Skyline Drive was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, became a National Scenic Byway in 2005, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2008. Improvements have been made to the roadway since it was built. The Civilian Conservation Corps played a large part in constructing Skyline Drive. The road between Jarman Gap and Rockfish Gap was built as part of the Blue Ridge Parkway in 1939 and was incorporated into Skyline Drive in 1961. Skyline Drive was extended north to Front Royal in 1936 and south to Jarman Gap in 1939. The first section, which originally was to run from Rapidan Camp to Skyland, was extended between Swift Run Gap and Thornton Gap and opened in 1934. Groundbreaking for Skyline Drive took place in 1931. President Herbert Hoover, who had a summer home at Rapidan Camp, called for the construction of the road. Plans for the road date back to 1924 when a national park was planned in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and the main feature was to be a "sky-line drive" providing views of the surrounding land. The scenic drive is particularly popular in the fall for leaf peeping when the leaves are changing colors. Skyline Drive is the main road through Shenandoah National Park and has access to campgrounds, visitor centers, and resorts such as Skyland Resort and Big Meadows. The drive provides access to numerous trails, including the Appalachian Trail, and it is also used for biking and horseback riding. Skyline Drive is a two-lane road that has 75 overlooks providing views of the Shenandoah Valley to the west and the Piedmont to the east. Skyline Drive is part of Virginia State Route 48, which also includes the Virginia portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway, but this designation is not signed.Ī park entrance fee is charged at the four access points to the drive. The road has intermediate interchanges with US 211 in Thornton Gap and US 33 in Swift Run Gap. Route 340 (US 340) near Front Royal, and the southern terminus is at an interchange with US 250 near Interstate 64 (I-64) in Rockfish Gap, where the road continues south as the Blue Ridge Parkway. The drive's northern terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Skyline Drive is a 105-mile (169 km) road that runs the entire length of the National Park Service's Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, generally along the ridge of the mountains. Historic Park Landscapes in National and State Parks MPS Location in the United States Show map of the United States
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