Shenandoah National Park Backcountry Permits

Backcountry travel in Shenandoah National Park, managed by the National Park Service. The photographs show rolling, forested ridges: broad hardwood slopes falling away into successive blue ridgelines, with grass, yellow wildflowers and low shrubs on the open crests and the sun low over the far hills. On the ground, a dirt footpath runs through open hardwood woodland with grass along both edges, and a hiker carrying a full pack walks it. Two frames show a camp, a small single-wall tent pitched on bare leaf-litter ground in a stand of green saplings with a loaded backpack set beside it. A park sign at the trail edge lists the rules in force in the backcountry: pets leashed at all times, no campfires, trash packed out, no bicycles or vehicles, hunting prohibited, and Leave No Trace.