Two employees of the National Park Service oversee 500 miles of trails in the 198,000-acre Shenandoah National Park, which straddles the Blue Ridge Mountains and covers parts of eight counties.

One of the most popular trails in Shenandoah National Park is closed for repairs.

Hiking has been a lifelong passion for Central Virginia author Lauralee Bliss. “I began hiking when I was a teenager living in New York state. We’d come down to Shenandoah [National Park] and ...