Post 24 - Shenandoah River State Park
7-minute read, including photo captions
Culler’s Overlook in Shenandoah River State Park
As we slowly unlock our doors, and poke our heads back out into the world like turtles emerging from their shells, we need places to stretch those quarantine-stiffened limbs. With all the parks in the area, there is no shortage of places to stretch, but if you want one with an unparalleled view, then you should check out the Shenandoah River State Park.
The address alone is worth the price of admission: Daughter of the Stars Drive. Whoever came up with that name deserves a gold star. The price of admission, by the way, is a quite reasonable $7 on weekdays and $10 on weekends (and it goes up from there depending on the number of passengers in your vehicle). For full info on the park and all pricing, check out their website.
Just a few miles down the road from the Front Royal entrance of its “big sister” park - Shenandoah National Park - this Virginia State Park is a great alternative, with camping and picnicking facilities that rival its National counterpart. Looks like there are some good fishing and mountain-biking areas too, if you’re into that.
It even has something that the National Park doesn’t have: a zip line “Canopy Tour”. Administered by Virginia Canopy Tours, it looks like it would be a blast, especially for kids (although I’m sure some adults would get a kick out of it too). With 8 zip lines, reaching heights of up to 90 feet above the forest floor - and at speeds of 40 miles an hour - I’m sure you can get quite the adrenaline rush. This video gives you a small taste of the experience.
There are also many other free events (not including the entrance fee) at the park. The Shenandoah Astronomical Society has several night time viewing events scheduled over the next few months - and from what I can tell from the descriptions, they provide some telescopes for these. These events generally run from 8pm to 11pm, and are weather-dependent (so check with the park before you head out).
At over 1600 acres, the park has many miles of trails of varying difficulty levels, from easy to hard. I went out to the park on a bright, sunny, and unseasonably warm January day, shortly after the New Year. It seems that the term “unseasonably warm” has lost a lot of its meaning in the last few years. A high of 90 degrees F (!!!) in January - even in this area - goes well beyond “unseasonable” into the realm of “ridiculous”.
But I digress.
I stopped at the Visitor Center (VC - circled in red on the map below), and asked the friendly and helpful park ranger for suggestions on an easy-to-moderate trail that would take me on a 3- to 4-mile loop through the park. She very obligingly laid out a course for me (highlighted below) that was perfect on all counts: it included some nice hilly spots to get the blood pumping, as well as some nice flat spots with great views along the river.
The afternoon was capped off with a stop at Culler’s Overlook (which is even handicap-accessible) - see the photo at the top of the page. I’m certainly no expert on overlook views in this area, but that has to be one of the most spectacular panoramic scenes I’ve come across in this state.
Since I went in the “winter” - and on a Monday (before the whole quarantine-thing started) - I pretty much had the park to myself. I saw two people on the trail the whole afternoon, and a handful of trailers in the campground. So my impression of an “empty” park may be contradicted by what the park is like on a summer’s weekend (so you may want to plan any trips accordingly).
Daughter of Stars Drive, leading into the park
Once you wrap your mind about the name of the main road leading into the park (Daughter of Stars Drive), you are faced with its stunning shape.
I wonder if it was strictly necessary to include all those curves into the main drive?
Do they follow an invisibly-creased ridge-line, scientifically laid out to maximize the load-bearing aspects of the asphalt with no regard to its ultimate appearance?
Or was the layout of the drive an act of impetuous mischievousness on the part of the original surveyors? A kind of tongue-in-cheek, winking welcome to the itinerant vacationer?
Either way, it seems like a bit of a fantasy, or hallucinatory mirage. Can any road be that perfectly, symmetrically winding?
I guess the answer is a resounding “Yes”, since there it is, in full living color. Or in Black and White, which, in my opinion, is how it is best portrayed.
Heading down this winding way a piece leads to the main parking lot and Visitor Center, which in itself is also somewhat more pleasing to the eye than one has come to expect from the usual institutional architecture typical of many parks in this country.
The Visitor Center has a large, two-story atrium, filled with informative plaques and dioramas, and is encircled by a sculpted, babbling brook, which seems to spring from nowhere, and ends in a shallow pool that mysteriously seeps into the rock without further trace. (At least that was my impression based on an admittedly superficial investigation - I have no idea if it’s natural or man-made).
The back of the Visitor Center, perched on its hill, as seen from the river below
On the trail leading down the hill to the river, there were several wooden bridges over dried up gullies that added to the fairy-tale atmosphere of the woods
These purplish, reddish, prickly vines were scattered throughout the park. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen their like before - or maybe it was just the bright “winter” sun that made them stand out like aliens in the environment.
Another example of why one should always look around and behind when on a walk. I had passed directly under these arching trees without noticing them from the other direction. It wasn’t until I instinctively paused and turned that I noticed the natural archway. What do you prefer - the soft color effect? Or the hard, high-contrast B&W effect?
The warm, bright “winter” sun finally had me stuffing the “insurance coat” I’d brought (and progressively unzipped during the walk) firmly into my backpack.
Is it just me, or is this some of the clearest, cleanest river-water you’ve ever seen? No processing tricks here, no Polarizing filters to remove glare - that’s what it actually looked like.
I’ll grant you that the water level seemed pretty low (although I had no prior experience to judge by) - or maybe it was the angle of the sun at that point in the day - but I couldn’t help remarking at how crystal clean the river looked
I often prefer the bare trees of winter - they reveal their more intricate natures when unencumbered by leaves - and they become the perfect B&W subjects
With hardly a breeze blowing, the park seemed to be holding its breath at times - the water was glassy-calm and reflective that afternoon
Even the campground seemed nicer-than-average, as demonstrated by these Yurts available to rent
There is apparently an entrance to the trail in the campground that leads to Culler’s Overlook, but somehow I waltzed right past it and found myself on the road. This turned out to be a fortuitous mistake, since I doubt I would have seen the rising (almost) full moon from the trial. Once I got back out on to the winding Daughter of Stars Drive, I found the overlook quite easily.
Even though I led with this photo, I had to show it again. Taken from the wooden platform of Culler’s Overlook, it’s a panorama of the bend in the river, encompassing almost a full 180-degree view. I got back on the trail heading to the Visitor Center (which was almost as winding as the road), and found a bench where I stopped for a snack break and to absorb the view and the late afternoon sun.
After checking in at the Visitor Center for a last pit stop, and to retrieve my car, I drove down to the River Right Campground and picnic areas (see map above). The park is open until dusk, and I managed to catch the last golden rays of sunlight on the trees across the river.
My “unsharp painterly” settings help accentuate the golden-hour glow
For the last shots of the day, just the upper branches of the trees on my side of the river were still illuminated. The end of a great day in a great park.
There are more photos not shown in this post in the Gallery - don’t forget to check that out. Enjoy!
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