Day 165 - Shenandoah National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway, VA

We packed up the tent and checked out of the Big Meadow campground. The campground was located in a wooded area and whilst it was really beautiful, there was no big meadow. We decided we needed to track it down.

It didn't take long to find the big meadow, it was opposite the exit to the campground and as with everything in America, when they say 'big' they really mean big!

We parked up and heading into the Byrd Visitor Center to learn about the history of the park and controversy of how it was formed, before taking a short hike through the meadow itself. The meadow was where President Roosevelt dedicated Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive. There have been so many parks, monuments and other amazing places on our journey that are still here today as a result of President Roosevelt and his dedication to expanding the National Parks Service and protecting wildlife, scenery and natural wonders.

We have mentioned a few times during the course of the trip the Appalachian trail and here in the Shenandoah National Park we are again following its path, through driving though rather than hiking. The Appalachian trail is a National Scenic Trail that is about 2,200 miles long going from Georgia all the way to Maine, hitting 14 states in total. It is one of the longest hiking-only trails in the world and only about 1000 people complete it end to end every year. Taking on the challenge of the trail is no easy task, it takes most people 5-7 months to complete and involves walking over incredible difficult terrain, camping backcountry and having to deal with bears. Still, I'd love to try it one day!

We continued the Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Park until we reached the end of the park and the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is another National Parks Service protected area and links ups the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with the Shanandoah National Park. The drive through the parkway is 469 miles with constant views of the Appalachian Highlands and the Blue Ridge mountains.

This was supposed to be one of the best places in America to see the fall colours but although it was towards the end of August, the majority of the trees hadn't quite turned yet but for the few that had, the colours were beautiful.

Unfortunately, the plan we had for our trip meant that we weren't going to be able to complete the entire drive through the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Smoky Mountains, we had too many other things we wanted to see before heading that far South so we pulled off the parkway as we headed to our campsite for the night in The Lynchburg / Blue Ridge Parkway KOA.