Always enjoy coming to the skyline drive! It's beautiful and a pleasure to drive and stop and see the views from each overview. Especially Big Meadows. We see so many Blue birds when we are here and we got to see deer this time around. These pictures are from my most recent trip at the end of August.
This place is beautiful. There are trails you can follow or you can wander in the meadow. Plenty of things to look at and admire if you are a plant person. The colors are so beautiful and vibrant. Kill any spotted lantern flies you see! They are everywhere unfortunately. When you are done, head to the gas station area and get food or ice cream! The vanilla and blackberry are very good.
This is a special place. My kids and I have a blast walking through the paths in the meadow. There are lots of deer hiding in the grass and under the oak trees. If you stay quiet its almost like you are part of the herd. The views are spectacular and it is just so peaceful. If you need a place to relax and decompress this is it.
Visit just before sunset and walk the paths. Sit under the oak trees and take in the setting sun.
You won't be disappointed.
Beautiful place. Lots of deer. Park Rangers are great and some stunning views.
Be warned when parking in the Big Meadow parking lot of the spot next to the handicap spot. The concrete parking block or whatever it's called is broken and will rip your bumper off.
THE go-to stargazing spot on the East coast! This Dark Sky park's flatness/openness on an elevated peak also really helps with offering such clear views of the sky.
We camped at Big Meadows Campground, Shenandoah National Park,right across the road from Big Meadows . Even on a weekend in June we were pleasantly surprised that it felt nowhere near as crowded as the Smokies or Dupont State Park,NC, both places near to us that we visit often. The campground is large but the loop we chose had lots of trees and not spaces for large RVs as well as no electric or water hookups, so the atmosphere was cozy with tents in many of the sites. Restrooms were clean. We actually saw Park Rangers on foot patrolling !
Another treat : the trails weren’t crowded either ! Rose River Loop hike and the loop hike to Lewis Falls, and wandering around in Big Meadows watching the deer at dusk were activities we did over a weekend.
At over 3,000 ft elevation the high temps were in the mid 70’s - perfect !
