Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 4, 1995 TAG: 9506060004
SECTION: TRAVEL PAGE: D-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH COX SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
I have never been to a more magnificent place in Virginia. It borders West Virginia and is directly north of Bath County. It's the source of six strong rivers - the Jackson, Bullpasture, Cowpasture and Calfpasture rivers form the James River here, and the south branch of the Potomac River starts north of the county seat of Monterey. It has the highest mean elevation of any county east of the Mississippi River, includes portions of the George Washington and Jefferson National forests, and is buttressed by the Allegheny Mountains to the west and the Shenandoahs to the east.
On this particular weekend, spring turkey hunters were going into their second week of the season. Fly fishermen quietly, solitarily, worked the currents. Clouds and a spring wind tumbled down the valley, darkening the pastures and changing the river light. Our family stopped to picnic next to the Jackson River on U.S. 220 north, and pulled into Monterey and its 1904 Highland Inn (703/468-2143) about 2 p.m on a Friday.
In addition to this inn, Monterey offers a number of bed and breakfasts as well as a motel. Just outside town is the Ginseng Mountain Farm & Store, (703/474-5137), with a small rental apartment. The Chamber of Commerce (703/468-2550) will mail current information.
The essence of Monterey (elevation 3,000 feet) is its courthouse, three restaurants, Chamber of Commerce and a few lovely local shops filled with crafts, some antiques and country items, all found within three blocks of the inn. Its essence is also being awakened by crying lambs in the meadow behind the inn. It's the farmer who kindly explains that his lambs are skittish that morning and my children won't be able to get near them.
It's the annual March Highland Maple Festival, replete with pancake dinners and homemade syrup, in its 37th year. It's the Sugar Tour during the festival, which takes visitors from sugar orchards to a sugar house to a sugar camp.
It's also Jack Mountain in late afternoon.
Friday about 4 p.m., feeling cooped up from the drive and the small inn rooms, we drove east on U.S. 250 up Jack Mountain (elevation 4,378 feet), took a right onto a logging road, scared a turkey, and parked a few minutes later to hike up, and up, and up, the weather vacillating between a bad mood and a sunny disposition. Even on Jack Mountain we found meadows. The road turned into a country lane, the wind grew insistent, a grouse ran scared, the mountain's spirit picked up speed. We were on top of the world and I, for one, didn't want to come down.
The next day we did the driving tour once again, forging north on U.S. 220 toward Franklin, W.Va.. On our way, we passed the headquarters of the Virginia Trout Company, as well as the turn off to Blue Grass and beyond, a route which skirts Back Creek and the lazy countryside of a past century. By 11 a.m. we had reached Franklin, but decided to pass on nearby Seneca Rocks, a 1,000-foot vertical rock which offers some of the most challenging climbing in the East. If you aren't interested in driving tours, antique and collectible stores throughout Highland County offer a fun alternative.
Returning to Virginia, we paused at McDowell Presbyterian Church, which was used as a hospital by both armies during the Civil War. On May 8, 1862, 17,000 men met in what was one of the most deadly confrontations in Highland County's history. Prior to that, Confederates had walked from Staunton to the Bullpasture River, chasing a group of Yankees. The roads were muddy, rough and bordered by mountains - terrain that was treacherous at times. Even now the countryside gives an indication of what those armies endured.
On a less glorious pursuit, we, too, proceeded to the river, south from McDowell on Virginia 678. This drive is part of an 11.5-mile scenic route along the Bullpasture Gorge, which boasts fishing, camping, picnicking and, finally, the children's weekend goal: a swinging bridge over the river.
The sun was getting high as we walked along the river, spotting hunting cabins and fly fishermen. When we ran out of trail and bushwhacking became too difficult, my daughter suggested we head back for a "foot soak" on the banks of the Bullpasture. We crossed back over the giddy bridge, and settled onto a large, flat rock at the edge of the deep and quick river. Rapids picked up energy at the river bend, just where we were nestled. Wild red columbine clung to rock crevices, and we overheard campers talking about an underground cave nearby.
That evening, we drove south into Warm Springs and ate dinner at the wonderful Inn at Grist Mill Square, where my sundried tomato and grilled chicken pasta was perfect, my wine soothing, my coffee comforting. After dinner, we pulled into the Three Hills Inn on the outskirts of Warm Springs just as the sun made its descent into the cauldron of Warm Springs Gap and the Alleghenies beyond.
This inn belongs in a Victorian novel, grand and ghostly. Prices, view and accommodations, which include cottages, suites and gourmet breakfasts, seemed enough of a lure for next time, and it's only about a 40-minute drive from Monterey. For current prices, call 703/839-5381.
You can walk through national forests, meander through antique stores, sway across swinging bridges, hunt turkey, grouse, and deer, fish, photograph, or simply drive. You realize Virginia isn't all the same. In a small northwest corner there's a county not quite tamed.
by CNB