Shenandoah America the Beautiful Quarter

The second of five new United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters™ Program coins for 2014 will be the 2014 Shenandoah America the Beautiful Quarter. The Shenandoah coin will also be the twenty-second for the program which started in 2010 and will see a total of 56 new strikes during its eleven year run.

Collectors can expect to see the Shenandoah National Park Quarter appear in the first half of 2014, but the final design for it will probably not be known until earlier in that same year. Design candidates should be reviewed by the appropriate parties sometime in 2013 giving the public its first glimpse of what the Shenandoah quarter might look like.

This quarter follows a coin honoring the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee which will be issued earlier that year. The three quarters released following the Shenandoah will feature designs of Arches National Park of Utah, Great Sand Dunes National Park of Colorado and Everglades National Park of Florida.

Shenandoah National Forest in Virginia

Established in 1935, the park encompasses a narrow portion of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia.

The most recognizable feature in the park is known as Skyline Drive which is 105 miles in length and runs mostly along the ridge of the mountains. With over 75 scenic overlooks, it is not hard to understand why the speed limit on the road is only 35 miles an hour allowing for plenty of safe viewing (of course the winding course of the road also adds to the enjoyment).

Hawksbill Mountain is touted as the highest peak in the park with an elevation of 4,051 feet. While many partake of the excellent scenery around the aforementioned Skyline Drive, visitors should also note that nearly 40% of the park is designated wilderness affording a greater level of protection to it from commercial interests.

A number of waterfalls are located in the parks with the tallest being Overall Run with a height of 93 feet. Unfortunately, it takes a 6.5 mile roundtrip hike to reach a viewing place for the falls. The 70 foot Dark Hallow Falls are much closer to Skyline Drive with a 1.4 mile roundtrip hike, and as such it gets the largest number of spectators.

Most visitors to the park come in the fall to see the beautiful changing colors of the leaves.