Natural Chimneys and Shenandoah

23-30 May 2026

The "chimneys" at Natural Chimneys Park

I originally had reservations for Big Meadows Campground inside Shenandoah National Park. The weather, however, wasn't going to cooperate. It rained almost the whole week which meant I'd get little to no solar and the temps were going to be a little too warm for no air conditioning. I was somehow able to snag a week at Natural Chimneys Park and Campground in nearby Mt Solon VA even though it was Memorial weekend.

But first the drama! Of course, I'm 30 miles away from the campground on I-64 and have a blow out. I don't know what's going on with these tires but I've about had it with all of them. The shoulder was narrow and I wasn't safe staying there so I limped to the next exit 3.5 miles away and pulled into the Love's station. It destroyed the rim but luckily it only tore up the fender skirt and not the underbelly. I'll take it. Once again I called Coach-Net Roadside Assistance and a guy showed up in about 30 minutes. Of course it was raining when all this happened too. Later in the week I called the company that makes my wheels and naturally with my lucky streak, they change stock every 4-5 years so they no longer carry them. Sigh. I got a generic wheel and will try to find one at an RV surplus store or ebay.

Please tell me it's going to get better...

I got to the campground and had the nicest neighbors. They were locals that just wanted to get away with their kids for the long weekend for quality family time. They loved Sage and played ball with her while I set up camp.

Sage eating up the attention from the boys

Sunday was the only day it wasn't going to rain so we went to Shenandoah National Park. I didn't realize how huge this place is! The park is over 100 miles long and encompasses over 200,000 acres.

There are 4 entrances to the park. We went in the one closest to Big Meadow which in the Swift Run Gap entrance. I forgot it was Memorial weekend (and free admission) so traffic was crazy. At the visitor center I asked the ranger for the easiest hike I can do with a dog. I really wanted to do a waterfall hike but didn't realize it was an hour away from where I was at so we nixed that one. He gave me two options. One was down a fire road and the other was Upper Hawksbill trail. I planned on doing the fire road, but I seem to have lost all sense of direction and turned the wrong way out of the parking lot. I realized I was going the wrong way and pulled into the next parking lot which just happened to be the Upper Hawksbill trail. Okay, I guess we'll do this one.

One mile in and one mile out. Shouldn't be too hard if it's rated easiest right? Oh how wrong I was. It was a mile STRAIGHT UP!

The trail was beautiful though. Look at all these ferns. I've never seen so many of them clustered together

Come on mom, let's go!

We met a lot of people along the way including a couple who was nice enough to take a picture of the two of us

It may not look that steep in the picture but for someone with compromised lungs and heart, it was a challenge. I almost turned around so many times but the folks coming down the trail encouraged me to continue. Then my stubborness set in and I was determined to make it to the top!

VICTORY!!!!!

The fog rolled in and out of the valley and it was just gorgeous.

Thanks mom for bringing me here. I had so much fun!

Remember how I said I've lost all sense of direction? Well, I ended up taking the Lower Hawksbill trail back down by mistake. I was about 1/4 mile down and came across a stream I knew I didn't cross. Oh well, I wasn't about to go back up so onward (or downward) we went. There were two young men in the parking lot that had mercy on us and gave me and Sage a ride back to my truck which was about a mile up the road. I was exhausted and my knees hurt so bad there was no way I could've walked another mile. Thank you Lord for the blessing!

Skyline Drive

Fog was rolling in as we left the park

Once the holiday weekend was over I had the entire back loop of the campground all to myself! Ahhhh, peace and quiet.

The wildlife started coming out too. Cardinal and wild turkey

Did I mention it rained 4 days straight? The only thing this girl likes better than chasing her ball is rolling in a mud puddle. This was right before bath number 3

Kate, her mom and Bailey (Sage's BFF) came to visit. Her parents live about 30 minutes from Natural Chimneys and she just happened to be visiting them at the same time we were there. Sage was so happy to see them.

Sage loves her Auntie Kate

The girls got to play while we visited. They had so much fun chasing each other around

The next day the water leak sensor under the kithen sink starting beeping because these pipes were leaking...again. This was the second time. Of course it couldn't happen yesterday when Kate was visiting. Luckily she was able to come back over and fix the leak. She had the tools and parts already so I told her I'd treat her to lobsters when we meet up in Maine.

Bailey raided Sage's toy box while Kate was working. Look at those eyes. She's so beautiful

We finally made it to the trail by the river. The water was very high with all the rain we had.

In spite of the problems I had, I really enjoyed this park an would definitely come back.

Next time we're headed north to learn some American History...