Picnic area · Shenandoah National Park
A shaded lunch stop with a 1930s motorist retreat behind it.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Shenandoah Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Shenandoah National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Shenandoah audio tourRecorded for this place
Dickey Ridge: Maps, Lodge History and a Short Walk“Up ahead is Dickey Ridge Visitor Center, a useful stop for maps, ranger advice and valley views around the building.”
Plays as you drive up to Dickey Ridge Picnic Grounds in the Parkwolf Shenandoah Tour Guide.
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“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Dickey Ridge Picnic Grounds is a developed picnic area on a wooded knoll with rock outcrops in the park’s northern district. Choose it for a shady meal break just off Skyline Drive; this is a picnic stop, not a broad-view overlook. Tables, fire grates, and potable water are available, while restrooms are seasonal. Bring your own meal: food service is not listed at the grounds. Skyline Drive can close during severe weather.
Original paths lead from the parking areas to the picnic spaces, and a central path runs toward the nearby Dickey Ridge Visitor Center in the former lodge. The two are separate parts of the historic development. The picnic area stays under trees; the more open east and west views are around the lodge and its lawns.
The Fox family farmed this land from 1856 into the early 20th century. Skyline Drive construction began in 1931, and Dickey Ridge was planned as one of four multi-use developments for motorists. The Virginia Sky-Line Company completed the lodge in 1938. The paths and shade plantings at the picnic grounds were part of a wider effort to make the drive a place to stop and explore.
Wildlife
325 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
21 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
1,036 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
167 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
93 sightingsTimber RattlesnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
24 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Shenandoah. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyFox Hollow Trail1.2 mi · 1 hr · 0.3 mi awayA short loop through a former mountain homestead.
ModerateSnead Farm Loop3.7 mi · 2.5 hr · 0.3 mi awayA 3.7-mile loop to the Snead barn and a west-facing ridge view.
ChallengingAppalachian Trail through Shenandoah101.2 mi · 2.3 days · 2.1 mi awayA 101-mile walk on the white-blazed Appalachian Trail through Shenandoah.
EasyLands Run Falls Hike1.3 mi · 1.5 hr · 2.5 mi awayA quick gravel-road walk to falls that may run dry.
ModerateHickerson Hollow Trail2.1 mi · 1.8 hr · 2.5 mi awayA short forest walk past old homesites in a quiet hollow.
EasyDickey Ridge Trail2.7 mi · 2.2 hr · 2.6 mi awayA streamside walk with a bridge and old homestead traces.
ModerateCompton Peak2.4 mi · 1.8 hr · 3.5 mi awayA short ridge climb rewards you with views and ancient rock columns.
EasyFort Windham Rocks Hike0.8 mi · 1 hr · 3.5 mi awaySplit boulders and a hidden cleft just off the A.T.
Visitor center · 0.3 mi awayDickey Ridge Visitor CenterYour best first stop for ranger advice, maps, and ridge views.
Scenic pullout · 0.4 mi awayNo Name OverlookA quick Skyline Drive stop for Shenandoah Valley views.
Sight · 0.6 mi awayFox Hollow CemeteryA few gravestones hold a mountain family's story.
Scenic pullout · 0.8 mi awaySignal Knob OverlookA sunset pull-in above the Shenandoah’s looping river and layered ridges.
Sight · 0.8 mi awaySnead FarmWalk to a white barn and stone farmstead remains.
Scenic pullout · 1.5 mi awayShenandoah Valley OverlookAn easy pullout for a north-facing view across Shenandoah Valley.
Scenic pullout · 1.8 mi awayGooney Run OverlookTry the north end for river bends across Browntown Valley.
Scenic pullout · 2.2 mi awayGooney Manor OverlookA quick pullout for a Browntown Valley view and local history.Parkwolf’s Shenandoah ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
