
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 4, 1995                   TAG: 9501040098
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CISMONT                                LENGTH: Medium

BYWAY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA AMONG MOST SCENIC IN U.S.

A 49-mile stretch of Virginia 231 winding through the rolling countryside and bisecting tiny towns such as Uno and Gordonsville has been listed among America's 10 most scenic byways.

``When you drive down 231, you see what makes Virginia Virginia, and not Ohio or Indiana,'' said Frank Vespe, a spokesman for Scenic America, a Washington-based nonprofit group that includes the highway on its 1995 Ten Most Outstanding Scenic Byways list.

Vespe said the stretch of Virginia 231 between Cismont in Albemarle County and Sperryville in Rappahannock County ``is outstanding because it puts you in touch with what's scenic about the region.''

There are no stoplights on Virginia 231, which twists past small farms and country estates. A driver will see clapboard churches, silos and grazing cattle. Many of the farms look almost forgotten, with fallow fields and rusting farm equipment.

Perhaps the most scenic stretch is between Madison and Sperryville, where the Blue Ridge Mountains are clearly visible to the west.

Vespe said the scenic designation is bestowed to focus attention on a resource which often is overlooked.

``We're trying to educate people all over the country about scenic roads ... to help them look around at scenic roads that are threatened, that aren't going to stay scenic,'' Vespe said.

He said Virginia 231 was chosen also because local residents worked to keep the road in the state's Virginia Byways program. Scenic designation under that program prohibits billboards.

``The community understood the value of having a scenic byway designation,'' said Vespe, whose group was started 12 years ago to reform federal billboard laws.

The other nine top scenic byways in the country, according to Scenic America, are: Seward Highway in Alaska, Scenic 7 Byway in Arkansas, Coronado Trail Scenic Road in Arizona, San Marcos Highway in California, Gold Belt Tour Back Country Byway in Colorado, Venetian Causeway in Florida, Old Frankfort Pike in Kentucky, Jacob's Ladder Trail in Massachusetts and Route 73 in New York.

by CNB