Shenandoah National Park begins about 25 kilometres east of Harrisonburg, easily reached via US-33 over the Blue Ridge. The park's 500 square kilometres of ridge-and-valley Appalachian forest are traversed by Skyline Drive — a 170-kilometre ridge-top road with dozens of overlooks over the valley and piedmont below — and over 800 kilometres of hiking trails, including a long section of the Appalachian Trail.
The most popular access points from Harrisonburg are Elkwallow and Swift Run Gap, where US-33 crosses the Drive. Day hiking to Hawksbill Summit (the park's highest point) and the Old Rag Mountain circuit (one of the most popular hikes in the eastern US) can be done from the highway. Fall foliage season in October brings large crowds; early June and late September are better for quieter visits.
story: > Old Rag Mountain, a few kilometres inside the park boundary and accessible from Nethers on the east side, requires a rocky scramble across an exposed granite summit — unusual for the Appalachians, which are generally rounded and forested. The route crosses more than 400 metres of open rock slab and is unlike anything else in the eastern US. It is crowded on weekends; reservations are now required during peak season.