Skyline Hike

Everyone has a different view when it comes to adventure it seems. For some it takes skydiving over a volcano to qualify as an adventure, for others, just doing something different qualifies.

Recently I took my kids to Skyline Drive, VA, but when we arrived at the entrance the sign read "CLOSED DUE TO ICY ROADS". This possibility should have crossed my mind beforehand, after all, it was December 22nd and there had been a snow storm only a week before. This may seem like a missed opportunity, and a waste of a drive, but then another thought came to me. We parked at the closed visitor's center and decided to walk a couple of miles of this ‘out-of-order’ road, then return. With the camera and plenty of water in hand, we found an excellent 24 foot wide hiking path with endless vistas and even some cool ice formations draping from the rocky cliffs along the road. At the end of the day we had a very unique experience that we would not have otherwise done had the road been open.

Details of our hike - We started out on route 211, heading west from Sperrysville, VA towards Skyline Drive. When we reached the top where Skyline Dr. intersects with Rt.211, we parked at the visitor’s center. The center was closed except for the bathrooms which were still open, and luckily heated too. The area is called ‘Panorama’, at least that is what the sign said just beside us on the road. The kids and I set out heading south on Skyline and walked to the tunnel, a couple of miles away. I got some cool shots of the kids playing with the icicles and trying to skate across frozen puddles on the road. It was a little windy, and the temps were in the 30’s, so we only hiked for a couple of hours. In the end we all had a great time, and experienced something new… together.