Shenandoah National Park - Skyline Drive

BootScootin'FireFighter · Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:28 pm

My wife and I tackled all 105 miles of Skyline Drive yesterday. The weather was perfect, but a little bit chilly up along the ridge. We started out early, hitting the road around 6:30, with the first stop in Manassas for food and hot coffee at Panera. We pushed southwest through Bealton, Culpeper (mountains now in sight), Madison, Ruckersville, and finally into Charlottesville along the Seminole Trail. Charlottesville is a beautiful small city in central Virginia, home to Monticello (Thomas Jefferson estate) and Univ. of Virginia. It is a very pedestrian, bicycle, and scooter friendly city with a multitude of Mom & Pop restaurants, coffee shops, and cafes. We had a lunch stop downtown @ Revolution Soup, which is primarily local produce and meat. Lunch was awesome, and we hit the road again heading west about 20 minutes to the south entrance at Rockfish Gap. Along the drive, there are 75 overlooks and several rest area. By that time it was 1pm, so we really felt a push for time since the park was closing at 5 and we wanted to make the entire trip. We stopped at a few overlooks, and the visitors center halfway at Big Meadows. We saw countless deer, several eagles, and even a black bear up close! I caught a quick glimpse and had to turn around to see it again and get a picture. First time seeing a bear in the wild. We made it out shortly after 5 and it was a dark ride home, with the first half of the trip back to town on dark highways. I can't say enough about hi-visibility reflective decals, vests, and being seen. There were no lights except from vehicles, and without all that, there would be some major pucker factor. Other drivers kept a safe distance for the most part and we kept up with the pace.

By the end of the day, it was 333 miles total. I'll have to make it an annual ride.

AWinn6889 · Post by **AWinn6889** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 9:46 pm

That's awesome, looks like a great ride!
I love the picture of you and your lady with the mountains and the sunset

oh, and the bear

viney266 · Post by **viney266** » Wed Nov 16, 2011 4:02 pm

GREAT pics, and an awesome ride I'm sure. I've done it many times (all the way to the bottom of blue ridge on a motorcycle, but what a PERFECT road for a scoot.
Sadly, I had to work all day, the weather was fantastic. Glad to see you two got to enjoy it. I love the "cute" pic of your wife posing with her scooter...and sweet that you got the bear pic. Niceride!

snownomi · Post by **snownomi** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:03 pm

Thanks for the pictures.

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hcstrider · Post by **hcstrider** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 3:13 pm

Beautiful pictures! Skyline Drive is one of my favorite rides because the speed limit is only 35 MPH, tons of twisties, beautiful scenery and lots of opportunities to see a bear. I try to ride Skyline Drive 2 or 3 times a year. I usually camp out near the Luray entrance, ride for a little bit and have lunch at either Big Meadows or Skyland. Wow, 333 miles is a long ride, my typical Skyline Drive rides are more on the order of 100 miles.

Oh, BTW, my Modern Buddy profile picture was taken at the Elk Wallow rest stop.

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:30 pm

Great pics, great memories for you two!

I can't wait for it to warm up a bit here, I want to go to the top of lookout mountain again, only not freeze this time.

DCUNITED4LIFE · Post by **DCUNITED4LIFE** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 7:07 pm

Sweet Ride! I'm doing skyline on my bicycle in May...now you got me thinking I should get the Blur out there too!

JHScoot · Post by **JHScoot** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 5:50 am

Wonderful pics, BootScootin.

Missed this first time around, glad to find it now.

BootScootin'FireFighter · Thu Apr 19, 2012 11:08 am

DCUNITED4LIFE wrote:Sweet Ride! I'm doing skyline on my bicycle in May...now you got me thinking I should get the Blur out there too!

It's a blast, a long day though if you do the whole stretch and back. Are you with the Seven Hills SC? I'll most likely be in Stanardsville in 3 weeks for the camping rally.