Skyline Drive (page 2 of 5)

Points 5-8

5. Pinnacles Overlook
The drive overlooks Virginia's rolling piedmont country as it snakes along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains on its way to Pinnacles Overlook. The view of Old Rag Mountain, to the south, is a bold reminder that nature favors constant change. When it was formed a billion years ago, this mass of granite was bare. Later it was covered with lava and ocean sediment, which have since worn away to reveal, once again, the stone's original surface.

In a similar way, the Shenandoah region has made a comeback of its own. Not so long ago the land was largely deforested by farmers, loggers, and hunters. In the 1920s a movement began to set aside land for a national park with a ridgetop road. Shenandoah National Park was authorized by Congress in 1926. In 1931 President Herbert Hoover, hoping to spur economic growth in the depressed area, approved the construction of the Skyline Drive; it was completed in 1939, four years after the park was established. Today an astonishing 95 percent of the area is completely reforested.

6. Stony Man Overlook
As you enter the overlook here from the north, 4,011-foot-tall Stony Man Mountain will loom straight ahead. Look closely at its rugged profile -- and use a little imagination -- and you can make out the old fellow's eye, nose, mustache, and beard. For an even better view of the summit, take a short hike up the Little Stony Man Trail, which leads past cliffs composed of greenstone, a gray-green rock formed during ancient volcanic eruptions. At night the lights of Luray and other nearby towns twinkle below in the distance.

7. Skyland
In 1894 George Freeman Pollock, a pioneer conservationist who was later instrumental in establishing Shenandoah National Park, also founded a rustic resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains that he loved so deeply. He called it Skyland -- a reminder of its lofty location near the highest point on the Skyline Drive. Today this popular lodge provides peerless views of the valley below and the mountains beyond. In addition to varied accommodations, Skyland offers horseback riding, pony rides for children, and the Stony Man Nature Trail, a 1.6-mile round-trip that ascends the slopes of Stony Man Mountain. Leading visitors on a self-guided hike, the scenic trail passes a wide assortment of the 100 or so types of trees found in Shenandoah National Park.

Step back in time by visiting Massanutten Lodge, the recently renovated former residence of Addie Pollock, wife of George Freeman Pollock.

8. Whiteoak Canyon
Near the south entrance to Skyland resort is a 4.6-mile round-trip trail that leads to the first fall in Whiteoak Canyon, a shady mountain glen that has been called "the scenic gem" of Shenandoah National Park. A meandering stream, towering oaks and hemlocks, giant boulders, and a steep gorge with six waterfalls (the tallest of which drops 86 feet) make this a place of wild, idyllic beauty.

A nearby trail leads through part of Limberlost, a grove of stately hemlocks that are centuries old. The trees, according to one tale, owe their lives to Skyland founder George Pollock, who paid loggers $10 apiece to leave them standing. With its damp coolness, eerie stillness, and shimmering shafts of sunlight that filter through the delicate foliage, Limberlost evokes the mood of a great Gothic cathedral. The Limberlost Trail leads past an old apple orchard to the Crescent Rock Trail, which climbs 325 feet to Crescent Rock Overlook.

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