Date: October 25, 2006
Contact: Karen Beck-Herzog, 540-999-3300
Portions of the Skyline Drive, the famed mountain road through Shenandoah National Park, will be closed at night during hunting season, Park Superintendent Chas Cartwright announced today. He noted that this is the twenty-seventh year that this closure has been undertaken and stressed its importance at reducing illegal hunting activity within the park, a sanctuary for wildlife, during the Commonwealth's hunting season outside the park.
From November 13, 2006, through January 6, 2007
Skyline Drive
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between Front Royal (Mile 0 at U.S. Highway 340) and Thornton Gap (Mile 31 at U.S. Highway 211), and
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between Swift Run Gap (Mile 65 at U.S. Highway 33) and Rockfish Gap (Mile 105 at U.S. Highway 250),
will be closed daily between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.
The central portion of the Drive, between Thornton Gap and Swift Run Gap, will remain open for overnight access to Skyland Resort and Big Meadows Campground until those facilities close on November 26.
Then, beginning November 27, 2006, through January 6, 2007, the entire length of the Skyline Drive will be closed daily from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m.
Superintendent Cartwright said, "By closing portions of the Skyline Drive, rangers are able to concentrate patrols on problem areas and increase contacts along the park boundary."
Superintendent Cartwright also reminded the public that the park has a reward program to assist in combating illegal hunting in the Park. "A reward will be paid to anyone who furnishes information which leads to the conviction of any person who hunts, transports, or attempts to transport illegally taken wildlife within the Park," said Cartwright. Anyone with information about such activities should call the nearest Ranger Station or Park Headquarters (toll free, 1-800-732-0911; or (540) 999-2227). The identity of persons furnishing information will be kept strictly confidential, and a person does not have to reveal his or her name.
For complete list of seasonal closures...
