The Shenandoah Valley & Mountains of the Virginias, An Explorer's Guide: 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. 75 black-and-white photographs, 20 maps

Jim Hargan is a world traveler whose writing and photographs have appeared in the New York Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Field & Stream, among many others. He the author of the Explorer's Guides The Blue Ridge & Smoky Mountains, North Carolina, The Photographer’s Guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and The Photographer’s Guide to the Great Smoky Mountains. He lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.