Across 4 states
Moving south again back into Virginia and heading to Shenandoah National Park.
But first to get there we travel through an area where the corner of 4 states are very close. So we drive down I-99 out of Pensylvannia first into Maryland. It is really a small state and we haven’t spent much time in it so we managed a stop in Cumberland in the far west of the state. It is significant as a very young “Colonel” George Washington made it his headquarters during the period of the French and Indian War around 1755 as a young 21 year old.
Nearby is a marker signifying the start of the first National Road in US history in 1811 – the aim of which was to reach the western settlements – and was all of 10 miles !
Leaving Maryland, we drove through West Virginia and into Virginia and reached the town of Front Royal which is where the entry to Shenandoah National Park is located. The park is long and narrow and the road that basically travels along the ridgeline of the mountains the length of the park is known as Skyline Drive. Skyline Drive then esssentially merges into the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Skyline Drive runs about 105 miles overall and we did the first 30 before reaching Skyland Lodge where we were staying for the night. The mountain ridge along which the park runs is also home to a section of the Appalachian Trail. The trail and the drive essentially run side by side and cross one another throughout the park. When we arrived at the lodge, we set off on a walk along part of the trail – to Stony Mountain lookout.
Our lodge room looked out into bushland and we sat and had a quiet drink before dinner in the lodge restaurant. One thing we have found when staying in national park lodges is that the food is usually very good – and this didn’t disappoint ! We had a delicious baked trout and veges and even managed to find a nice local Viognior to go with it.
We do the rest of Skyline Drive tomorrow.