Ice on the trees creates a magical world on Skyline Drive.
Photos by Bob Kirchman
Continued from Designed with Nature [click to read]
It’s not a road for people in a hurry. Curving through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, it asks you to slow down to 35 miles per hour. Constructed in the 1930s, it remains one of the most beautiful scenic highways in America.
The Northern Entrance to Skyline Drive.
The road winds pleasantly through the rolling mountains.
Big Meadows Lodge, designed by Richmond architect Marcellus Wright. The stonework was constructed by Spanish and Italian stonemasons, not the Civilian Conservation Corps.
The Gift Shop at Big Meadows.
Accommodations at Big Meadows Lodge.
Another view of the Lodge.
Cottages at Big Meadows designed by Marcellus Wright.
Bridesburg Cottage
Marcellus Wright, the architect of Big Meadows, originally envisioned cottage villages such as this as the parks primary lodging. No doubt, Skyland was seen as a successful example of how to accommodate visitors to the park and it was a village of cottages.
Skyland Cabin built by George Freeman Pollack
Rustic accommodations such as this cabin were the original guest lodging at Skyland. George Freeman Pollack's father, George Sr. was an investor in a copper mining operation here in the mid Nineteenth Century. Young George visited the area as a youth, falling in love with the mountain camp. When the copper operation failed to become profitable, the younger Pollack suggested the development of the resort at Stoney Man Camp.
Beginning in 1888, Pollack sold lots and with several partners began a building company and a sawmill on Dry Run to provide lumber for the camp's buildings. He fenced 125 acres and denied surrounding residents the long standing "right" to cut timber there, thus beginning the conservation of wilderness that would later characterize Shenandoah National Park.
Although Pollack worked to maintain good relations with his neighbors, the original resort buildings burned in 1893. The fires were deliberately set and might have been the work of neighbors who were disgruntled at the loss of timber and grazing rights. It must be noted, however, that that was the year that the senior Pollack died and the resort's finances were devastated. Skyland was destroyed, but it would rise like a phoenix around the turn of the Century.
In 1894 Pollack hosted a "Camping Party" for former visitors and owners. The resort provided canvas tents and a dining hall. Gradually the cabins and facilities were rebuilt and a 1912 catalogue notes fifty cabins similar to the one above.
With the coming of the National Park, Pollack continued to manage the resort until 1937, when Virginia Sky-Line Company became the operator.
The Modernist dining room at Skyland was built in the 1960s and features magnificent views of the Shenandoah Valley. It nestles well into the rocky cliffs.
Dickey Ridge Visitors Center
Marcellus Wright of Richmond designed this building as the Northernmost lodge in Shenandoah National Park. It was opened in 1939 but closed during the war. After re-opening briefly it was closed and converted into a visitor center.
Inside the building you can see the chestnut harvested by CCC workers in the wake of the devastation caused by chestnut blight.
Lewis Mountain Cottages
The lodge and cabins at Lewis Mountain were designed by Marcellus Wright, who also designed the Big Meadows Lodge. Lewis Mountain was created as a separate lodging area for African-American guests in the 1940's. A decade later segregation would be abolished in the National Park although it would continue in the state of Virginia well into the 1960's.
A bear grazes contently by the Skyline Drive.
The attentive visitor will certainly see wildlife.
More Photos of the Skyline Drive
Skyline Drive I [click to view]
Skyline Drive II [click to view]
Big Meadows Lodge [click to view]
The Blue Ridge Mountains [click to view]