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Grayson Highlands State Park

General Information: Grayson Highlands State Park is located next to Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in Jefferson National Forest. It was originally named Mount Rogers State Park, and was established in 1965. Pets are allowed but not inside public facilities including bathhouses, the visitor centers and office. The park is located on U.S. 58 midway between Independence and Damascus, Virginia.

History: There are specific programs dedicated to informing visitors about the history of Grayson Highlands State Park. There are guided hikes during the day and evenings. Events include amphitheater programs-storytelling, bluegrass and old time music; cultural displays- basket weaving, clogging, spinning; flora and fauna courses; Adventure Ranger Program, and the Junior Ranger Program. Specifically, the Junior Ranger Program displays the park’s historical, geological, natural, and cultural resources. The Adventure Ranger Program is directed towards environmental education regarding canoeing, orienteering, backpacking, and hiking. Both of these programs are geared towards young children and require admission.

Activities, Recreation, Events, Programs, Attractions: Grayson Highlands State Park has a multitude of activities and attractions available for visitors. This park offers both saltwater and trout-water fishing, which is permitted in designated areas with a valid Virginia fishing license, seasonal hunting of deer and turkey, and over 73 different locations for camping, with a maximum of 6 people per campsite. Visitors also have access to nearly 10 miles of streams available for canoeing and boating with optional guided tours offered. There are 9 different hiking trails of easy to moderate level of difficulty, none more than 2 miles in length along with 4 different mountain biking trails and 2 miles of horseback riding trails. Grayson Highlands State Park is the only park in Virginia to offer stabling for those visitors who wish to bring their own horses. The stable is open from March through November and offers 67 stalls, 38 of them covered, and 24 campsites for horseback riders only. All trials close at sundown but are open daily year round. Additional festivals throughout the year include the Wayne Henderson Festival, the Whitetop Mountain Maple Festival, the Naturalists’ Rally, and the Whitetop Mountain Ramp Festival.

Environmental Aspects: Grayson Highlands State Park is about 4,822 acres and has an elevation at 5,729’ (Mount Rogers’ peak) in Blue Ridge Highlands. It has rounded peaks, not pointed/sharp, due to extreme weathering and is composed of rhyolite, a volcanic rock almost as hard as granite. Extreme changes in elevation (3,698-5,089) cause the predominant forests in this park to go from northern hardwood to spruce and fir. The park includes waterfalls, spruce-fir forests, igneous rock outcroppings, native trout streams, rugged mountains, high alpine meadows with fantastic views of the valleys below. Massive chestnut blight killing all chestnut trees in early 1900’s, remaining 120’ tall and 10’ diameter trees were logged for valuable decay-resistant wood. It took only 12 years for loggers to eliminate the highest elevations of virgin red spruce, hemlock, and Fraser Fir.-l acre of the giant red spruce could produce 100,000 broad feet of lumber-enough for 30 average sized homes. The park could support another tall evergreen forest, however, strong winds, severe climate, and loss of soil due to logging makes for a slow recovery. Common flora and fauna found in the park include the Pink Lady Slipper, Native lily-of-the-Valley, the Jack-Umbrella plant, Painted Trillium, Umbrella plant, Rhododendron, Common Foxglove, and the Birdfoot violet. Common wildlife includes wild ponies, garter snakes, trout, wood thrush, ovenbird and black-and-white warbler, black-throated blue, black-throated green, Canada, and chestnut-sided warblers, as well as scarlet tanager and rose-breasted grosbeaks, black bears, bobcats, red foxes, ruffed grouse, deer, and wild turkey and salamanders (Weller's), and fox squirrels. Grayson Highlands State Park also offers a number of different environmental education programs to different ages of school and general visitor groups.

References

"Grayson Highlands State Park." Virginia State Parks. Department of Conservation and Recreation, 16 Oct. 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2009.

Hart, Allen De. The Trails of Virginia; Hiking the Old Dominion. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1995. Print.

Winegar, Deane. Highroad Guide to the Virginia Mountains. Marietta: Longstreet Press, Inc., 1998. Print.

http://blog.virginiaparks.org/blog/dcr-virginia/0/0/a-fall-visit-to-grayson-highlands-state-park http://blog.virginiaparks.org/blog/dcr-virginia/0/0/a-fall-visit-to-grayson-highlands-state-park