A bicycle tour along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park
Dates available upon request
Pricing: $1,900 per person
($2,050 single occupancy; may be required if traveling alone)
$300 refundable deposit due now, full payment due 60 days before tour start.
Please review our cancellation policy before booking.
Details:
Rider Level
Intermediate – Advanced
Distance and Parcours
37 – 79 miles daily, 4 days, mountainous terrain, road surface.
What’s Included:
- All lodging
- Park entrance fees
- Daily baggage transfer
- Fully guided tour with at least two (2) guides
- Free pre-tour consultation phone call to make sure you are ready to go
- All meals; 4 breakfasts, 4 lunches, and 3 dinners including dinner at the famous Skyland Resort!
- French Press Coffee every morning
- Snacks and riding food/drink
- All camping gear
- Van support
- Guided hiking excursions
- Blaze Adventure Tours tri-blend T-shirt
- GPS mapping
- Free post trip pictures and video
What You Need:
- Bicycle – Recommended touring or road bike with 23mm-32mm tires. (Need help bringing your own bike? We will handle the logistics or facilitate rentals)
- To complete this trip you should be able to ride comfortably for a minimum of 4 hours on the bike you intend to ride. Make sure to practice on similar terrain. We are happy to give advice on how to prepare if you need a bit more bike experience.
The Lowdown
Inspired by Yellowstone National Park, Shenandoah National Park covers nearly 200,000 acres across 8 counties of Virginia. The only public road in the entire park is the 105 mile long Skyline Drive. Many cyclists ride along skyline drive every year, hailing from Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Some cyclists even ride the entire road in one go. A few dare to do the double; 210 miles, from one end to the other and back again.
Join us for the Skyline Double Bicycle Tour. 4 days. 210 miles. One unforgettable ride.
What You’ll Love
The views from Skyline Drive’s many peaks speak for themselves, but we will try to add just a little bit more. Four days of fully supported riding through one of the East Coast’s most gorgeous parks. 40-75 miles of riding a day packed with climbs and panoramic scenes that beg you to stop and admire the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley. Evenings spent gathered around the campfire sharing the stories of the day. This is the trip that every cyclist wants to take over a long weekend. Let us take care of all the details (and your gear) so you can do what you do best, ride.
The Tour
Day 1 – 51 miles, 6900 feet of climbing: Day 1 starts at mile marker zero of Skyline Drive, just outside of Front Royal, VA! The group will assemble just outside the entrance for our signature pancake breakfast. From there we will tackle the first major climb of our trip up to the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center. A few more climbs and then we hit the nice descent down to Thorton Gap where we will break for lunch and have a chance to use the bathrooms. Next up is Skyland, the highest point on Skyline Drive! From there it’s net downhill to our camping spot at Big Meadows. Big Meadows offers plenty of amenities including a restaurant, hiking trails, and a place to kick up your feet if you’re after some relaxation. This will be a great warmup for the big day tomorrow and your first taste of a bike tour in the Shenandoah.
Day 2 – 79 miles, 6300 feet of climbing: If you want to come ride Skyline Drive, you want a challenge. Well here it is. Day two takes us from Big Meadows to mile marker 105; the end of Skyline Drive. Congrats, now turn around and start climbing again. One of the toughest parts of the skyline double is getting to the end and realizing you have to climb back up to ridge elevation again. Don’t worry, we’ll have a special treat waiting for you by the last overlook to take the sting out of it. On the way down we will stop for lunch at the Horsehead Mountain overlook where we can eat with a nice view and a bit of shade. We’ll set up camp at the Loft Mountain, a short (too long) 25 miles from the turnaround.
Day 3 – 37 miles, 4000 feet of climbing: With the big day behind us, just a bit more climbing to go. You might even get to sleep in! After climbing back up the ridge, an early lunch stop awaits us at the South River overlook. Just twenty miles to go to our CABINS at Skyland. No tenting tonight and dinner in the excellent restaurant on site. If you aren’t too tired, this is a great day to do a bit of hiking on the highest part of the ridge. A guided hike to the top of Stony Man Mountain will be the perfect way to cap off the trip with a real Shenandoah sunset.
Day 4 – 42 miles, 5900 feet of descending: The last day of the trip will be the shortest and the easiest. We depart Skyland and head for home. After descending towards Thorton Gap, we will hit the last major climb of the trip up to our lunch stop at Hogback Overlook. From there it’s mostly downhill back to mile marker zero! Congratulations, you have conquered the Skyline Double! Time to go home, rest up, and brag to all your cycling buddies. Don’t forget to tell that that they are missing out until they have a done a bike tour in the Shenandoah!
Interested in other tours? Click here for our offerings!
Need help training? Read our bicycle tour training guide