BikeWNC

I'll be heading up to the Front Royal area on Friday so that my daughter can pickup her puppy on Sat. While she and my wife do that in the morning, I plan to head up the Skyline Drive for a ride. It's been a few years since I've ridden in the Park but my plan is to start at Front Royal and ride up the hill for 25-30 miles and come back to town. Depending on when I actually start riding, first light I hope, I could have about 5 hours to ride before I have to meet the family back in town.

So is there anything I need to know about riding on the Skyline Drive? I think there are several spots where I can refill water bottles on the way to Thorton Gap which is as far as I could get under best conditions. I ride the BRP all the time so I'm familiar with that type of road. Any info will be helpful.

cyclinfool

I would head south for Skyland - there is a nice resturant there and it is the highest point on the skyline drive. I would go there from the south when I lived in Charlottesville.

BikeWNC

Doubt I'll make it that far. I'll leave the hotel early while the family sleeps and need to meet them back in Front Royal later that morning.

buelito

be prepared to pay entrance to the park... I believe it is $5 for bikes...but it might be $8. Also, the first water is at the store at mile 24. The fountain they used to have around mile 17 (or was it 14) has been shut down. Two bottles should be enough. Remember, of the first 24 miles, 17 are uphill... so you get to fly back

enjoy-

train safe-

BikeWNC

I saw that it is $8 during the warmer months. I wonder if they will let me through the gate before sunrise if I have a good light on the bike. Chances are though, it will be after daybreak before I can start riding.

kr32

I have been there only once and it was 8 bucks to get in. I started at Thorton Gap though and went south. I have been thinking about going back up there and wish I knew this earlier , maybe I could have joined you, oh well.
Jim2003(?) rides there a bunch I believe, hope he chimes in here before you leave.

It looks likw=e you are going to get good weather too, enjoy your ride!

JimF22003

Last I checked you can't drink the water at the rest area at Thornton Gap (E-coli). So be sure to fill up at Elk Wallow (MP 24) if you're coming from Front Royal.

If you start too early you might get to Elk Wallow before the Wayside and the restrooms are open, but you can fill your water bottles from the spigot behind the restrooms.

If you're going farther than Elk Wallow, but not as far as Big Meadows (MP 51) for the turnaround, a really good goal to go for is:

- Entrance to Elk Wallow (24 miles)
- Elk Wallow past Thornton Gap (rest area but no water)
- ride through the tunnel and about 4 more miles to "The Pinnacles" overlook, and then turnaround.
- or you can ride a bit further to Skyland (highest point in the park), but you have some down and then back up between Pinnacles and Skyland

The downhill from The Pinnacles to Thornton Gap is about as fun as riding gets -- fresh pavement, beautiful curves, 6% grades. Wheee!

Also when figuring miles, I never count the last six from Dickey Ridge back to Front Royal, since it's all downhill


Have fun!

BikeWNC

It was a last minute idea here too. We had hoped that someone from the puppy breeder could meet us halfway but that didn't work out so we have to drive all the way up to Berryville. I'll sneak in a ride while my wife and kid spend the morning picking up the dog. It will probably be a long ride back home with a 10 week old puppy so a good ride will help me stay relaxed. lol

BikeWNC

That's good to know about the water at Thorton Gap. I'll make sure to fill up at Elk Wallow. I'm not sure how far I'll get up the road, to Elk Wallow for sure but my time will be limited. I've ridden from Panorama south to the BRP before but have not biked the most northern section. I'll be in tourist cruising mode so we'll see how far I get.

Airdog320

I don't know how old you are, but the Senior Pass is available at the gatehouse for $10 if you are 62. The pass is good for life in Federal parks, forests etc.

overthehillmedi

Pictures are necessary for the after ride report,please include at least one of the reason for going for us animal lovers. Enjoy the ride.

BikeWNC

I saw the senior pass on the gov't website but I'm 9 years away from being elligible.

I'll bring a camera along and be sure to get one of the pup.

I'm bring a headlight along in case I manage to get an early start. Those little Dinotte 400L lights don't weigh anything and I'll only need to carry the smaller battery.

chuckb

"The downhill from The Pinnacles to Thornton Gap is about as fun as riding gets -- fresh pavement, beautiful curves, 6% grades. Wheee!"

I rode from Panorama to Big Meadows (about 40 miles roundtrip) a couple of weeks ago. Stimulus funds have been used to repave the road and it is really nice! A few years ago the tunnel was a really rough ride.

I filled water bottles at Panorama (Thornton Gap) and there was no e coli issue. This was July 31st; things may have changed in the past few weeks?

JimF22003

Hi chuck. The signs about the e-coli were posted last spring, and as late as June sometime when I went through there.. Maybe they've resolved the problem by now. Good to know!

Billy Bones

If you're at all interested in taking your mountain rig, go over to Elizabeth Furnace in the George Washington National Forrest 10 miles from Front Royal. . .hundreds of miles of trail and fire road and [being a National Forest] none of the endless and pointless National Park rules.

BikeWNC

No mtb this time, but I'll keep it in mind if I come up this way again. I'm here in Front Royal and it's a busy place. I guess being so close to D.C. and with the NP here it gets popular this time of year. I intend to start early and hopefully avoid some of the tourist traffic. We'll see.

BikeWNC

Started my ride at 7am this morning from the entrance of the Skyline Drive. Passed the entrance gate which was unoccupied and rode up to Hogback at 3400' in just over 2 hours at a relaxed pace. I descended down towards Elk Hollow but after a mile decided to turn around since I needed to be back to meet my wife at 10:45. It was a great morning for a ride with temps in the low 60s. It was pretty hazy though and the particulate count was probably fairly high. I really liked this section of road though and would like to ride the whole 105 miles as a day ride sometime. I had 43.4 miles in 3:30 ride time. That includes a lot of floating though overlooks to take a picture or catch the view. I guess there had to be close to 4000' of climbing roundtrip since I started at 590' and rode to 3385' with a couple downhills in between. I had about 300' coming back up to Hogback too. Nice ride.

BikeWNC

cyclinfool

Very nice pics - I use to love the BRPW & Skyline Drive. These are perfect examples of why. Traffic will get a little heavy as the day goes on - you were probably fortunate to get out early and have the road to yourself.

BikeWNC

Yeah, the first two hours I saw maybe 10 cars. After that traffic picked up but it was never bad at all. But then I was done riding by 10:45.

thexrider

. . . none of the endless and pointless National Park rules.[/QUOTE]

Care to elaborate?

X

JimF22003

Thanks for the update and the pics!

BluesDawg

Beautiful.

jppe

Gorgeous. Very much like my views yesterday from the BRP at elevations around 3000 ft. We went up to Boone to visit my daughter and my wife dropped me off where the BRP crosses Hwy 421 (around MP 265 I think). I rode over to Blowing Rock, then took Hwy 221 over to Grandfather-then rode down to approx MP 310 (Hwy 181). Did the 30 mile up and back on Hwy 181-then rode back to Blowing Rock and threw in Shulls Mill for "fun". I can see how you get hooked on riding in the lower temps and humidity. Very nice!!

The only traffic was motorcyclists screaming up Hwy 181........and Julian Price Park was slammed. That 1+ mile climb from the Park back up to Shulls Mill Rd (at my 90 mile mark) was the pits. I suspect I had a pretty long line of cars held up behind me but I was doing all I could do at that point.

I will say that almost all the cars on the BRP were well behaved yesterday-- except for several with Va tags on them. Even the Florida cars were more patient and gave me plenty of room. The Va cars sure seemed to be in a hurry and didn't mind buzzing me.......not sure what that was all about.

NealH

Great pictures! I will be in Waynesboro this coming weekend to ride the Tour de Valley event and, will do an up and back recovery ride on the Skyline on Monday. Hopefully traffic will be light but its a holiday weekend, so its hard to tell.