Nelson Scenic Loop

Don Faulkner’s Wintergreen history

Peter — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:34:26 +0000

There is so much more unwritten than written history of that (wonderful) County of Nelson in Virginia and of the particularly rare and beautiful country of WINTERGREEN which is the keystone of the Rockfish Valley and its surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains (in the extreme northeastern portion of the country). This relatively brief history will be added to in the years ahead from the gleaning of people particularly interested in the area with their primary sources being county records and the memories of its people who have always lived there. The history of WINTERGREEN country and of Nelson County as it relates to WINTERGREEN is particularly relevant as it has shaped the character of the country and of the people in that region which character remains as real, beautiful, and true as it was 175 years ago which will have such a valuable bearing on many people's enjoyment of WINTERGREEN for many years to come.

Read the rest as a PDF

Three Ridges Flora and Fauna

Peter — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:21:50 +0000

Vascular Flora of Three Ridges Mountain

Abstract

Three Ridges Mountain is located in the southwest portion of Nelson County, Virginia, on the eastern escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The mountain as a natural unit encompasses approximately twenty square miles of land ranging from 850 to 3970 feet in elevation. Collecting trips were made at approximately weekly intervals from March through mid October 1976. Less extensive collecting was done in late October 1976 and the early spring of 1977. A total of 571 species representing 342 genera of 97 families of vascular plants were collected, dried, and identified. Two hundred seventy three species constitute new county records, and one species has not been previously record as occurring in the state of Virginia. A complete set of voucher specimens has been deposited in the Herbarium of the College of William and Mary.

Background information is provided on the area's location, geology, climate, soils, and vegetation. A brief quantitative survey (using the Bitterlich Method) was made in seven stand representing seven different community types present (northern red oak, white oak, northern hardwoods, chestnut oak, moist cove, dry cove, and successional forests). Brief qualitative descriptions are included for more restricted and/or unusual habitats.

Read entire report as a PDF

View from Skylark

Jesús — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 02:44:29 +0000

Here is a painting done by Gray Dodson on site during the Skylark event. Gray is a Nelson artist. This June 13 Skylark Farm hosted the 75th Anniversary Celebration of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Gray S. Dodson, a Norfolk, Virginia native, spent the majority of her life in Virginia Beach before moving to Nelson County in 1995. She toyed with pursuing art as a major while at Mary Washington in the class of 1960. Instead she chose English and shortly after, left the academic world for a serious major as wife and mother. Her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree was awarded years later in 1981 from Old Dominion University, followed by post graduate work at ODU and the Vermont Studio Center. Dodson's career as a painter has been enriched through fellowships granted by The Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Vermont Studio School, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Traveling and painting experiences in France, Italy, Mexico, Canada and the United States have extended her vision beyond a regional perspective with her work included in numerous exhibitions and placed in private and corporate collections throughout the U. S. and abroad. She is an associate member of the McGuffey Art Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, a member of the Mid Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association, and the Art League at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia. Galleries representing her are the Nichols Gallery Annex, Barboursville, Virginia, Spruce Creek Gallery, Nellysford, Virginia, and GlaveKocen Gallery in Richmond, Virginia.

Love Mountain Festival

Peter — Tue, 18 May 2010 22:11:02 +0000

LOVE MOUNTAIN FESTIVAL

AT ROYAL OAKS, check the website for details:

http://www.vacabins.com/events.html

-FREE !! BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL AT LOVE GAP – 500' west of BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY (Milepost 16) on LOVE ROAD (814)

FREE !!!

LOVE MOUNTAIN

BLUEGRASS/GOSPEL EVENTS

AT ROYAL OAKS


2012 LOVE MOUNTAIN MUSIC SCHEDULE
MAY 20 1:00pm - 5:00pm CANCER BENEFIT FOR KAY PANGLE BLUEGRASS GOSPEL MUSIC & IMPROV COMEDY INSTRUMENTAL WONDERS LEE BRANTON & THE WORK RELEASE BOYS IMPROV COMEDY GROUP - CCTV BLUE MOUNTAIN SUNRISE FREE ADMISSION DONATIONS APPRECIATED!

JUNE 10	GOSPEL GRASS & IRISH FOLK BAND THE VIRGINIA REELS
JUNE 10	CHRISTIAN'S CREEK

JUNE 24	BLUEGRASS BAND HIGH GROUND
JUNE 24	GOSPEL GRASS BAND CALVARY GRASS

JULY 8	BLUEGRASS BAND HARMONY HILL
	JOHN PRINE SONGS BY KEITH SMITH
	"PRAISIN CAJUN" SONSHINE SUMMERS

JULY 22	GOSPEL GRASS BANDS HEAVEN'S MOUNTAIN BAND
JULY 22	COUSINS 4 CHRIST
	"PRAISIN CAJUN" SONSHINE SUMMERS

AUG 12	SOUTHERN GOSPEL BAND GOSPEL SOUNDS
AUG 12	GOSPEL GRASS BAND CALVARY GRASS
	"PRAISIN CAJUN" SONSHINE SUMMERS

AUG 26	BLUEGRASS BAND BLUE MOUNTAIN SUNRISE
AUG 26	BLUEGRASS BAND INSTRUMENTAL WONDERS
	"PRAISIN CAJUN" SONSHINE SUMMERS

SEPT 9	NEO-TRADITIONAL STRING BAND HOUND DOG HILL
	MOUNTAIN HERITAGE CLOGGERS
	"PRAISIN CAJUN" SONSHINE SUMMERS

SEPT 23	NEO-TRADITIONAL STRING BAND HOUND DOG HILL
	JOHN PRINE SONGS BY KEITH SMITH
	"PRAISIN CAJUN" SONSHINE SUMMERS

OCT 7	BLUEGRASS BAND HIGH GROUND
OCT 7	BLUEGRASS BAND INSTRUMENTAL WONDERS
	"PRAISIN CAJUN" SONSHINE SUMMERS

OCT 14	GOSPEL GRASS BAND HEAVEN'S MOUNTAIN BAND
OCT 14	GOSPEL GRASS BAND CALVARY GRASS
	"PRAISIN CAJUN" SONSHINE SUMMERS

OCT 21	BLUEGRASS BAND HARMONY HILL
	KEITH SMITH
	"PRAISIN CAJUN" SONSHINE SUMMERS

ROYAL OAKS DIRECTIONS: EXIT 99 OFF INTERSTATE 64, SOUTH

ON BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY FOR 16 MILES, RIGHT ON LOVE

ROAD (814) FOR 500 FEET, ROYAL OAKS IS ON THE RIGHT.

FOOD AVAILABLE BY PARKWAY DELI

EVENTS BEGIN AT 01:00 PM AND LAST UNTIL

4:00 PM ON SUNDAY AFTERNOONS.

FREE ADMISSIONS - DONATIONS APPRECIATED.

FOR MORE INFO - VISIT WWW.VACABINS.COM

PHONE 540-943-7625

Grand Discovery Day Program Listing

Peter — Tue, 18 May 2010 22:08:39 +0000

GRAND DISCOVERY DAY

JUNE 12TH UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

June 11, LOOP Square Dance to benefit Nelson County Community Fund

Dodd Cabin music festival

Love Music Festival June 12 and 13

Model A Club and Piedmont Antique Auto Club Ralleys

Spruce Creek Gallery + Pat Saunders print unveiling and sales + artists & writers; kick off and antique car rally. Hodge Family Jugglers

Pharsalia Event and Elk Hill Event

Mac’s Country Store and other picnics and food

Nellysford Restaurants - Picnics

Wild Virginia and TATC hikes

Lescene Forest event with DOF program

80th Anniversary Montebello Fish Hatchery event with DGIF program

Nellysford Farmers Market 8 AM until NOON

Tuckahoe Community Center fundraiser – antiques and stuff 8 am to 3pm

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY 75th event at Skylark on June 13th

CHECK OUT WEBSITE www.nelsonscenicloop.com FOR UPDATES and ADDITIONAL EVENTS AND SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE GRAND DISCOVERY DAYS.

Tel 434 226 0446 www.nelsonscenicloop.com

Elk Hill Event June 12, 2010

Peter — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:51:10 +0000

From 11am until 1 pm, the residence and outbuildings at ELK HILL and the adjoining Rockfish Valley Farm will be open for visits. See the tobacco prizery and learn how tobacco was processed. Listen Flick Flickinger, local artisan, describe his creation of the Persophene sculpture from recycled materials including farm implements; visit the Rockfish Valley Farm with Gail Hobbs and her goats, the Gentrys and their sheep, the farm mascot LILLY and her buddies Seymour, Juliet, Blackie and Billie Goat. Tour the residence. Early visitors will review the antique automobiles passing from Spruce Creek Park to Pharsalia.

Backroads, Plain Folk & Simple Livin by Lynn Coffey

Peter — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:46:50 +0000

For 25 years, from 1981 through 2006, years Lynn Coffey published the monthly newspaper of the same title from her home at Love Gap, Virginia on the Blue Ridge Parkway. During this time she personally interviewed each of the people featured in the stories. When she retired, these same people kept asking if she would write something more permanent to preserve all the articles since they contained a rich history of their culture, a history and a tradition that was slipping away. Reminiscent of the Foxfire series, Backroads, Plain Folk & Simple Livin' is a compilation of these stories, with personal interviews, activities, and crafts of the Appalachian culture. (The second book in a series is due out this November.)

Bestselling author Brad Herzog writes, “Backroads is a treasure trove of mountain lore, mountain humor, mountain history, mountain interests, and mountain concerns. But mostly, it is a loving account of mountain people.”

Appalachian Trail Conservancy Magazine Article

Peter — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:45:38 +0000

Club Hopping
In the Loop
The Nelson Scenic Loop comprised of four scenic byways is a 50-mile auto and bike tour that features Nelson County, Virginia’s bounty of natural, cultural, and historic attractions. Encompassing the Blue Ridge Parkway, Patrick Henry Highway, Beech Grove Road and Crabtree Falls Highway, the Nelson Scenic Loop traverses both the verdant foothills of the Piedmont as well as the summits of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. It extends along the steep, narrow valleys and wider floodplains carved by the Tye and Rockfish rivers. Connected to the “Loop” as it is also referred to are beautiful sections of the Appalachian Trail. One of those sections is cared for by the Tidewater Appalachian Trail Club (TATC).

“Our section of the A.T. Three Ridges Wilderness from Reeds Gap to the Tye River Bridge, is within the ‘Loop.’ So, I guess you could say that TATC has been involved with a tremendous amount of Trail work specific to [this area of] the Loop,” says TATC president Phyllis Neumann. Numerous trails can be accessed from the loop. For a list of “best trails accessed from the Loop and maintained by TATC,” Neumann recommends: Meadow Mountain (on the A.T.); “Start at Reeds Gap and hike south…excellent views. You can continue south to Hanging Rock or on to the summit of Three Ridges for more views.” The Tye River Bridge; “A beautiful swinging bridge built by TATC, Konnarock Trail crew, and the U.S. Forest Service. Accessed from Rt. 56…you can hike north on the A.T. from here to Three Ridges.” Mau-Har Trail; “A blue-blazed loop trail off TATC’s section of the A.T. …with spectacular waterfalls.” White Rock Falls Trail; “An easy walking trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway, accessed from the Slacks Overlook at mile marker 20…with a beautiful waterfall.” St. Marys Wilderness; “Numerous trails located off the Blue Ridge Parkway near mile marker 23….with waterfalls and old mine sites.”

In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway, as well as the Nelson Scenic Loop, a Grand Discovery Day will be held on June 12 to include a 50-mile auto tour along the Loop with dozens of events, points of interest, hikes, programs, and festivals. And on June 13, the celebration will continue at historic Skylark Farm in Nelson County, where guests can picnic on Round Top Mountain with 360 degree views at 3,300-foot elevation or by the lake of the 365-acre farm, which fronts on the parkway and the Nelson Scenic Loop. Compelling stories will be told by representatives of the National Park Service, Friends of Blue Ridge Parkway, and Washington and Lee University, along with remarks from the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, Oakland Museum and the Rockfish Valley Foundation. Guests can tour the buildings, listen to local musicians and their mountain music, view historical exhibits, and meet local authors and leaders of Parkway support organizations. “The June [celebration] program is really interesting for Trail club members in that it connects them to Nelson County, gives them an opportunity to visit Skylark and at the same time to participate in a guided hike along one of the pieces of the A.T.,” says Peter Agelasto, executive director of the Rockfish Valley Foundation in Nelson County. The celebration, will also take place in many other areas just off the Loop with picnics, croquet, horseshoes, and music workshops.

TATC, as well as other Trail Clubs in the area, will participate in the celebration. “So far we have committed to participate in the ‘Love Mountain Festival’ to be held at the Royal Oaks Cabins in Love, Virginia, June 12-13,” says Phyllis Neumann. “The owners of Royal Oaks are sponsoring a two-day event involving food, music, local culture and representatives of nearby trail maintaining clubs. We'll have info available about TATC, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Trail maintenance, hiking, backpacking, Leave No Trace, gear, and back country cooking.” TATC will also lead some hikes on their section of the Trail.
Today, apple orchards, wineries, and breweries along the Loop perpetuate Nelson’s agrarian heritage. A recommended starting point for the Loop is located at the Spruce Creek Park Visitor Center on Route 151 in Wintergreen, Virginia. The visitor center showcases the Loop and its associated points of interest. While there, visitors can stroll the adjacent Rockfish Valley Foundation trails. By virtue of its geographical location, the Loop serves to support local commerce along the way, including potters, painters, and burl wood artists in their studios, as well as local food and wine sold in nearby restaurants and markets.

For more information visit: www.tidewateratc.com
www.nelsonscenicloop.com and www.rockfishvalley.org.

Churches on Loop

Peter — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:44:40 +0000

Elk Hill Baptist Church

Bethlehem Church

Mount Pleasant Church

Zion Hill Church

Address: 116 Zion Hill Road,
Roseland, VA 22967
Phone: 434-277-9418

Massies Mill Presbyterian Church

Address: 2178 Crabtree Falls Highway
Massies Mill, Va 22954
Phone: 434-277-5161

Haines Chapel

Mountain Top Church

Oak Hill Baptist Church

Address: 382 Level Green Road
Massies Milll, VA 22954
Phone:434-277-8582

Mt Paran Baptist Church

(on a spur)

Harmony Presbyterian Church

Fork Mountain Church

(on a spur – abandoned)

Jonesboro Baptist Church

Address: 9215 Patrick Henry Highway
Roseland, VA 22967
Phone: 434-277-8614

Evergreen Christian Church

(visible from the LOOP)

Beech Grove Christian Church

Address: 1207 Beech Grove Road
Roseland, VA 22967

Grace Episcopal Church

Address: 1934 Crabtree Falls Highway
Massies Mill, VA 22954
Phone:434-277-8926

Rockfish Presbyterian Church

(one mile on a spur)
Address: 5016 Rockfish Valley Highway
Nellysford, VA 22958
Phone: 434-361-1360

Wintergreen Christian Church

Address: Rockfish Valley Highway
Nellsysford, VA 22958

Wintergreen Church of Christ

Address: 16892 Patrick Henry Highway
Phone: 434-361-1205

Driving Directions to Loop

Peter — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:42:33 +0000

NELSON SCENIC LOOP CAN BE ACCESSED AT DIFFERENT POINTS ALONG THE LOOP. WE RECOMMEND YOU BEGIN AT SPRUCE CREEK PARK ON RT 151 SOUTH OF NELLYSFORD, VA 22958

From areas east and northeast:
From I-66, take Exit 43a (Gainesville, Rt. 29 South). Follow 29 South to I-64 West (in Charlottesville). Take I-64 West to Exit 107 (Crozet, Rt. 250) Take 250 West to Rt. 151 South, turn left. Follow Rt. 151 South to SPRUCE CREEK PARK 12.7 miles.
From areas south:
Take Rt. 29 North to Rt. 151 North, turn left. Follow Rt. 151 for 22.2 miles to Rt. 627 and SPRUCE CREEK PARK.
From areas west, northwest and southwest:
Take I-81 to I-64 East to Exit 99 (Afton, Rt. 250). Take Rt. 250 East to Rt. 151 South, turn right. Follow Rt. 151 South to Rt. 664, 12.7 miles TO SPRUCE CREEK PARK
From the Blue Ridge Parkway:
At Reid’s Gap exit (between mileposts 13 and 14). east on Rt. 664 TO rt 151, turn left on Rt 151 and proceed 1.5 miles to SPRUCE CREEK PARK. Please note that during the winter the Parkway is not plowed and is frequently closed. We also do not recommend the Parkway when there is fog. Please use an alternate route.