A Stunning Photo Guide to Skyline Drive’s Lower 50

“The mountains are calling, and I must go.”
John Muir

The Shenandoah Mountains have an undeniable beauty year-round, thanks to their sweeping valleys and purple-hued distant peaks. But there’s something truly magical in standing atop a mountain with an endless rainbow of fall colors at your feet. Thankfully, it’s easy for anyone to experience this beauty, on Skyline Drive’s 105-mile trek through Shenandoah National Park.

The first weekend in November, we hit Skyline Drive on a whim, thinking it would be the perfect way to wrap up our getaway in Schuyler, Virginia. We intended to drive the entire route from bottom to top, stopping at every lookout point along the way. (FYI, Google only shows about 5 of those lookout points, which is very deceiving!)

When we arrived, we discovered that Skyline Drive has over 60 lookout points–not to mention dozens of trailheads!! But we refused to let that stop us, and we managed to hit all but 3 of the overlooks on this mesmerizing drive in about 7 hours. Unfortunately, we were racing the sun, so we didn’t fully get to enjoy all of this beauty, but we’ll be back to remedy that!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I feel no need to try and outdo these photos with my writing. They can speak for themselves, and I hope you enjoy their stories.