Sketches of Shenandoah
Sketch by Edward Erfurt
I live a little over an hour away from the Shenandoah National Park, and this past year, our family has made it a point to spend time exploring the ridges and valleys of this national park. It is always good to get out of the city and get into nature. I find this national park particularly fascinating as both a hiker and as a driver.
Conceived and engineered at the advent of American car ownership, the Shenandoah National Park is unlike any of the other national parks. This park not only provides an opportunity to commune with nature, this park provides the opportunity to step back into time at the beginning of America’s fascination with the automobile.
The main highlight of Shenandoah National Park is an amazing two lane highway named Skyline Drive. This two lane highway is a feat of engineering that runs along the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains and is host to over 1 million visitors a year from across the globe. Shenandoah National Park was visioned to bring the experience of the great western national parks to the east coast of the United States, and I would argue that it does not disappoint.
Shenandoah National Park was established December 26, 1935, and President Franklin Roosevelt formally opened the park on July 3, 1936. In the 1930’s, America was at the advent of mass car production pioneered by Henry Ford. According to the Coventry Transport Museum, cars in 1930 could reach speeds around 70 miles per hour, although the national speed limit was 20 miles per hour.
As documented by the Smithsonian American History Museum, 23 million cars were on the road and more than half of American families at the time owned a car. The American landscape began to change and adapt as more Americans began driving.
We have discussed in depth at Strong Towns how our cities and communities changed as the result of the car. This change also included adapting how Americans vacationed. Shenandoah National Park, more specifically Skyline Drive, is an example of an auto-oriented experience.
Image via National Park Service
Skyline Drive is 105 miles long running north/south through the National Park. Every couple of miles there are overlooks and parking areas to take in the breathtaking views of the Shenandoah Valley. Skyline Drive is a true feat of engineering that overcame the challenges of grades and drainage. The engineering to accommodate the car and the car experience resulted in relocating the Appalachian Trail off the mountain ridge.
Sketch by Edward Erfurt
Shenandoah National Park has three main lodging experiences beyond tent camping. The Big Meadows Lodge, Skyland Resort, and Lewis Cabins, provide a glimpse into early automobile travel. The lodges utilize a motor lodge hotel type where the car parks on one side and a balcony or view is on the other. These long narrow hotel buildings hide the parking and provide each room a spectacular view. Cabins are nestled within the landscape with a single parking place adjacent to the door. These parking spaces provide an equal experience for the car as the cabin guests.
Skyline Drive provides a unique experience where nature can be observed and enjoyed from the comforts of a car, which initially sounds absurd. However, the scale and character of the two lane drive is a minor footprint within a 200,000 acre national park: it’s nothing comparable to a modern, high-speed highway. This controlled access provides the opportunity for over 1.5 million visitors to enjoy, appreciate, and learn about the Appalachian Mountains and her protected habits. The experience is also the opportunity to experience the car and a drive as it was initially envisioned at the dawn of mass automobile production.
Edward Erfurt is the Director of Community Action at Strong Towns. He is a trained architect and passionate urban designer with over 20 years of public- and private-sector experience focused on the management, design, and successful implementation of development and placemaking projects that enrich the tapestry of place. He believes in community-focused processes that are founded on diverse viewpoints, a concern for equity, and guided through time-tested, traditional town-planning principles and development patterns that result in sustainable growth with the community character embraced by the communities which he serves.