Explorer S Guide The Shenandoah Valley Mountains Of The Virginias Includes Virginia S Blue Ridge And Appalachian Mountains West Virginia S Alleghenies New River Region

A lively, comprehensive guide to the southern Appalachians, from Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains to the Monongahela National Forest of West Virginia. With visitation levels that rival Orlando and New York City, the southern Appalachians draw a huge array of weekenders, adventurers, and long-term visitors. This book offers historical insight, outdoor adventure, and all the information most travelers need to plan and enjoy their journey. This guide also serves as an insider's handbook to the nine national parks, offering active travelers the best access points and trailheads for kayaking, biking, and hiking excursions. In addition, this comprehensive guide to the region includes opinionated listings of inns, B&Bs, hotels, and vacation cabins; hundreds of dining reviews, from barbecue to four-star cuisine; up-to-date maps; an alphabetical "What's Where" subject guide to aid in trip planning; and handy icons that point out family-friendly establishments, wheelchair access, places of special value, and lodgings that accept pets.

Great hikes plus the natural and human history of each area. From the rugged summits of the Allegheny Mountains to the gentle shores of Chesapeake Bay, this new edition explores more than 360 miles of pathways with up-to-date information on trail closures, route changes, and new territory. It offers a rich selection of hikes for every degree of physical stamina and for any amount of time you have available, as well as an in-depth exploration of the human and natural history that contributes to the compelling story of the region, noting historic events that occurred nearby and how the landscape itself helped shape those events.

More than half of the country's population lives within a day's drive of West Virginia, and savvy travelers have known that it is the playground of the East. Whether you’d like to visit historic sites; take scenic drives or walking tours; go hiking, biking, whitewater rafting, or fishing; or take in museums small and large, author Leonard Adkins steers you to the best that West Virginia has to offer. The locals know where to find hidden swimmin’ holes, waterfalls, and the best barbecue joints, and now you will too! Features detailed, opinionated reviews of dining and lodging places as well as tools to help you plan and make the most of your trip.

"West Virginia native and long-distance hiker and author Leonard M. Adkins has walked more than 400 miles to uncover 50 hikes available to outdoor travelers of all ages and abilities. From rugged Allegheny Mountain summits to the banks of the Ohio River, the author leads you to hikes beside rushing streams and crashing waterfalls, up to windswept plains whose flora and fauna resemble that of Canada's, and into hill country's hidden valleys. Other journeys traverse rocky mountain crests, reveal far-reaching vistas, travel miles of nearly level rail-trails, and explore historic sites and Civil War battlefields. One hike passes by a listing wooden shelter once used by President Lyndon B. Johnson; another goes into a series of tunnels cut through the mountains. The shortest hike is 0.5 mile, the longest is a challenging multiday backpacking trek on the state's premier long-distance route, the Allegheny Trail. An overview chart provides information on the 50 hikes at a glance, making it easy to choose the hike that's right for you. Each hike description includes trailhead directions, total distance, hiking time, vertical rise, a detailed account of the route, and a topographic map"-- Publishers website.

Virginia's Blue Ridge -- a land of majestic mountains, beauty and tranquility where people still wave to strangers on backcountry roads; where children and the family dog still swim with patched inner tubes in pristine creeks; where luscious parks, forests, fields, streams and slopes invite you to hike, canoe, camp, fish or swim to your heart's content. You will love discovering Virginia's Blue Ridge with the definitive guide-book to the region.

In a new, updated edition, this comprehensive guide offers full coverage of both sides of the Tennessee–North Carolina divide. In a new, updated edition, this comprehensive guide offers full coverage of both sides of the Tennessee–North Carolina divide. Spend some time in the woods in two of the most popular national parks in the country—Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway. You’ll find the best scenic drives, boating, horseback riding, fishing, rock climbing, skiing, and golf, and great local produce, crafts, music, historic homes, and museums in brick-fronted downtowns and bucolic artists’ colonies.

* 75 trails and 70 scenic overlooks in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park* Guidebook includes maps and hiking descriptionsShenandoah National Park lies along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains of northeast Virginia, encompassing 196,000 acres, including 80,000 acres of federally designated wilderness. The trails in this thorough guidebook will take hikers along the peaks of the Blue Ridge, past waterfalls, and down into lush canyons. In addition to the detailed trail descriptions, you'll find information about park history, plants and animals, geology, and human history, plus some highlights of the 105-mile Skyline Drive.