Shenandoah National Park airport guide, by entrance.

Which airport for Shenandoah?

NPS names four airports for Shenandoah, and each one pairs with an entrance. The park is long and thin. Skyline Drive, the only public road through it, runs 105 miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge, from Front Royal at the north end to Rockfish Gap near Waynesboro at the south, with Thornton Gap and Swift Run Gap in between. So pick the entrance first. NPS puts Dulles 56 miles east of Front Royal, Reagan National 70 miles east of Front Royal, Shenandoah Valley Regional 27 miles west of Swift Run Gap, and Charlottesville 31 miles east of Rockfish Gap.

Every airport-to-entrance drive.

Every airport-to-entrance drive we route, one for each airport, to the entrance NPS pairs it with. The last column carries the one caveat. The park is always open, but NPS says parts of Skyline Drive are periodically closed during bad weather. You can still walk in to hike when the drive is closed.

Our routed miles land close to NPS's numbers: 55 for Dulles, 72 for Reagan National, 26 for Shenandoah Valley and 31 for Charlottesville. What NPS doesn't give is time. Charlottesville and Shenandoah Valley are both under an hour, 43 min and 44 min. The Washington airports take longer, 1 h 17 min from Dulles and 1 h 36 min from Reagan National, before any city traffic.

Match the airport to your entrance.

Front Royal (north end, mile 0): Dulles, 55 miles, or Reagan National, 72 miles. This is the end nearest Washington.

Thornton Gap (mile 31.5), between Luray and Sperryville: NPS pairs no airport with it. Front Royal is 31 miles north on Skyline Drive, about 1 h 9 min by our routing with no stops, so Dulles or Reagan National plus that drive is one way in. In a tall RV or with a trailer, check your height first: Marys Rock Tunnel, at mile 32.2, has a maximum clearance of 12 feet 8 inches.

Swift Run Gap (mile 65.5), near Elkton: Shenandoah Valley Regional, 26 miles. It's the middle of the park.

Rockfish Gap (south end, mile 104.6), near Waynesboro: Charlottesville, 31 miles.

Any month: the park is always open, and Skyline Drive stays open through winter unless snow or ice closes it. After a winter storm it can take crews several days to reopen, so give a winter trip some slack. Our Shenandoah in winter page covers the season. If you haven't picked dates yet, start with the best time to visit Shenandoah page.

Big hub or small airport?

We don't publish fares. What sets them is how many routes an airport has, and whether your trip needs a connection. Shenandoah Valley has one airline, American, operated by SkyWest, with nonstops to Charlotte and Chicago O'Hare. From those hubs, the airport says, you can reach hundreds of one-stop connections. Charlottesville has American, Delta and United, flying to Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, New York LaGuardia and Washington Dulles.

Reagan National lists eight airlines: Air Canada, Alaska, American, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest and United. Dulles lists dozens, domestic and international, from Aer Lingus and Air France to Lufthansa and Qatar Airways. If you're flying from abroad, or want the widest choice, Dulles is the one, and it's the closer of the two Washington airports to Front Royal.

If you'd have to connect anyway, flying on to Shenandoah Valley or Charlottesville swaps a longer drive for a second flight, and both land under an hour from an entrance. A nonstop to Dulles or Reagan National swaps the connection for the longer drive.

Rental cars, passes, and GPS.

The NPS directions page covers driving only, so plan on a car. At Dulles, the rental companies are on the airport, with free shuttle buses between the rental lots and the terminal. Some brands share a bus, so look for yours before you board. Reagan National lists Alamo, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, Thrifty and Sixt on the airport, and Avis and Budget off it. Charlottesville lists Avis, Budget, Enterprise, National, Alamo and Hertz. Shenandoah Valley says it has on-site rental car agencies and free parking, and that you only need to arrive one hour before your flight.

Set your GPS to an entrance by name. NPS says there are many gated service roads at the park boundary that the public can't use, and a GPS or mapping app can send you to one.

Landing late? If no one is staffing the entrance station when you arrive, NPS says to drive in and pay the fee on the way out. In fall 2026 the park also begins installing automated entry stations at all four entrances for after-hours card payment. Prices are on our Shenandoah fees page. For closures, NPS no longer updates its phone line. Text SHENALERTS to 888777 for closure and reopening alerts.

We don't carry live flight schedules, departures or fares. Those change daily. Check them on the airline's or the airport's own site before you book.

Common questions.

How far is Shenandoah National Park from Washington, DC?

About 55 road miles (1 h 17 min) from Dulles to the Front Royal Entrance, and 72 miles (1 h 36 min) from Reagan National, with no stops or traffic. NPS puts them at 56 and 70 miles.

What is the closest airport to Luray, Virginia?

NPS doesn't pair an airport with Thornton Gap, the entrance between Luray and Sperryville, and we don't route one to Luray. Shenandoah Valley Regional is the closest airport to the park, 26 miles from Swift Run Gap. From the Washington side, Dulles is 55 miles from Front Royal, and Thornton Gap is another 31 miles south on Skyline Drive.

Does this page show the Shenandoah Valley airport flight schedule?

No. We don't carry live schedules, departures or fares. The airport's own site has current flights. What we can tell you is the route: American Airlines to Charlotte and Chicago O'Hare, per the airport.

Where these facts come from

The four airports, NPS's distances for them, the four entrance stations and the gated service road warning come from the NPS Shenandoah directions page; park hours and weather closures from the NPS operating hours page; the automated entry stations from the NPS fees page; Skyline Drive mileposts, pay-on-exit at unstaffed entrance stations, the phone line note and the Marys Rock Tunnel clearance from the NPS driving Skyline Drive page; the SHENALERTS text alerts from the NPS Skyline Drive status page; winter reopening from the NPS winter page. Airport-to-entrance distances and drive times are computed by the OSRM routing engine on OpenStreetMap roads (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with airport coordinates from OurAirports and entrance coordinates from OpenStreetMap nodes; last computed 2026-09-11. They are road distances and no-stop times, not live traffic. NPS gives straight mileage with no drive time, so we add the routed time. Airline, rental and parking notes come from the airports' own pages: Shenandoah Valley Regional, Charlottesville's routes and rental cars pages, Dulles's airlines and rental cars pages, and Reagan National's airlines and rental cars pages. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.