Plans for our fourth day at Skyline Caverns are less than ten miles north of Shenandoah River State Park. We have been there before and enjoyed it immensely. It is the only Cavern with anthodites, a rare crystal formation discovered at Skyline Caverns and to this day never found anywhere else on earth. The tour for Skyline is less strenuous than Luray as well. I highly recommend you take in Skyline Caverns while visiting the park.
We arrived back in the park around 6 p.m. and had time for a quick tour of the cabin and campground construction since the contractors had finished for the day. We took a slight detour to the Cullers Overlook at the park. Since the sun was low in the western horizon, pictures south down the river were not the best as we were direct into the sun. But the northern views were pretty decent.
The infrastructure for the new facilities was extensive. The road alone comes along a ridge and I know we had a devil of a time finding a site that could accommodate the drain field necessary to support the cabins. They are all under roof at this time and feature the stone faced foundation that is prevalent with most of the park’s construction. The park will have nine 2 bedroom cabins and one each 3 bedroom and 6 bedroom family lodge.
The campground bathhouse is already in place and the road mostly finished. In several places the massive retaining wall we constructed as we carved the campground into the ridge is apparent. The open area lends itself to a great view of distant mountains. I have no doubt that this campground will be welcomed as a modern camping facility so close to Interstate 66, a direct link to Washington, DC and northern Virginia. We will have 33 sites with electricity and water and two camping cabins.
We finished our day with steaks on the grill, another campfire, and a few hours of examining our day’s photos. Tomorrow – a side trip to Sky Meadows State Park and surrounds.