Autumn is so beautiful in Virginia. Dave and I decided to visit Shenandoah National Park this weekend during the height of fall foliage. We were thinking about taking a hike there, but the weather was quite chili for a hike, so we ended up taking Skyline Drive stopping at the overlooks, enjoying the incredible vistas and taking a lot of pictures.
Luckily, there wasn’t that many cars at the park entrance. The line moved quickly. We paid the $20 park entrance fee (per car) and entered Skyline Drive.
With a 35 MPH speed limit, it takes about 4 hours to finish the 105 miles of Skyline Drive. There are over 70 overlooks on Skyline Drive with a sign before each one, as in the picture below.
We drove only half of the way, but we stopped at almost every overlook to enjoy the view and take some pictures. Every overlook was a different view of the valley and both sides of the mountain, but each one was gorgeous.
Some overlooks were accompanied by informational stands like this one. There are lots of hiking trails with beautiful scenic views of the park, including a few short and easy ones.
Skyline Drive hosts hotels, restaurants and campgrounds. We drove by one of them.
This dead tree adds a dramatic effect to the picture, doesn’t it?
I was impressed by the beautifully maintained road in the park. Dave mentioned that he was looking forward to driving his motorcycle here next time.
One of the numerous overlooks.
We stopped to take a picture of this beautiful tree on our way out of the park.
Driving back home through the Virginia countryside.
And enjoying the views.
We saw 2 unusual cars at this intersection. Here is one of them. Not often can you see a car with this color or shape…
And look at this smart car waiting for the light ahead of us. Did you notice a key above the COKE CAN license plate? It reminds me an old toy car which you had to wind up with a little metal key. 🙂
Almost home. It was getting dark, but we were still able to enjoy some beautiful autumn scenery along the road.
