The 35 mile-per-hour speed limit assures that you’ll take your time (you could rush through in about four hours… but why?). The road offers quick, easy access to almost the entire park, with mile markers along its length, making navigation (and orientation) a breeze. This gives visitors near-instant access to Shenandoah’s hiking and backpacking trails, established campsites, and in-park lodging.

Hiking
With 101 of the Appalachian Trail’s 2,181 miles stretching through Shenandoah—and dozens of miles of other trail networks—you have all variety of hikes on offer, many with trailheads accessible directly from Skyline. White Oak Canyon, a 4.8-mile family-friendly hike, consistently ranks as the best waterfall hike in the park, while two-mile Mary’s Rock is a near-vertical ascent that awards you with some of the better views in the lower end of the park. It’s easy to stitch together a long day hike or a several-day backcountry jaunt along Shenandoah’s well-marked, well-maintained trails.

Camping
Big Meadows (mile marker 51) is the nicest—and most popular—of the park’s four established campsites. Backcountry camping is also allowed throughout the park, following established rules (100 feet off the trail, use of bear bags); obtain a permit from one of the ranger stations. For more comfortable lodging, there are several B&Bs just outside of the park, as well as Big Meadows Lodge and Skyland Lodge within the park itself. The latter sits at the highest point of Skyline.

Biking
Skyline Drive is open to road biking but should be pursued by only experienced bikers. The road attracts a lot of tourists—many of them more engaged with what’s happening on the sides of the road rather than what’s happening on the road. There’s also a fair amount of elevation gain/loss; you gain 2,000 feet in just the first five miles of the south-to-north route.

Logistics
Skyline Drive has four access points within the park: Front Royal, Thorton Gap, Swift Run Gap, and Rockfish Gap. Entry costs $15 (or $5 per bike/person). Given its 60-mile proximity to Washington, D.C. and the city’s sprawling suburbs, it can get crowded, especially on holiday weekends and the peak leaf-changing season (typically the second or third week in October).