Our Camping Experience at Shenandoah National Park - Big Meadows Campground

Location:

Big meadows Campground
Shenandoah National Park, VA

Website:
http://www.nps.gov/shen/index.htm

Visited:
17 - 19 July 2015

Camping in Shenandoah National Park requires prior booking during summer season, even for a regular weekend. You can reserve campsites here. So today I will take you through our camping experience in Shenandoah National Park. There are several campgrounds available in Shenandoah National Park,  we came at Big Meadows Campground.

Day 1: Friday

We reached our campground at 8.15 in the night and the drive on the skyline drive was breath taking. As there was a possibility of scattered thunderstorms, the clouds were passing by and oh boy! It was fantastic. Due to the passing clouds and the sunlight peeking through there was a yellow hue all around it was truly a sight for sore eyes.
As we reached the camp ground we registered at the front office and headed to out campsite No.111 on B loop. We set up our tent and canopy and had dinner by the fire ring.
There are restrooms and water available for drinking in walking distance to every campsite.


Day 2: Saturday

At 5.30am, we are early birds when we are traveling! We were probably the first ones to be up that early in the morning and we had a quick bite. We wanted to do Lewis Falls Trail. (map) We left for the trail by 6.30am. The timing was so bad that we were stranded by thunderstorms soon after entering the trail. As we were debating whether to hike the trail or not, it became so dark due to clouds. We decided to go ahead with the hike as we already had our rain coats on. That was probably the best decision ever. Had we turned back we would have missed this:

We had never seen anything like this. It was a sight to behold. Though it was raining we were not drenched due to the dense tall trees surrounding the trail. We kept hiking and after a few minutes the thunderstorms cleared and it was sunny and bright.

The trail to Lewis Falls is quite a tedious one with rocky terrain, elevation and densely packed trees.

We crossed a small stream (The water here is contaminated so don't go around drinking the water) and finally arrived at the falls which stands at 81ft. There was not much water as it was mid summer but it was scenic nonetheless. 

The photo is not really doing any justice as it is really hard to capture the entire falls from the observation point. It falls deep into the valley and monkeying around can be dangerous.
To get to the falls we need to climb down the steep rocks. There is a hand rail for support.

On the way back we took the Appalachian Trail instead of retracing. In total this loop was a 3.3 miles circuit. It is not really a long trail but the rocky terrain make it a little strenuous. 

This Appalachian trail lead us back to Big Medows Lodge, just before reaching there there is a overlook called Blackrock which give a panoramic view and is absolutely breathtaking. The photo doesn't do any justice to the view!

Blackrock Overview

The showers in the campground are coin operated. Make sure to take some quarters as people at the lodge are easily annoyed if you ask them for change, we learnt it the hard way! Firewood / Laundry facilities are also available within the campground. 

So after a good hike and much needed shower we spent the rest of the day lazing. 

Day 3: Sunday

(6.00 am) As I said we are early birds, this was the last day of our trip we wanted to go to Dark Hollow falls which is about 1.4 miles round trip (you retrace the path instead making a loop). We went by car to the trail head and started hiking to the falls. We had already seen the base of this water falls in our previous trip to Shenandoah National Park but we wanted to see it up close. The trail towards the falls is easy as you are hiking down. The trail is very steep and is along a little stream which go on to become the 70ft waterfall. (say what?!) "Little drops of water make a mighty ocean!"  I realized how true this saying is when we finally reached the waterfalls and saw this:

Dark Hallow Falls

Further down the Falls

We were the only people near the falls as it was very early in the morning and it was de-stressing to sit by the rock and take in the gently flowing water. After spending some time relaxing we started hiking back which was very tedious as it was steep. 

Driving back to campground and packing up all our things we bid farewell to Shenandoah national forest and headed back to our city life.

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass, under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time."

Thanks for Reading!