Skyline Drive

At the beginning of April, we%26#39;re staying for two nights at the Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm (www.sugarhollow.com) after reading the good reviews on here. This is near Crozet, between Charlottesville and Waynesboro in the foothills of the Blue Mountains. We%26#39;ll arrive late afternoon on the first night, then depart early morning after our stay and would like to make the most of the full day we have in between. However, we don%26#39;t want to spend all day in the car doing a round trip up Skyline Drive and back so I%26#39;d appreciate some advice on:

1. Which is the most scenic part of Skyline Drive?

2. Are there any places we shouldn%26#39;t miss between Waynesboro and Front Royal and how long would it take to drive between the two?

3. If we wanted to do a shortish hike (up to 3 miles), where would be the best place to do it?

4. Any suitable places en route for a lunch break?

Also, I%26#39;d appreciate any recommendations you may have for good restaurants near Crozet.

Many thanks

David

Skyline Drive

David...My wife and I like the portion of the drive between Big Meadows (at about mile marker 51) north to the Thorton Gap entrance (about mile marker 31) and there is also some enjoyable scenery (which we drove on New Year%26#39;s Day from the Front Royal entrance at mile marker 0 to Thornton Gap) around the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center near the north entrance. Probably a main reason we like the Big Meadows area is that we have either camped at Big Meadows, stayed at the lodge there or at Skyland Resort about 10 miles north of Big Meadows. You may be more likely to see black bear in that region (or if you are so inclined, whitetailed deer) although early April could be a little soon. We stayed in the cabins at Big Meadow in early April (right before Easter) and we received several inches of snow but the drive was soon cleared and we were able to leave.

Skyland Resort should be open by the first of April and Big Meadows may be (we stayed there the first two nights it opened April 5th and 6th). Both have restaurants that may be be open for lunch.

If you get on the Drive at Rockfish Gap, that is mile marker 105 and Front Royal is at mile marker 0 and the speed limit is 35 miles per hour on the Drive.

We enjoy the hikes to Dark Hollow Falls and Lewis Falls in the area around Big Meadows (oh there is also a camp store, cafe and Visitor%26#39;s Center at Big Meadows); Hawk%26#39;s Bill Mountain between Big Meadows and Skyland; White Oak Canyon (falls) and Stoney Man Mountain around Skyland. Hawk%26#39;s Bill is the highest point in the Park at a little over 4,000 feet and Stoney Man is right at about 4,000 feet. Hawk%26#39;s Bill gives you a 360 view and Stoney Man gives you a nice view of the Shenandoah Valley and Massanutten Mountain to the west.

The areas I have described are considered in the Central District (which we are most familiar with). Other posters can give you their thoughts and ideas from this and the other two Districts.

Have not eaten much in Charlottesville area except at the Boar%26#39;s Head Inn. You may want to consider that after looking at reviews on TA.

Enjoy your trip!!

Skyline Drive

I%26#39;m a big fan of the Skyline Drive so if you%26#39;ve never been enjoy driving part (any part), stop at a few overlooks and take a hike. A nice easy to moderate yet very scenic hike is Stony Man Trail, milepost 41.7, great view for very little work, 1.6 mi., elevation gain 340 ft. Stop in the Visitor%26#39;s Center, give one of the rangers info about the type of hikes you like, distance, elevation, etc. and they will give you several good options. The National Park Service website www.nps.gov has great info on Shenandoah NP. Also, you may be interested in Luray Caverns, just off of Skyline Dr. about milepost 32 in Luray. Very nice tour of caverns. Enjoy your trip.

Thanks, both - very helpful and I will use the info in planning our day out. We will certainly enter at Rockfish Gap and drive north. Depending on how the day goes, we%26#39;ll get off at Thornton Gap or drive all the way to Front Royal. I%26#39;ll ask for more info at our B%26amp;B when we get there.

As for eateries in Crozet --

I haven%26#39;t been through Crozet recently, but a very reliable coworker says that Crozet Pizza is still in business (they used to be THE place to go for pizza in the area about 10+ years ago %26amp; they probably still are wonderful), and she also says that La Cocina del Sol has marvelous food (it%26#39;s not cheap -- run by a former chef from the Boar%26#39;s Head Inn).

The phone book also lists Teresa%26#39;s Cafe, Crozet Snack Corner and Flavors Cafe, all in Crozet, but I know nothing about them.