stanardsville and then took a nap at our cabin before heading back out for sunset. We got some delicious espresso ice cream at Lafayette Inn & Restaurant which was advertising that they were voted one of he the top 12 ice cream shops in Virginia. Noon Whistle Pottery was also an adorable shop which lots of cool artwork as well as Blue Ridge Pottery, definitely recommend checking them out!

For sunset we set up at the Point Overlook – my favorite overlook of the park. There’s a walk down to the rocks that I recommend, very short. It was a fabulous place to take in all the colors of sunset.

The next morning we did Bacon Hollow Overlook for sunrise and then I heard I could reach one of the only 360 degree view of the park with a mile hike and I was sold. The hike is called Bearfence Mountain and there is a bit of exposure on one part. Nothing crazy but just something to be aware of if you are afraid of heights. I had a great time doing this hike solo and didn’t run into anyone until I had hung at the top for 15+ minutes. This hike is so worth it. They do have markers on trees the whole hike, look for them as the way up can be a bit confusing.

After that we drove the whole northern part of the park again as we made our way back to the airport. We could see a clear difference in color from Friday to Monday, crazy how fast it changes. By Monday it felt like peak colors were really starting to hit with more red in the mix. It was beautiful.

On our drive back we stopped for some apple butter donuts at The Apple House because fall. Then went to the Winery at La Grange. We found out about this winery due to it’s haunted history. My friend read the whole ghost story as we sipped our wine and took in the warm Virginia autumn air for the last time.

Shenandoah is a beautiful park. Do you need 3 full days to see the park? Probably not, but we thoroughly enjoyed driving around and taking in all the fall colors and views. I have a new appreciation for fall after this trip.

Here’s a map of all the places I mentioned: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1m2z7b49_Ens3E7FtpT4uEIXgGznuOtA&usp=sharing