A New Web-based Guide to Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive

One resource I frequently reference when planning hikes in the Shenandoah National Park is what I call the "Heatwole guide."  The actual title is "Guide to Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive," it was original published by Henry Heatwole in 1978 as a hardcopy volume (I have a copy of the 1988 edition).  The lore of the guide is that Henry painstakingly researched, interviewed, sketched, and wrote about nearly everything there is to know about in the Park, and he updated the book several times before he passed away.

I found the guide's on-line version, which hadn't been updated since the last publication - it still made a good reference for many of the hikes I've taken.

Last year I learned that there has been an ongoing effort to update the guide and republish it on the web.  Finally, it is user-ready after a five year effort.  The team sent me a press release on the new web version earlier this week, which I am re-posting below.  I'm looking forward to consulting the guide for my next hike!
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For Immediate Release......


Spring 2010

New Web Based Guide to Shenandoah National Park Announced

After five years of work a new web based, free resource for visitors to Shenandoah National Park is available to enhance the visitor experience. This new guide is designed to provide an orientation for first time visitors and in-depth information about many park elements for all visitors of this well loved national park. The guide features general park information, full coverage of Skyline Drive, a comprehensive set of 110 hike recommendations with new maps and updated hike descriptions as well as a careful look at the park’s history, and insightful background about flora and fauna. It is illustrated with superlative new photography and also includes historic photos from the park’s early days.

The guide is dedicated to Henry Heatwole who authored the popular Guide to Shenandoah Park and Skyline Drive first published in 1978 by the Shenandoah Park Association. Almost 75,000 copies were sold. A generation of users has grown to know, experience, and love the park based on Henry’s knowledge, experience and remarkable insights. His observations range from the eons of the park’s geology, to the reality of the park’s establishment, to the excitement of observing a wildflower blooming along a trail for a short time in the spring. This new guide, though significantly updated, remains basically Henry’s work. It is hoped that several more generations of park users will benefit from his labor of love.

The guide is an all volunteer effort. First steps involved hiking and field checking and updating the text relating to Skyline Drive and the 110 hikes constituting more than 430 miles of trails. The field work was begun by members of the board of the Shenandoah National Park Association, who were soon joined by the members of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club and others. The reviewers found many changes since the original field work was done over thirty years ago. The Park Service generously provided new maps that superimpose the hikes on their base maps.

The new guide can be found at:

http://www.guidetosnp.com/

It is hoped that future generations will continue to experience and enjoy the visionary expectations of the park’s founders and Henry Heatwole’s love of and insight into most every element of the park.