Top Things to See & Do in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Your footsteps producing that wonderful crunching sound as you follow the trail up a mountain, you suddenly hear quite another kind of crunch. You look around and, down a slope off the path, you see a black bear searching for food in the bushes. There’s no need to be scared, though.

Black bears tend to mind their own business. This is, in fact, a wildlife sighting that’s quite common in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia—one of the major attractions of this forested mountain park.

Located in the heart of Virginia, high in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah National Park protects a historic mountain landscape characterized by endless mountain ranges, dense forests, large tracts of wilderness, beautiful waterfalls and lots of wildlife.

Because of its location near Washington, D.C.—about two hours by car from the American capital—the park receives plenty of visitors, many of them day trippers.

Almost 1.5 million people visit Shenandoah National Park each year to enjoy the natural delights this pleasant park has to offer. And there are plenty of Shenandoah National Park attractions to enjoy!

What to See and Do in Shenandoah National Park

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Top Shenandoah National Park Attractions

Not as undeniably spectacular as the southwestern American national parks, such as Zion National Park, Grand Canyon National Park or Death Valley National Park, Shenandoah National Park offers less obvious rewards.

This park gives you more polished landscapes—literally, by wind and time—and pleasant outdoor experiences. The best adjective to describe time spent in Shenandoah National Park is “enjoyable”.

It’s simply a fun park, a park that doesn’t require much to be enjoyed. It’s a convenient park, too, easily reached and easily explored, yet it does also offer some serious challenges to those who look for them.

In a nutshell, people who are planning to visit and wondering what to do in Shenandoah, Virginia’s only national park, should focus on the following attractions in Shenandoah National Park.

1. Breathtaking Blue Ridge Mountain Views

Stretched along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah National Park boasts some of the greatest mountain views anywhere on the American East Coast.

From the more than 70 overlooks on Skyline Drive to the panoramic vistas from the park’s many mountain summits, the views in Shenandoah National Park are amazing everywhere.

These landscape are particularly beautiful in fall, when the park’s dozens of tree species set the slopes ablaze in all kinds of colors.

My Favorite Viewpoints in Shenandoah National Park

Skyline Drive overlooks

• Hazel Mountain Overlook (MP 33)
• Thorofare Mountain Overlook (MP 41)
• The Point Overlook (MP 55.5)
• Brown Mountain Overlook (MP 77)

Mountain summits

• Stony Man (MP 41.7)
• Hawksbill Mountain (MP 46.7)
• Bearfence Mountain (MP 56.5)
• Blackrock Summit (MP 84.4)

2. Wonderful Waterfalls

As a lush and verdant mountain park, Shenandoah has to have a few picturesque waterfalls, right?

Indeed, there are no fewer than ten beautiful Shenandoah National Park waterfalls, all of them reachable via hiking trails starting off Skyline Drive.

Note that although a couple of trails are pretty short, most of them are moderate or strenuous.

Seeing waterfalls in Shenandoah National Park is a multi-hour activity. Just be aware of that when you plan your visit, but also know that seeing a waterfall is one of the top things to do in Shenandoah National Park.

Beautiful Shenandoah National Park Waterfall Hikes

• Overall Run Falls (MP 21.1) – Strenuous
• Whiteoak Canyon Falls (MP 42.6) – Strenuous
• Rose River Falls (MP 49.4) – Moderate
• Dark Hollow Falls (MP 50.7) – Moderate
• Lewis Spring Falls (MP 51.4) – Moderate
• South River Falls (MP 62.7) – Moderate
• Doyles River Falls (MP 81.1) – Moderate

3. World-Class Wildlife Watching

As an East Coast park, Shenandoah lies surrounded by high-use land. Farmlands, towns, busy highways and industrial areas encircle the park, making its large tracts of wilderness premier refuges for wildlife.

The total number of Shenandoah animal species remains unknown, but I can tell you that there are more than 50 mammal species, over 50 amphibian and reptile species, and at least 35 species of fish living inside Shenandoah National Park.

This is truly one of the best national parks for wildlife watching in the USA.

This includes some really high-profile animals—mostly mammals, such as white-tailed deer and striped and spotted skunks, bobcats and coyotes, and American black bears. Especially those black bears are a big attraction in the park.

Often spotted foraging in trees or in the verges alongside Skyline Drive, one of the best national park roads for wildlife, their exact numbers are unknown, but said to range between a couple of hundred and a thousand, depending on food availability and the time of year.

Learn What to Do When You See a Black Bear While Hiking

The best times of the day to spot wildlife are dawn and dusk. And since wildlife viewing is one of best things to do when visiting Shenandoah National Park, I recommend spending at least two days and one night in the park.

Best Places to Spot Wildlife

• Big Meadows (MP 51) and the rest of the central part of the park
• Trayfoot Mountain-Paine Run Loop (MP 84.4)
• Randomly all along Skyline Drive

4. Hundreds of Miles of Hiking Trails

Shenandoah National Park is home to more than 500 miles (800 kilometers) of hiking trails, 101 miles (163 kilometers) of which is a section of the Appalachian Trail.

What’s so exciting about this dense network of trails is that there’s also a wide variety among them.

Some trails lead down from Skyline Drive into wooded hollows and to pretty waterfalls. Others ascend steeply to panoramic mountain tops, run through meadows covered in wildflowers or lead deep into the wilderness.

Hiking and camping is really the best way to truly experience what Shenandoah is all about.

Recommended Shenandoah National Park Trails

• Stony Man (MP 41.7) – Easy
• Whiteoak Canyon Falls (MP 42.6) – Strenuous
• Dark Hollow Falls (MP 50.7) – Moderate
• Big Meadows (MP 51) – Easy
• Bearfence Mountain (MP 56.5) – Moderate
• Frazier Discovery Trail (MP 79.5) – Moderate
• Doyles River-Jones Run Loop (MP 81.1) – Moderate
• Trayfoot Mountain-Paine Run Loop (MP 84.4) – Strenuous
• Old Rag (trailhead on the park’s eastern border, not accessible from Skyline Drive) – Very strenuous

5. Spectacular Sunrises and Sunsets

With 75 scenic overlooks and plenty of relatively easily reachable mountain summits, Shenandoah National Park is a prime sunrise- and sunset-watching destination.

There’s nothing like watching the sun appear from behind the Blue Ridge Mountains in the morning or dip behind them in the evening.

Great Sunrise/Sunset Spots in Shenandoah National Park

Sunrise in Shenandoah National Park

• Tunnel Parking Overlook (MP 32.5)
• Buck Hollow Overlook (MP 32.8)
• Hazel Mountain Overlook (MP 33.0)
• Thorofare Mountain Overlook (MP 40.5)
• Bearfence Mountain (MP 56.4)

Sunset in Shenandoah National Park

• Stony Man (MP 41.7)
• The Point Overlook (MP 55.5)
• Bearfence Mountain (MP 56.5)
• Brown Mountain Overlook (MP 77.0)
• Rockytop Overlook (MP 78.0)
• Blackrock Summit (MP 84.4)

6. Big Meadows

One of the top places to visit in Shenandoah National Park, Big Meadows lies in the heart of the park. Previously used as farmland, this huge grassland is now artificially kept clear through controlled fires and mowing.

This allows for an abundance of wildflowers, grasses and herbs to flourish, which in turn attract wildlife such as butterflies, birds, white-tailed deer and black bears.

The Harry F. Byrd Visitor Center lies across the road from Big Meadows. There, you can learn about the park’s creation and history. Definitely make sure to check out the exhibit “Within a Day’s Drive of Millions.”

Besides the exhibits, there are restrooms, a bookstore, information desks and ranger programs.

7. Scenic Skyline Drive

A ribbon of a road snaking its way along the Blue Ridge Mountains’ crest, Skyline Drive ties all these Shenandoah attractions together. It’s where you’ll find the majority of trailheads, historic sites, lodges and campgrounds, and tons of wildlife.

It’s the only road through Shenandoah National Park, running for 105 miles (169 kilometers) from north to south through the park. This is easily one of the most scenic mountain drives anywhere in the United States.

Additionally, the southern end of Skyline Drive is the starting point of the Blue Ridge Parkway. This fantastic mountain road continues southward for hundreds of miles to its terminus at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, effectively connecting both Blue Ridge Mountain national parks.

Also managed by the National Park Service, the Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the most visited units in America’s national park system. If you have two weeks to spare, I strongly recommend combining these three National Park Service sites for an epic national parks road trip.

8. Phenomenal Fall Foliage

I lived near Shenandoah National Park for over two years and fall is without question my favorite season (spring is a close second).

With its endlessly rolling ridges, wooded hollows and valleys, and beautiful waterfalls, Shenandoah offers amazing fall scenery. Thanks to Skyline Drive, enjoying the fall colors in Shenandoah National Park is exceptionally convenient.

Discover the most amazing Skyline Drive viewpoints for fall colors here!

Additionally, there are several short but scenic fall hikes in Shenandoah National Park, too.

Foliage starts at the higher elevations, slowly descending down the slopes until the entire landscape radiates with hues of yellow, orange and red.

The peak of Shenandoah’s fall colors is usually between mid- and late-October.

9. Mystical Mountain Mist

The Blue Ridge Mountains are part of the Appalachian Mountains, one of the world’s most ancient mountain ranges. John Denver signs it perfectly in Take Me Home, Country Roads:

“Life is old there, older than the trees
Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze.”

If you’re lucky enough to visit the park when the conditions are right—a cold spring morning or after a rainstorm—you will literally feel the ancient wisdom and mystery that’s hidden in these mountains while looking out over a sea of mist in the valleys below.

As much as I love Shenandoah’s waterfalls and fall colors, the occasional blankets of mystical fog that float along the slopes offer a much more powerful experience.

I’d definitely say that mist is one of the top Shenandoah National Park attractions!

How Much Time Do You Need?

The beauty of this park is that it’s entirely possible to see and do all this in just one weekend (two days). What’s even better is that, beyond these best things to do in Shenandoah National Park above, there’s also plenty of other stuff to do to keep you occupied for days.

For the average national parks enthusiast, I think that two to three days is the ideal amount of time to spend in Shenandoah.

It allows you to do some serious hiking, drive the entire length of Skyline Drive, and enjoy both a sunrise and sunset. During that time, you’re also quite likely to catch a glimpse of a black bear and other wildlife, which is definitely worth staying for.

Where To Stay In/Near Shenandoah National Park?

Charlottesville Accommodation

Consider using nearby Charlottesville—less than half an hour’s drive from the park’s southern entrance—as a base when you visit Shenandoah National Park.

Use it as a starting and ending point of your trip, possibly camping within the park for a night or two. Charlottesville is a vibrant little college city filled with fun stuff.

There are fantastic historic sites like Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and the gorgeous University of Virginia, both of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

C’ville, as it’s affectionately called by locals, also has countless restaurants and shops, and a few excellent craft breweries. It’s an ideal place to kick back after your Shenandoah adventures.

Shenandoah National Park Accommodation

Inside the park, Big Meadows Lodge and Skyland Resort, the two Shenandoah National Park lodging options, are both excellent if you’re looking for a more comfortable place to sleep than a campground.

If you like camping, there are several Shenandoah National Park camping options. Check the National Park Service website for more information.

My favorite accommodation in Shenandoah National Park, however, is Lewis Mountain Cabins, a collection of basic cabins in the woods, near a bunch of amazing overlooks, sunrise spots and trailheads.

Other National Parks to Explore

• Death Valley National Park Attractions
• Petrified Forest National Park Attractions
• Canyonlands National Park Attractions
• Olympic National Park Attractions
• Acadia National Park Attractions
• Mount Rainier National Park Attractions
• Hot Springs National Park Attractions
• Theodore Roosevelt National Park Attractions
• Crater Lake National Park Attractions
• Joshua Tree National Park Attractions
• Capitol Reef National Park Attractions
• Cuyahoga Valley National Park Attractions
• Haleakala National Park Attractions
• Arches National Park Attractions
• Dry Tortugas National Park Attractions

These Are the Best Shenandoah National Park Activities and Attractions. If You Know Any Other Things to See and Do in Shenandoah National Park, Please Share Your Tips Below!