We visited the park and did the entirety of Skyline Drive on a Sunday in early April.

It was a beautiful sunny day and a little chilly. We started the trip in the 30s outside. We drove it from South to North. We entered through Rockfish Gap around 8AM. There are signs to warn that gas is not currently available in the park so make sure you have enough. The gas world normally be located at big meadows. When we arrived at big meadows there was fencing around the gas area. Looks like they were renovating.

There were very few cars when we entered and drove for the first hour or so. The overlooks are everywhere on the left and right and were amazing.

We know the loft mountain area wasn't open yet but we pulled in anyways just to see. The store and offices were all blacked out so you couldn't even look inside. There were a few cars parked here in the parking lot but not many.

The next big stop was Lewis Mountain. We drove into the camp grounds area and the camp store is directly across from the cabins. They had a bathroom on the outside of the building. It was a nice little camp store. Have snacks and some merch as well. The bathroom was like a full bathroom with a shower and everything. There is a coin operated machine that lets you use the shower. I think it was like a couple bucks for 5 mins.

Next we stopped at Big Meadows and the Byrd Visitor Center. This was a fairly large visitor center with a ton of exhibits as well as hands-on ones. To the left when you walk in is the NPS store. The right is also a theater that plays a short film about the history of the park. Worth it to watch. The back has a large bank of windows and seats to look out across the "big meadow". The back left there is a small table which has the NPS Passport cancellation stamps. Unfortunately each location has their own stamp and they don't move the others when they are closed for the season. So you will have to visit the other sites along skyline drive when they open, including the mobile visitor center. Bathrooms were outside in separate building to the right.

Next stop was at Skyland for lunch. We knew they had dinning here and it was packed. For a table for 5 around 1PM they said 30-45 min wait. We opted for take out order which they also do. But we waited probably close to 30 mins for our order anyways. I don't know if the staff was prepared for that many people to show up on Easter Sunday. There is a very nice outside patio eating area with a great view just outside the restaurant building. It was a little chilly and windy but worth it for the view. Honestly the food was okay and we paid just under $100 for 2 adult meals, kids meal, soup and 2 appetizers. They also forgot one of our orders and didn't give us sauce for another. Good thing we didn't drive off to eat somewhere else. Best thing was the crispy chicken sandwich.

We skipped Elkwallow and I think Mathew's Arm wasn't open yet for the season.

We had our final stop at Dickey Ridge Visitor Center. The restrooms were pretty far separated from the Visitor Center. The visitor center itself was much small than Byrd Visitor Center. They had their own passport cancellation stamp on the left hand side if you're entering from the back where most people were coming from. There is a little table. There are also a few exhibits you can see on the left hand side of the building. On the other side is the NPS store. They had a good selection of all the similar things from the Byrd Visitor Center. Nothing stood out to us as different. Although the size of this visitor center is much smaller than the Byrd Visitor Center I want to say there were more people at this one.

We left the park around 3PM and it was much more packed. Not sure if that because we were at the North end or because of time of day.

We didn't get to do any hikes but we did stop many of the overlooks and take pictures. We would definitely visit again to try out the different trails. We just thought it would be a fun way to end our vacation by driving up through skyline drive versus the highway.