Grayson County National Protected Areas
Grayson County National Protected
Areas
Blue Ridge Parkway
Source: Wikipedia
The Blue Ridge Parkway is noted for its scenic beauty. The
parkway, which is America's longest linear park, runs for 469
miles through 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties, linking
the Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park.
It runs mostly along the spine of the Blue Ridge, a major
mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains. Its
southern terminus is on the boundary between Great Smoky
Mountains National Park and the Cherokee Indian Reservation in
North Carolina, from which it travels north to Shenandoah
National Park in Virginia continues on as Skyline Drive, a
similar scenic road which is managed by a different National
Park Service unit.
The parkway has been the most visited unit of the National Park
System every year since 1946 except two (1949, 2013). Land on
either side of the road is owned and maintained by the National
Park Service and, in many places, parkway land is bordered by
United States Forest Service property. The parkway is on North
Carolina's version of the America the Beautiful quarter in 2015.
Jefferson National Forest
Source: Forest
Service
"We killed in the journey 13 buffaloes, 8 elks, 53 bears, 20
deers, 4 wild geese, about 150 turkeys, besides small game."
This quote from the journals of Dr. Thomas Walker, leader of a
1750 surveying party through Southwestern Virginia, gives a hint
of the tremendous natural wealth awaiting the first settlers to
this part of Virginia. Today, while the buffalo and elk are long
gone, the 703,000 acre Jefferson National Forest once again
provides plentiful deer, turkey, and bear, as well as a wide
variety of other natural resources.
In the 184 years between Dr. Walker's survey and the creation of
the Jefferson National Forest in 1936, much wealth was extracted
from these lands. However, in the process, the old growth
Appalachian Forests of Virginia were almost completely cut out,
and wild game populations were decimated. Repeated wildfires
swept the area and the clearing of steep mountain land for
farming and grazing led to severe erosion and increased
flooding.
Widespread, indiscriminate logging also added its toll. As a
result, by the early 1900s, much of the higher elevation
mountains and ridges in southwestern Virginia had been
transformed into the lands nobody wanted. (The Lands Nobody
Wanted, Conservation Foundation Report, 1977)
It is said that today's tourists come to Virginia because of its
scenery and its history. It is also said that one in six
manufacturing jobs in Virginia are dependent upon forest
products. It is hoped that the Jefferson National Forest, named
after the "Sage of Monticello", can continue to build on its
historical traditions.
Today, the Forest Service still sees its mission as "providing
the greatest good to the greatest number in the long run," and
is committed to principles of conservation, land stewardship,
and democracy in government that Thomas Jefferson so effectively
espoused over 200 years ago.
Mount Rogers National Recreation Area
Source: Forest
Service
Located in southwest Virginia, the Mount Rogers National
Recreation Area (NRA) manages approximately 200,000 acres of
National Forest land near Mount Rogers.
The area features four Congressionally designated wilderness
areas;
the Virginia Creeper Trail;
the Mount Rogers Scenic Byway which traverses over 50 miles
offering views of the National Recreation Area and open rural
countryside;
the 5000 acre Crest Zone featuring elevations over 4,000 feet,
large rock formations, and a mixture of mountain balds and
spruce-fir forests; a herd of wild, free-ranging ponies;
and the highest elevated road in the state of Virginia leading
to the summit of Whitetop Mountain.
Many activities are available in the area including camping,
picnicking, sight-seeing, bird watching, trout fishing, hunting,
hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, and
swimming. The U.S. Forest Service has 3 rental cabins and
11 campgrounds in the Mount Rogers NRA, four of which are set up
for horseback riders.
There are over 500 miles of trails in the area, including 60
miles of the Appalachian Trail, 18 miles of the Virginia Creeper
Trail, and 67 miles of the Virginia Highland Horse Trail.
Over one million visitors come to Mount Rogers every year.
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This page last updated July 16, 2017.