Skyline Drive Run
Amazing Cloudy Day Drive on Skyline Drive
On a rainy week day, the wife and I decided to take a day off from work and the kids, and go for a drive on the northern half of Skyline Drive, through Shenandoah National Park.
It’s a beautiful twisty road through the Shenandoah Valley, with amazing scenic overlooks all throughout the drive. The total Skyline Drive distance is about 105 miles, and we covered about 45 of it. We went from the Front Royal Entrance to Luray, where we stopped for lunch, and then back north on Skyline to get home in time to pick up the kids from daycare.
It was a very rainy day from the start of the drive, with nearly no visibility driving up the mountain. We managed one overlook right at the start, but after that, the clouds had moved onto the road, and at our elevation, we were inside of those dark clouds, with maybe 30 feet of visibility at best.
We drove along, skipping most of the overlooks since we couldn’t see anything. Once we got to Mathew’s Arm campground, however, the skies started to clear up.
We took a quick drive through the campground, to check it out. I’ve always heard about the Shenandoah Park campgrounds, and was curious to check them out. They are a combination of first come first served, and reservable sites. After checking them out in person, they seem pretty small and quite close together. So while not too bad, it certainly wasn’t what we expected. We figured that they would be more secluded and larger. For the most part, they can probably accommodate a 4 person tent max, and 1 vehicle at the site. There is additional parking near the entrance at the campground for additional vehicles though.
We continued on the drive, stopping at the Heartpine Cafe near Luray Caverns for lunch. After enjoying a delicious Reuben for the wife, and a smoked pulled pork sandwich for me, we hit the road back north. On the way back, the skies stayed clear, with some beautiful clouds scattered over the valley. Definitely a great trip, looking forward to going back and doing it again, hopefully with enough time to do the entire route!
Check out more photos in the gallery!
