Friday, October 12, 2007

Autumn in the Shenandoah Valley: Mountain House picnic area

Along Rt. 250 west of Staunton and at the foot of Shenandoah Mountain is "Mountain House," a picnic area that leads into hiking trails in the Ramsey Draft area of George Washington National Forest. Mountain House used to be a mountain inn before it burned down years ago. The apple trees are still abundant in the area and today I saw some juicy red apples at the very top of one of the trees. I'm surprised they survived the late spring frost we had that killed most all fruit blossoms in this area of the Shenandoah Valley.

Apple trees left from the days of the Mountain House Inn.
This is a great picnic area and has a mountain stream that flows through it that is normally a great place for kids to climb on rocks or hunt for tadpoles ... but the stream was dried up when I was there today.
Traveling to Snowshoe Ski Resort years ago with friends, we stopped here on our way and checked out the picnic area in mid-winter. It's a great rest stop any time of the year.
Up the road a ways is the top of Shenandoah Mountain and the Confederate Breastworks ... and a million dollar view into West Virginia.
Photos by SWAC Girl
October 12, 2007

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