Shenandoah: Most striking Skyline in the East

Jon Ostendorff | Special for USA TODAY

Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive offers views of Appalachian farmland and rolling Virginia hills just a short drive from the nation's capital.

President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the park in 1936 as a place for both recreation and re-creation, says Susan Sherman, president of Shenandoah National Park Trust, a group with about 1,000 members. "Nearly 80 years later, Shenandoah continues to deliver on that promise," she says.

Shenandoah is the only major national park in the Mid-Atlantic region. People have to travel north to Acadia National Park or south to Great Smoky Mountains National Park for a similar experience, Sherman says.

Visitors this summer will find renovated bathrooms, including showers and laundry facilities at Big Meadows campground, says Karen Beck-Herzog, the park's public affairs officer.

New programs this summer include a TRACK trail program, aimed at getting kids away from electronic devices and onto trails, she says. Kids will hike and later log their adventure online at kidsinparks.com to earn prizes.