Shoring up summer memories

The end of school signals an optimistic beginning for us parents, grandparents and extended family members just as it does for children – a time we get to shape new memories lasting into adulthood, well beyond that excited chatter at the beginning of another school year. Memories often revolve around family trips, which will probably be closer to home this summer because of increased fuel and food costs.

With Shenandoah National Park’s 75th anniversary, we have the opportunity not only to shore up relationships in the great outdoors through activities together – but to participate in the park’s collective memory over the past 75 years through special exhibits and programs. For some of us adults, a trip with children brings back memories of our own visits long ago.

Hiking Shenandoah National Park
My own first Shenandoah National Park memory is a hike with my family when I was 15. The designated challenge chosen by my father was the fairly steep, 1.7-mile roundtrip up Hawksbill Mountain – the highest peak in the park at 4,050’ – for a spectacular view at the top. The climb didn’t take that long, but to a family from the flatlands of Virginia’s Eastern Shore, it seemed to take far longer and be much steeper than envisioned. About halfway up the Lower Hawksbill Trail, my Coca-Cola-loving mother deadpanned, “I hope there’s a drink machine at the top.”

Photo by Shenandoah National Park
Dark Hollow Falls at mile 50.7 on Skyline Drive. It is 1.4 miles round trip, has some steep sections, has a 70’ waterfalls. Pets are not allowed on this trail.Drink machines, fortunately, are still absent from the park’s peaks, and we can still choose among 500-plus miles of trails for guided and self-guided hikes. For planning purposes, an independent Web-site hiking page shows self-guided nature trails by name, height in feet, estimated hiking time in hours and the elevation gain in feet, plus more than a dozen waterfall hikes and the location of seven picnic areas. http://www.shenandoah.national-park.com/hike.htm

Stretching Your Experience to Include More
While a day’s hike makes a good activity by itself, economical overnight packages such as the Shenandoah Sensational package (buy two nights, get the third night free with the purchase of a meal voucher) mean you can get more in during successive days in the park, as well as enjoy evening activities, such as watching cloggers perform. A number of mid-week packages include one with a $30 gasoline voucher. Dining menus feature good, home-cooked food – and if you’re at Skyland Resort when the chef has made a fresh berry cobbler, go for it!

Check out the Web for a fishing guide to the park, complete with fishing regulations, and for horseback-riding opportunities. You can bring your own horse or sign up for a guided trail ride from Skyland Stables (through October); pony rides are available for children, and hitching posts are provided in high horse-use areas.

Older family members will appreciate the geology and history conveyed on signboards, exhibits and brochures for the 196,466-acre park. The trip from Midlothian to Skyland (older than the park itself) offers a geography lesson, too, as the scenery moves from rolling Virginia Piedmont to the dramatic Blue Ridge Mountains that form the eastern rampart of the Appalachians stretching from Pennsylvania to Georgia. In the valley to the west lies the Shenandoah River, from which the park takes its name.

Programs and Special Events
Children age seven and older can learn about the park in earning a sticker, badge or patch in the Junior Rangers program described on the park’s Activities and Calendar Page, which also describes ranger-led activities and events at specified amphitheaters and visitor centers. For stories of suffragettes and wealthy city people who once used Skyland Resort as a retreat, don’t miss the guided tour of Historic Massanutten Lodge there (dating to 1911), offered four days each week at 4 p.m.

Gazing across the horizon from Shenandoah National Park, you’ll find it hard to believe you’re only 75 miles west of the megalopolis that is the nation’s capital. Hike in the shade of oak trees along the Appalachian Trail – or, if you prefer driving, take in the wonder of wilderness (79,579 acres of it) in a leisurely trip on part of Skyline Drive, the 105-mile-long road running along the crest of the Blue Ridge through the length of the park.

Resources for your trip:
SNP Main Web site: www.nps.gov/shen (Use this site to double-check info you might see elsewhere.)
Shenandoah National Park’s summer calendar: http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=317845
Park headquarters: (540) 999-3500

Be Bear-Aware
Before traveling to SNP, read “Living with Black Bears” on the park’s Web site, as a black bear (the only species in the park) is a fairly common sight, though I personally have only encountered one or more along the park’s roads. Whenever a bear is sighted, cars back up on the road, as drivers and passengers want to see and take a photo of the bear. Use a telephoto lens, or be satisfied with a distant photograph: Don’t get out of your vehicle, as many injuries/fatalities caused nationally by bears each year are related to photography.

Fee-Free Days
June 21 - First day of summer

June 25th - 75th Anniversary/Rededication (full day of activities for all ages, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Ceremony seating is limited, but individuals can get up to six free tickets by writing Shenandoah National Park, 3655 U. S. Highway 211 East, Luray, VA 22835). The anniversary’s fee-free day is August 25, but check out the calendar of special events as noted below when you’re planning your trip.

Sept. 24 - Public Lands Day

Nov. 11-13 - Veterans Day Weekend