Spending a few days outside in nature for Memorial Day weekend made for the perfect getaway. We usually stay in towns close to National Parks (unless we’re camping), but we ended up staying in the park at Big Meadows Lodge. It was so fun waking up inside the park each day! The longer we were there the more I liked Shenandoah. And for a holiday weekend, it really didn’t feel that busy. The cabins were somewhat rustic, but they were pretty budget friendly, and definitely a step up from camping. We ate dinner each day at the lodge’s restaurant and it was surprisingly good for park food. Wild blackberries grow throughout the park later in the summer, so a lot of the menu items had blackberries worked in.
If I had to describe Shenandoah in two words, it would be “hikes” and “overlooks”. The main park road is like a big long spine with tons of hikes and overlooks branching out from it. When it comes to hiking, I’m all about putting in the least amount of effort for the most amount of payoff, and all of the hikes we did are ones I’d recommend. They’re all around two miles, not a ton of elevation gain, and the trails or view points were really pretty. We did the Appalachian Trail Hike, Dark Hollow Falls Hike, and Stony Man Hike. I’d recommend doing all three if you have the time, but if I had to choose just one, Stony Man Hike delivered the best views. My favorite overlook to stop along the road for photos was Range View Overlook.
Pentax 645n and Nikon F100 on Kodak Portra 400 and Ilford XP2 film.