Dickey Ridge Visitor Center

Dickey Ridge Visitor Center

Dickey Ridge Visitor Center
4.5
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
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4.5
162 reviews
Excellent
79
Very good
66
Average
13
Poor
2
Terrible
2

RoadForks
Virginia185 contributions
Oct 2022 • Family
This is a nice place to stop along Skyline Drive. Here they have bathrooms, an indoor exhibit, snacks and a nice little gift shop. Depending on the time of day, it makes for a nice place to have a picnic!

This stop can be crowded on the weekends and during peak season in October when the leaves are changing, which is the best time to go!
Written October 24, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Grover R
Pensacola, FL17,858 contributions
May 2021
With Covid, VCs are not exactly what they used to be. However, this one is particularly good for two things, restrooms and sunsets. First any National Park that is primarily a 35 mph road for more than 100 miles needs a place to go, and the restrooms here are the nicest in the park. The detached restroom facility appears to be recently built with sufficient capacity to handles numbers of people.

Why do people congregate here? Besides the VC, this has a great sunset view and it is very close (3-4 miles inside the park entrance) to Front Royal where we stayed our last night. After eating in town, we drove up here to watch the sunset facing west behind the VC.

Finally, this is only minutes from the premier Shenandoah National Park sign if you like getting pictures of those.
Written May 25, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Maltipoo16
New York999 contributions
Sep 2022 • Friends
This visiter center was amazing! The small attached museum had so much information about the park and really nice exhibits. The store was smaller, but was a great intro to the park. It was also a great place to start getting my stamps for my passport book. They had some trails assessable right from the visitor center and there was an amazing view of the mountains from the footpath.
Written November 7, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Paul A
15 contributions
Jul 2021
The nature exhibit is closed, purportedly because of Covid. But the gift store was open and doing a lot of business. Hmm...If it's safe to open the gift shop, why can't you open the nature exhibits? The person working there said it's because people "touch the exhibits, and that requires a lot of cleaning." So, people don't touch things in the gift shop, right? Give me a break!
Written July 21, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jim W.
Atlanta, GA1,018 contributions
Oct 2021
This was by far the busiest visitors' center within the park, at least per our experience. It is located a few miles inside the northern entrance to the park, which probably accounts for the crowds. They have a large parking lot, with signs about overflow parking nearby.

We found a parking spot and walked over to the main building. Rangers were set up outside to answer questions. The interior was largely roped off / abandoned for the time being (i.e., during Covid). However, the gift shop was still open.

This is probably barely functional, but I found the arrangement disappointing from the perspective of someone who has visited a wide array of national parks. Hopefully things will return to some semblance of normalcy in 2022.
Written November 13, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

csserious2
Chantilly, VA791 contributions
Oct 2022 • Couples
If you are in the DC metropolitan area in Fall, chances are that you’ll end up at the Skyline Drive enjoying the beautiful fall colors. The drive is approximately three hours end to end, and the visitor center will be the first stop, only few miles from the north entrance. They are always busy with hard to find parking during the peak season, however, the restrooms are clean the times I stopped by. They have a great lookout of the landscape at the back as well as a picnic area. The next rest area will be little more than an hour driving south at the Rt. 211 ramp.
Written October 28, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Teardrop Trailer Traveler
United States731 contributions
Jun 2021
The Dickey Ridge visitor center is at the northern end of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. The visitor center itself was closed to visitors at the time of my trip, but the rangers had a table set up outside. (The gift shop was open.) There is a large open area by the visitor center and it offers great views of the valley below.
Written May 8, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

podrozniczka60
New Jersey14,731 contributions
Nov 2021
Covid precautions decreased their level of friendliness and limited the services but it is still a good place to stop. After leaving Fort Royal this is the first visiting center entering Shenandoah National Park. Good for bathroom stops, picnics, stretching your legs and trip planning. The rangers were set up outdoors and answering visitors questions. We obtained some useful trail maps and trip planning tips.
Written November 20, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

TheHeyseed
Front Royal, VA125 contributions
Jan 2020
I had not been on this northern end of Skyline Drive for over forty years and was excited to take advantage of the Fee-Free day on MLK Monday. The park is clean, the rangers are professional and nice, but at mile five the gate was locked and sorry folks that's all.
The visitor Center looks nice, but it was locked too. They did have restrooms open.
The views looking west are great, just wish we could have gone further south to see some of the eastern views as well.
Written March 8, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

WC-Travelers-75
West Chester, PA2,201 contributions
Sep 2019
This visitors center is a very good way to orient yourself to the NP if entering from Front Royal. Worth a stop to pick up maps and talk with the rangers. Museum is small; the Gift Shop is almost as big and well stocked. Buy something to support the NPs.

Easy Parking for a 23 ft RV but I did not see specific bus or RV parking spots.

Clean bathrooms.
Written April 19, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Dickey Ridge Visitor Center (Shenandoah National Park) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

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