Shenandoah National Park
Virginia
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
6.6 h fully dark
Hikes
Easy–Strenuous
🟢 🔴
Crowds
moderate
Open today
Open
Entrance
$30
Timed entry
Infrastructure Improvements to Old Rag Trailhead
Effective May 4, Shenandoah National Park will begin infrastructure enhancements at the Old Rag Trailhead main parking lot. We expect to complete work by November 2026. Until then, the main parking lot is closed to all vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Visitors can access Old Rag Trailhead via existing overflow parking lots. Day-use tickets are still required from March 1 through November 30 in addition to a park entrance fee.
Shenandoah National Park Moved to Fully Cashless Fee Collection
On July 1, 2025, the park transitioned to a fully cashless system at our fee entrance stations. Only credit cards, debit cards, or mobile payments will be accepted.
Parking at Boundary Access Areas
Visitors are reminded to park in designated parking areas when accessing the park via boundary trailheads. Parking in unauthorized locations may result in your vehicle being towed at the owner's expense. Park on the right side of the road approaching Thompson Hollow. Parking is authorized up to the "No Parking" sign before a private driveway.
Get Skyline Drive Status Updates
Sign up for Shenandoah Alerts by texting SHENALERTS to 888777. Any time there are closures, re-openings, or other important safety-related alerts, subscribers will receive a notification via text. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Official NPS alert →Ticket Required to Hike Old Rag
March 1 - November 30 those wishing to hike Old Rag are required to obtain a day-use ticket before arriving.
Official NPS alert →Just 75 miles from the bustle of Washington, D.C., Shenandoah National Park is a land bursting with cascading waterfalls, spectacular vistas, fields of wildflowers, and quiet wooded hollows. With over 200,000 acres of protected lands that are haven to deer, songbirds, and black bear, there's so much to explore...and your journey begins right here!
Topics
Entrance fees
$30.00 — Entrance - Private Vehicle
$25.00 — Entrance - Motorcycle
$15.00 — Entrance - Per Person
$25.00 — Commercial Entrance - Sedan
$10.00 — Commercial Entrance - Per Person
$75.00 — Commercial Entrance - Van
$100.00 — Commercial Entrance - Mini-bus
$200.00 — Commercial Entrance - Motor Coach
$0.00 — Entrance - Education/Academic Groups
$15.00 — Entrance - Non-commercial Groups
Hours & seasons
Shenandoah National Park is always open. However, portions of Skyline Drive, the only public road through the Park, are periodically closed during inclement weather. Visitors can still enter the Park on foot to hike, even when the Skyline Drive is closed. Campgrounds, services, and facilities have separate hours; please see descriptions of those facilities elsewhere on our website.
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 5409993500
✉ shen_info@nps.govConditions
Quietest months (fewer crowds): Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Typical crowds: moderate
Weather now: ☀️ Clear, 80°F
🌦️ 82°/67°
🌦️ 81°/67°
🌦️ 88°/63°
Typical monthly recreation visits · NPS avg 2023–2025 — orange months are the quietest by crowds.
Quietest months
Relative crowds by month — lighter is quieter; ringed months are the calmest by crowds.
Jan
7%
Feb
9%
Mar
24%
Apr
40%
May
50%
Jun
52%
Jul
55%
Aug
57%
Sep
46%
Oct
100%
Nov
48%
Dec
11%
Log a sky reading
Measured the sky with an SQM meter or app? Add your reading (16 = city glow … 22 = pristine). Opt in under “Travelers like you” to share it on the community leaderboard.
Live conditions
Things to do
🔴 Old Rag Circuit · 9.4 mi · 2348 ft gain · <p>The average hiking duration does not take into consideration fitness, exploration, rest, contemplation, etc.</p>
Stony Man · 1.6 mi · 340 ft gain · <p>The average hiking duration does not take into consideration fitness, exploration, rest, contemplation, etc.</p>
Turk Mountain · 2.2 mi · 2981 ft gain · <p>The average hiking duration does not take into consideration fitness, exploration, rest, contemplation, etc.</p>
Riprap - Wildcat Ridge · 9.8 mi · 2365 ft gain · <p>The average hiking duration does not take into consideration fitness, exploration, rest, contemplation, etc.</p>
Nicholson Hollow · 8 mi · 1240 ft gain · <p>The average hiking duration does not take into consideration fitness, exploration, rest, contemplation, etc.</p>
Knob Mountain - Jeremys Run · 6 mi · 1303 ft gain · <p>The average hike duration does not take into consideration fitness, exploration, rest, contemplation, etc.</p>
Hazel River Falls · 5.3 mi · 1070 ft gain · <p>The average hike duration does not take into consideration fitness, exploration, rest, contemplation, etc.</p>
Chimney Rock · 3.4 mi · 830 ft gain · <p>The average hike duration does not take into consideration fitness, exploration, rest, contemplation, etc.</p>
Campgrounds
Big Meadows Campground ↗ · 221 sites · dump station
Lewis Mountain Campground · 30 sites · first-come
Loft Mountain Campground ↗ · 207 sites · first-come · dump station
Mathews Arm Campground ↗ · 165 sites · first-come · dump station
Visitor centers
Dickey Ridge Visitor Center
Harry F. Byrd Sr. Visitor Center
Accessibility
4 accessible campground(s)
221 audio-described place(s)
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on Shenandoah National Park — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
Trail difficulty
Difficulty mix across this park's trails.
Trail profile
Each dot is a trail — distance vs. elevation gain, by difficulty.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
People & stories
Figures tied to Shenandoah National Park — each spans a cross-park journey.
Laurance Rockefeller
— Rockefeller, Mabi, Marsh Billings RockefellerPassport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Big Meadows
🎫 Dickey Ridge Visitor Center
🎫 Harry F. Byrd Sr. Visitor Center
Places to see
Appalachian Trail - Tanners Ridge Road Trailhead
audio
Bacon Hollow Overlook
audio
Baldface Mountain Overlook
audio
Beagle Gap
audio
Beagle Gap Overlook
audio
Beahms Gap Overlook
audio
Bearfence Rock Scramble Trailhead
audio
Bearfence Viewpoint Trailhead
audio
Beldor Hollow Overlook
audio
Big Meadows
Big Meadows Amphitheater
audio
Big Meadows Gas Station
audioAudio & media
🎧
🎬
🖼
Learn more
Since 2002, the National Park Service (NPS) has awarded Environmental Achievement (EA) Awards to recognize staff and partners in the area of environmental preservation, protection and stewardship.
Shenandoah National Park experienced an extremely warm 2021 with total precipitation that was below normal. The year ended as the 4th warmest and 41st driest year since 1895.
View recipients of the National Park Service Freeman Tilden Awards, which recognize outstanding contributions to the practice of interpretation and education by NPS employees.
In all, 2022 was warmer and wetter than average at Shenandoah National Park. The year ended as the 21st warmest and 35th wettest on record.
The National Park Service congratulates the regional recipients of the 2023 Excellence in Volunteerism Awards. These nominees embody the values of service, engagement, and stewardship fundamental to our national parks.
It was a record-setting year at Shenandoah National Park as 2023 was the warmest year ever recorded (since 1895) in the eight counties surrounding the park. It was also a dry year, ranking as the 28th driest on record.
The 2025 Veterans Fire Corps crew hosted by the Allegheny Fire Management Zone headquartered at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve had the opportunity to help multiple parks within the NPS' Northeast Region with prescribed fire and fuels projects.
The National Park Service (NPS) was only 26 years old when the United States entered World War II. The young bureau faced very real threats to its mission, with increasing pressure to contribute its natural and cultural resources to the war effort even as its budget and staff were slashed. Under the leadership of Director Newton B. Drury, the NPS was able to do its part for the war while maintaining its public trust responsibilities to the American people.
Ranger School
Park-grounded courses you can learn with the Ranger.
Geology pt 3: Rock Types in National Parks
Open →
Good Character, Good Stewards
Open →
Hard Core Rock
Open →
Helping Each Other
Open →
How Did You Get To Hawai‘i?
Open →
Invasive Species
Open →
Mālama Maui
Open →
Watersheds of Shenandoah
Open →
How Shenandoah National Park connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
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PassportStamp
Trail
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