A Trip to Shenandoah National Park with Kids
“Wherever we go in the Mountains, we find more than we seek” – John Muir
Shenandoah National Park is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and was established in 1935 from over 1,000 privately owned tracks of land. One of the most unique features of this park is the Skyline Drive which is a stretch of 105 miles allowing visitors access to the mountaintop via a leisure ride through the Blue Ridge. Shenandoah National Park also offers over 500 miles of trails and at its most southern ends joins the Blue Ridge Parkway which stretches 465 miles to Great Smoky National Park.
Museum of the Shenandoah Valley
Our family stopped at this museum as a pit stop on our way to Shenandoah National Park from CT and I highly recommend this it as a starting point for any Shenandoah National Park getaway. The museum is conveniently located off the highway in Winchester, VA and is comprised of a Nature Connects: Art with Lego Bricks - a Lego Art Garden (free picnic area), 90 acres of free admission trails and a Shenandoah Valley history, art and culture museum. The videos in the museum are a helpful introduction to the geography, culture and history of the area. Our family picked up Pupusas from a nearby restaurant (Flor’s Pupuseria) and enjoyed a picnic near the garden prior to exploring the Lego garden, historic house and museum. Please note that nature connects is a special exhibition and will only be there until September 3, 2018. Admission costs: Adults @10, youth (13 – 18 or senior, 60 +): $8, ages 5-12: $5. There’s light food available for purchase in the museum store and picnics are welcome in the gardens.
Skyline Drive – Shenandoah National Park
We took our time driving the Skyline Drive on our way to Skyland Resort for a one-night stay. I highly recommend that you take this scenic drive and stop as often as your heart desires. The skyline drive has 75 overlooks with amazing views of the mountains and valley below. The speed limit is 35 MPH and we quickly learned why, as we spotted a bear within 2 minutes into our drive. We also saw deer, rabbits, various species of birds and enjoyed a breathtaking sunset. I recommend waking up early the next day and to watch an inspiring sunrise. There are no street lights or signs on this drive and you have to use mile markers to find facilities and trail heads.
Big Meadows Lodge – Shenandoah National Park
We were staying down the road a bit at Skyland and went to Big Meadows Lodge for lunch and to explore the grounds, trails and visitor center. The lodge was rustic but clean and the food was of surprisingly good quality. The dining area felt like what you would envision when you think of historic U.S. National Park. I'm glad that we went for lunch and got to experience both major lodging areas in the Shenandoah National Park. Our room at Skyland better suited our family size, but it was a nice mix to be able to drive to Big Meadows and see the setting - enjoy a meal. They have kid’s menus and the cost was large family friendly. They have a cute gift shop with local crafts and one of a kind ornaments. The visitor center with a small museum, gift shop, park ranger talks and free films about the National Park is located nearby. If you need gas, the station is located near here and the prices were reasonable.
Skyland Resort – Shenandoah National Park
Our family spent 1 night in a premier room and it was much nicer than I had prepared the kids for. I thought it would be more rustic camping than it ended up being. The bathroom looked like it had recently been renovated. They had a cool water timer which I would love for my house to use with my teen daughter. We had a nice view of the mountain and the room was air conditioned which was very much appreciated as we visited in the middle of a heat wave. We took Skyline drive on our way to Skyland and pulled off at various lookouts on our way. We went to the Mountain Taproom for a light dinner and the food was good and service friendly. We would definitely return to this lodging option as it was conveniently located to the family friendly hikes in Shenandoah National Park. We were able to see deer, bears, various birds and rabbits.
Additional information about Skyland:
The Skyland Report is located at 3680 feet.
Check in is at 3:00 p.m. and check out is at 11:00 a.m.
Pollock Dining Room: Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Mountain Taproom: offers beverages and food items as well as family-oriented entertainment nightly. Open: 2:00 – 11:00 p.m.
There’s also a Grab ‘N go offering easy to carry packed lunches, sandwiches, snacks and drinks.
A gift shop carrying unique pottery, jewelry, candles, hiking sticks and Shenandoah National Park apparel and gifts is located hear the office and dining area.
Shenandoah National Park – Family Friendly Hikes
Stony Man Trail – Shenandoah National Park
This was our first hike during our one-night stay, as it was conveniently located near Skyland Resort. We headed out early as we visited in the middle of a heat wave and wanted to ensure that our youngest could hike independently both ways. The trail is a 1 ½ mile roundtrip hike to the summit of Stony Man Mountain, the second highest peak in Shenandoah National Park. The top of Stony Man provided amazing views west over the Shenandoah Valley. Once at the summit, we were standing about 4,011 feet above sea level and approximately 300 feet higher than the parking lot where we started our hike. The massive rocks invited us to sit, rest and enjoy the breeze, as the temperature on Stony Man was cooler than anywhere else in the park. If you only have time for one hike while in Shenandoah National Park, this should be the family hike of choice.
Dark Hollow Falls – Shenandoah National Park
This was our second hike of the day with four young children ages 12, 10, 6 and 5 and it’s one of the shortest hikes to a waterfall in Shenandoah National Park. We stopped in the nearby Visitor Center for a map and to use the restroom prior to our hike (I highly recommend this as there are no bathrooms on the trail and it’s very popular for families with young children. Though it’s only a 1.5 miles trail, don’t underestimate its difficulty as you have to hike down to the waterfall and what goes down must come up. This makes the hike back much more strenuous especially on a hot summer day. I highly recommend wearing tick and insect repellent as well as a hat and a bottle of water per person.
Grand Caverns
Our family stopped by Grand Caverns late on a Saturday afternoon following a full morning of hiking and driving the Skyline Road in Shenandoah National Park. It was in the middle of a heat wave and the average temperature of 58 degrees in the cavern was a welcome change. Note: if you or anyone in your group gets cold easily, do wear a sweater as the tour lasts about 1 hour and 10 minutes and you’ll walk approximately 1.4 miles. We traveled with 4 kids ages 12, 10, 6 and 5 and the entire family enjoyed our time at the Grand Caverns. The tour includes the history of the Cavern, as well a mix of Civil War History and Geology information. The kids also loved all of the descriptions of the various formations and the current day references. This made the tour more personable and likely that they will retain the information. The size of this particular cavern is impressive and the smaller tour size made it more enjoyable and manageable with young children. Wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to walk, have kids use the restroom prior to the tour and provide them some back ground on the differences between a cave and a cavern. This is an amazing natural wonder and a must for every family. You won't regret going. Check out groupon for a discount. Cool note: if you have kids or adults over 12 years old, there’s an option to add a Fountain Cave adventure tour which allows you to explore the underground like the original explorers did. You should book this in advance, as it does sell out. That particular cave has no lights, graveled or paved walkways and no handrails. This is an option for true adventure seeking folks. That tour lasts 2 hours and you get helmets, headlights, knee pads & gloves and have an old school cavern adventure. We would love to return to check that option out with just our older child.
Virginia Safari Park, Natural Bridge, VA
We visited early on a Sunday morning in July in the middle of a heat wave. Our four kids love animals and we figured that the Virginia Safari Park would offer a unique opportunity for them to see bigger animals at a closer distance than what they've experienced in a zoo. Wow, this outing exceeded our expectations and should be added to any animal loving family's bucket list. If you want to keep your car slobber free, you should book the tractor ride. Due to time constraints we drove our car and had Bison slobber all over the inside of our leather and windows. That actually only added to the kid’s excitement and enthusiasm about the experience. Go early in the day when the animals are hungry and before it gets crowded and hot. Some of our favorite animals were the baby Rhea (from South America), the Rocky Mountain Elk, the Bongo, Giraffes (feed them the lettuce as it's such a cool experience), the Blackbuck, the Bison, Water Buffalo, Yak and White Rhinos.
Thank you @goshenandoah for the recommendation! Gelato @thesplitbanana is the perfect stop on a hot summer day in #virginia. #roadtrip #icecream #foodies #va #virginia #familytravel #foodie #shenandoahwithkids #visitva
A post shared by Traveling with 4 kids (@havekiddoswilltravel) on Jul 1, 2018 at 10:40am PDT
We wish we had time for these attractions:
- Frontier Culture Museum
- Jordan Hollow Stables
- Massanutten Waterpark
- Dinosaur Land
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