Shenandoah National Park

About

Shenandoah National Park runs along the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Virginia, about 71 miles west of Washington, D.C. Its spine is Skyline Drive, a 105-mile road that follows the ridge from an entrance near Front Royal in the north to Rockfish Gap near Waynesboro in the south. The mailing address on file, 3655 U.S. Highway 211 East in Luray, corresponds to the Thornton Gap entrance near the middle of the park.

Most visitors spend a day driving sections of Skyline Drive and stopping at overlooks for views of the valley on one side and the rolling Piedmont on the other. Trails branch off the drive at regular intervals, ranging from short walks to multi-day backpacking routes, and several waterfalls draw day hikers in spring when water flow is highest. People who want more than a drive-through stay overnight at Skyland Resort, Big Meadows Lodge, or Lewis Mountain, or camp at Big Meadows, Lewis Mountain, or Loft Mountain.

A single loop through one section of the park, with a couple of overlook stops and a short trail, fills half a day. Driving the full 105 miles end to end without long hikes takes most of a day, since the speed limit on Skyline Drive stays at 35 miles per hour and traffic slows near overlooks and wildlife.

Luray, at the base of the mountains near the park's midpoint, has places to eat and stay, and Luray Caverns nearby. Front Royal anchors the north end of the drive, and Waynesboro sits near the south end at Rockfish Gap, where Skyline Drive connects to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Accessibility

Shenandoah National Park is accessible in parts, not throughout. Paved overlooks, one flat trail, and several buildings work for wheelchair users, but the park is large and mountainous, and the National Park Service describes many restrooms and buildings as accessible "with assistance" rather than fully step-free.

Most overlooks along the 105-mile Skyline Drive have a marked accessible parking spot, so a driving tour works without leaving the car. At Big Meadows Lodge the closest accessible parking sits up a short hill from the main entrance, and at Skyland Resort about a dozen accessible spots sit in front of the buildings.

Paved paths connect most buildings at Big Meadows Lodge. The park's one fully accessible trail, Limberlost, is a 1.3-mile loop near mile 43 on Skyline Drive, surfaced in crushed greenstone with a boardwalk section over wetlands. Grades on Limberlost run 5 to 10 degrees, and a posted sign warns hikers before the steepest stretch. All-terrain wheelchairs and accessibility hiking carts are permitted on any trail in the park, and the nonprofit Community Gear Library lends an accessibility hiking cart at no cost by email request.

NPS states that restrooms at picnic grounds and campgrounds are accessible or accessible with assistance, but a third-party review found some picnic-area restroom stalls too narrow for a wheelchair to close the door. Both visitor centers loan assistive listening devices for ranger talks and films, the park brochure is available in braille or as a downloadable Braille Ready Format file, and the NPS app adds audio description for trailside and visitor center exhibits.

Call the park at 540-999-3500 before a visit to confirm which restrooms and overlooks are open, since seasonal closures and weather change conditions often. It helps to ask detailed access questions by phone or email ahead of time.

Checked by Accessible America, August 2026. Report a change

More accessible places in Virginia

• Luray Caverns (Luray)
• Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond)
• Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park (Fredericksburg)
• Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (Appomattox)
• Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial (Arlington)
• Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park (Middletown)

Photo credits

• Rocky Crescent Rock overlook offers a sweeping view of Shenandoah's forested ridges.: ShenandoahNPS, Public domain (source)
• Skyline Drive curves along a stone wall through green trees in Shenandoah National Park.: Image copyright 2005 by user G. Edward Johnson (user Lorax) and released under the terms of the GFDL, CC BY-SA 3.0 (source)
• Shenandoah National Park official National Park Service image: National Park Service, Public domain (U.S. National Park Service)
• Cars are parked along a low stone wall at a paved Skyline Drive overlook in Shenandoah.: Image copyright 2005 by user G. Edward Johnson (user Lorax) and released under the terms of the GFDL, CC BY-SA 3.0 (source)
• Golden autumn foliage covers the open meadow of Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park.: ShenandoahNPS, Public domain (source)