Briar Laine House

23/08/2025

23/08/2025

23/08/2025

Chicken Bacon Ranch is here for the weekend! Open 12-6:30pm today.

23/08/2025

August is National Family Fun Month—so bring the whole crew! 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦✨ From grandparents to grandkids, Luray Caverns is the perfect place to share wonder across generations. 💫

23/08/2025

It is Cinnamon Roll Saturday 😎. We have plenty of sweet and savory options from which to pick - Scones, Muffins, fresh baked Breads (including Cranberry-walnut and Oatmeal), Gazpacho, Quiche, and more.
These lovely ham & cheese biscuits are for a catering event this evening.

22/08/2025

Today's batch of fresh baked pretzels and beer-cheese sauce has been taken down to Hawksbill Brewing Co.
Also, only a few hours left to enter to win in Wednesdays contest! All correct guesses will be entered to win in tonight's drawing!

22/08/2025

22/08/2025

Looking for something to do this weekend? Cone on out to the fair! We have the perfect place for you to stay at Briar Laine House!

22/08/2025

Fall is just around the corner! 🍂

• Shenandoah National Park entrance and campground fees accept mobile or electronic payments only.

• Visitors who can only pay with cash may purchase a park pass from third-party vendors in communities near the park. For a list of locations visit, https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/fees.htm.

• Park rangers will still greet visitors and provide assistance—this is not an automated process!

• Valid park entrance passes will be accepted as usual.

• All park bookstores and concession facilities (gift shops, lodging, waysides, and restaurants) will continue to accept cash.

• You can pay in advance through Recreation.gov for entrance fees, campground fees, and permits before your visit.

Image: Thornton Gap entrance station sign reading, "Thornton Gap Entrance. Shenandoah National Park. U.S. Department of the Interior. National Park Service." There is an NPS arrowhead on the right side of the sign. A sunrise can be seen in the background.

22/08/2025

Take a deep breath, close your eyes, exhale.

Imagine you are in a pristine wood, no sound of cars, no bothersome notifications, perhaps a small stream flowing by. You might call this imagined place Wilderness, where things are left to be wild. Shenandoah National Park preserves some of the largest wilderness areas in the east. What better way to experience the special magic of Wilderness than a hike within it. Please, especially in Wilderness, practice Leave No Trace principals and always come prepared for an outing in the park.

Here are three Wilderness hikes of varying lengths:

1. Turk Mountain (mile 94.1) is a gem of the south district at 2.2 miles round-trip and about 690 feet of elevation gain. Be sure to start on the correct trail because Turk Branch and Turk Gap are in the same area. Wonderful views, especially in the fall, will meet you at the top, but that is not all! Plenty of remanent American chestnut sprouts and the parks only fossils (skolithos tubes) are in abundance near the peak.

2. Rose River Falls loop (mile 49.4) is a 4-mile round-trip with 910 feet of elevation gain starting from Fishers Gap Overlook. Not all of this trail is in federally designated Wilderness, but good portions are. There is a lot to see along the trail such as the Cave cemetery, cascades below Dark Hollow Falls, remnants of a copper mine and, of course, Rose River Falls.

3. Nicholson Hollow Trail begins from the boundary near Old Rag parking. This trail passes for a short distance through private property -- please be courteous! The trail follows along Hughes River up the mountain slopes up to Skyline Drive. Take in the views of beautiful cascades as water flows around boulders. At 4 miles in and 1200 feet up, you will reach Corbin Cabin, one of the few structures remaining pre-park establishment.

Image: A sunrise from Thornton Hollow Overlook.