Dickey Ridge Visitor Center is the Visitor Center you're most likely to encounter at Shenandoah National Park, particularly if you're coming from the North Entrance. It's about 7.5k from the entrance.
It's smaller than the Big Meadows Visitor Center, but it has a lot of rustic charm, being one of the CCC projects when they were building the park. It's got a great log cabin look to it, and has some interpretative exhibits, a ranger desk, and a small gift shop. All of the NPS run gift shops in Shenandoah have pretty much the exact same merchandise, ranging from T-shirts to books, to posters and also Junior Ranger stuff. They have a lot of really great maps stocked here, so if you're planning on a hike, this is a good place to pick up GOOD hiking maps (I highly recommend the PATC maps and guidebooks, I used them extensively when I hiked in Shenanadoah.)
There are some Ranger-led tours from here, and of course they're on hand to answer any questions you might have about the park.
There's a large lawn to hang out on with benches and paths, with a great panorama of Shenandoah Valley and Signal Knob to the west. There are also roomy bathroom facilities here, so if you need to go, this is a great place to stop and just hang out for a while. read more