Bombay Hook, Assateague Island, Shenandoah - an American east coast safari road trip
ROAD TRIP SUGGESTION
EAST COAST SAFARI IN 6 DAYS!
PENNSYLVANIA - DELAWARE - MARYLAND - VIRGINIA
Looking for a trip to take that whisks you away to a foreign land with amazing sea birds, horses running down a sandy beach, and black bears in a deep forest? Look no further than Delaware, Virginia, and Maryland - all in a 6 day road trip! YES - You don't have to go extremely far from home to go on a real life safari :) Well - the east coast of America type of safari!
START: PITTSBURGH
DELAWARE - birds! birds! birds!
Day 1 - Travel east about 5 hours by car to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware. If you leave Pittsburgh at dawn, you'll arrive by 11am or lunchtime at the latest. Spend the day here driving the loop. You will see amazing birds, walk among beautiful trails over wetlands, and possibly experience some woodland creatures. I attended in March and even on a misty foggy day, it was absolutely beautiful with a LOT of bird sightings. Check out the list of species you can see listed by month here! Stay overnight in the area for a one night stay.
MARYLAND - wild horses!
Day 2 - Travel south after breakfast just into Maryland and down the coast. Take your time, and at Milford take the coastal highway Rt 1 so that you'll do the majority of the drive along the oceanfront highway. It may add a few minutes to your travel, so your GPS will likely not suggest it as the first route option but it's worth the views. When you arrive in Ocean City, cross over to West Ocean City then take the road (rt 611) to Assateague Island. Great stops to make on that road to the beach would be: (1) grab a fresh acai bowl for lunch at the Assateague Island Surf Shop (2) Stop in to Assateague Market, just a mile or so further and get some souvenirs and pickup snacks to take to the beach (3) about another mile or so further, stop at the visitor's center. After the visitor's center, you'll cross the bridge onto the island. Make the first right and drive towards the entrance to the National Seashore part of the island (If you go straight you'll stop at the state park beach). Take the drive fully down the stretch of the island until the road stops (about a 15 min drive). You'll have to use your national park pass after about halfway down this road, or else you can stop and turn back to stay in the state park section (about $5 I believe). I like the end of this road where you can park and get beach access from there, it is an amazing beach and worth the quiet at this end of the island. If you go in mid summer, be prepared for a LOT of traffic, but if you go in off season *(up until Memorial Day or after Sept 1st) its absolutely blissful. Along this drive of the island you will see many horses along the road or in the bay area. These wild horses are beautiful and amazing to watch, just don't get close. If you stay on the beach for the day you might be lucky enough to have a pack of horses pass you by as they walk down the shore. Stay overnight in West Ocean City or Ocean City.
Day 3 - Return for another day on Assateague Island! Enjoy everything this national seashore has to offer. Spend your nights having dinner in Ocean City or walking the boardwalk. Stay overnight again.
VIRGINIA - woodland creatures and black bears!
Day 4 - You can begin your drive back to Pittsburgh this day and complete your long weekend here - or you can extend another few days if you'd like to expand your safari a bit more. If so, hop in the car and start driving west. This will be a half day of driving, about 6 hours to get to Shenandoah National Park. Then once you enter, you will slowly wind the Skyline Drive at 45mph - take your time and enjoy this part of the drive. Some of the best parts of the park are just driving this road. I suggest having a place booked in Skyland or Big Meadows Lodge. (or you can camp!) Those are the only two places to stay inside the park. Once you enter the park at one of the four Skyline Drive entrances, its best to stay inside the park until you want to leave. Check in to your room (for a 2 night stay) and enjoy an evening hike and some dinner, then rest up for a long hiking day tomorrow.
Day 5 - Spend the day hiking the trails around the middle of the park, near the lodge. This blog I've written about Shenandoah National Park is packed full of information on where to hike! If you plan on going to Shenandoah, definitely read that blog after this one! Stay another night in the lodge. You will see a lot of wildlife in this park including deer, woodland creatures and very possibly some black bears. Don't worry they're very docile and calm, black bears are nothing to worry about but don't get close as is the rule with all wildlife! Keep your eyes peeled at the overlooks for eagles, falcons and other birds of prey. Also watch on any rocks in warm weather for rattlesnakes. There are SO many great hikes here that go to both waterfalls and vistas- if you only have one day I suggest doing a high vista or rock scramble (like Bearfence trail) and a deep waterfall (Dark Hollow Falls trail) There are overlooks all along Skyline Drive with ample parking at each, which all have an access point to the Appalachian Trail, so you can go out & back on any of those AT trails as well. The AT trails are mostly all low elevation gain, whereas the vistas and waterfall hikes will be a short but steep out & back mostly. Some trails are loops where you will see everything in one awesome hike.
Day 6 - If you've had enough hiking for that one day its time to head home - but this park has so much to offer, I would suggest staying another day and leaving on Day 7. However for this itinerary, I'll suggest this as an exit day to drive home. From here, you'll be back in Pittsburgh in about 4-5 hours, giving you the evening to unpack and unwind from an action packed trip full of wildlife!
END: PITTSBURGH
Photos of all locations below!
BOMBAY HOOK, DELAWARE:
(March, on a misty foggy day)
ASSATEAGUE ISLAND, MARYLAND:
(photos from both spring and summer)
SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK:
(various seasons)
