View Full Version : Parking at Panorama Restaurnat Parking Lot
trailfinder
04-20-2005, 11:25
I know that the Panorama Restaurant is closed, but is it still safe to park in their parking lot?? Thanks!
As safe or safer as any other public lot. Both the upper lot and the lower lot are still open (you need to get on Skyline Drive [$$$] to use the upper lot).
There is a Ranger office still in use in the lower level of the old restaurant building, and often official vehicles parked nearby, so that might discourage trouble.
There is also a backcountry permit & info station with separate restroom at the front end of the upper lot. It hasn't been staffed yet this year and with Shrub's budget cuts who knows if it will be (self-reg kiosk is available tho).
Mountain Hippie
04-20-2005, 22:07
I have parked there in the past and did so again about two weeks ago. I have never had any problem and like skyline says it is as safe or safer than any public lot. I buy the yearly pass so I enter the area from Skyline drive. I would have no resevations about parking there.
BlackCloud
04-21-2005, 12:16
I don't know when construction will begin, but the bldg which housed the closed Panorama restaraunt is slated to be converted into a museum/visitor center & will be open year round.....
Mountain Hippie
04-21-2005, 22:12
I talked with a couple of the Rangers the other week about the panaroma conversion and they said that the money was not in the budget yet. The reason it came up was because I noticed that the yearly pass had increased from $20 to $30. I thought maybe the increase in the fee would help them out with the budget short falls but it doesn't appear that is the case. Even when the work starts I expect there will be at least limited parking near the small info building at the panaroma entrance off Skyline drive.
It's supposed to be a combination CCC-era museum, with expanded Ranger offices. The current building will likely be rehabbed, and an addition constructed. In addition to NPS funding, I think they are competing for some outside funding with a similar project over at Edinburg, VA--which is closer to the location of the first CCC Camp at Camp Roosevelt.