Points of interest

From misty mountains to gentle rivers, the Shenandoah Valley beckons

Shenandoah County

• The Stonewall Jackson Museum at Hupp’s Hill, at 33229 Old Valley Pike in Strasburg, encourages visitors to learn about life in the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War with hands-on experience. The museum can be reached at 540-465-5884.
• The Museum of American Presidents, located next to the Strasburg Emporium, 130 N. Massanutten St., at the corner of U.S. 11 and Va. 55 in Strasburg, features memorabilia from the time of George Washington up through the present. For more information about the museum, call 540-465-5999.
• Visitors to the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park may walk the battlefield, visit the Hall of Valor Museum and view the Bushong House. The park center may be reached at 540-740-3101.
• The New Market Battlefield Military Museum, next to the New Market Battlefield Historical Park, holds more than 3,000 military items that chronicle the American soldier from the Revolutionary War to the present. The museum can be reached at 540-740-8065.
  
• Another Civil War battle site has been preserved in Fishers Hill, south of Strasburg. The Strasburg Guard, Sons of Confederate Veterans, developed an interpretative trail at the 195-acre site of the 1864 battle.
  
• The Strasburg Museum, at 440 E. King St. in Strasburg, is in a former train station built in 1891. The museum can be reached at 540-465-3175.
  
• Endless Caverns, so called because the end has reportedly never been found, features Virginia’s longest walking cavern tour of one hour and 15 minutes. The caverns, on Va. 793 off U.S. 11 in New Market, can be reached at 540-740-3993.
  
• Shenandoah Caverns, off Interstate 81 at exit 269, four miles north of New Market, features a one-hour, one-mile tour of its crystal formations. Another feature at the caverns is the American Celebration on Parade, which has a collection of parade floats, props and stage settings from American entertainment and political history, including floats that have been in the Rose Parade and in presidential inaugurations. Shenandoah Caverns, which opened in 1922, can be reached at 540-477-3115. American Celebration on Parade can be reached by calling 540-477-4300. For more information on either attraction, visit the Web at www.shenandoahcaverns.com.
  
• Crystal Caverns at Hupp’s Hill, on U.S. 11 in Strasburg, can be reached at 540-465-8660.
  
• Shenandoah Vineyards and Winery, at 3659 S. Ox Road in Edinburg, is the oldest vineyard in the Shenandoah Valley. It opened in 1976. The vineyard can be reached at 540-984-8699.
  
• North Mountain Vineyard and Winery, at 4374 Swartz Road in Toms Brook, offers tours and wine tastings. The vineyard is open weekends from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be reached at 540-436-9463.
  
• Camp Roosevelt near Edinburg was the first camp built by President Franklin D. Roosevelt under his Civilian Conservation Camp program during the Depression. It is now used as a campground.
  
• Meems Bottom Bridge, off U.S. 11 on Va. 720 near Mt. Jackson, spans the North Fork of the Shenandoah River and was built around 1893. It is one of only five wooden bridges still left in the state and the only covered bridge left in the county.
  For more information on tourism, call the Economic Development Council office at 540-459-6227, the Shenandoah County Travel Council at 540-459-6220 or the town chamber offices.

Winchester and Frederick County

• The Winchester-Frederick County Convention and Visitors Bureau is located in the renovated Hollingsworth Mill House, which dates from 1754. The center, located at 1360 Pleasant Valley Road in Winchester, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. The telephone number is 540-542-1326.
  
• Abram’s Delight, built in 1754, is the oldest house in Winchester. The native limestone house was built by Isaac Hollingsworth, son of Abraham Hollingsworth who was the first European settler in the area. The telephone number is 540-662-6519.
  
• Belle Grove is an 18th-century grain and livestock farm, which, in its prime (circa 1815), encompassed about 7,500 acres. The unique limestone house was completed in 1797 for Maj. Isaac Hite Jr., grandson of Joist Hite who came to the valley in 1732 and was one of its first permanent settlers. The plantation is located off U.S. 11, one mile south of Middletown at 336 Belle Grove Road. The telephone number is 540-869-2028. The Web site address is www.bellegrove.org
  
• George Washington’s Office Museum served as Washington’s military office from September 1755 until December 1756 when he served as a commissioned officer in the Virginia militia. The telephone number is 540-662-4412.
  
• Glen Burnie, home of Winchester’s founder, Col. James Wood, remained in Wood’s family until Julian Wood Glass Jr. lived there. Glass, a collector of fine antiques and art, furnished the house and left it to the Glass-Glen Burnie Foundation. For more information, call 540-662-1473, or visit the Web at www.glenburniemuseum.org.
  
• Stonewall Jackson’s Headquarters Museum served as Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s office from 1861 to 1862 during the Valley Campaign of the Civil War. The telephone number is 540-667-3242. There is an admission fee.
  
• The Battle of Cedar Creek took place on Oct. 19, 1864. Led by Early, Confederates surprised 37,000 Union troops camped along the banks of Cedar Creek near the Belle Grove Plantation. The battle is re-enacted each fall on the original battlefield.
  
• Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, held the first weekend in May, attracts more than 250,000 people. It began in 1924 as a celebration of spring and the area’s apple industry. More than 20 events including dances, parades, band competitions, a circus, sports breakfast and coronation of Queen Shenandoah are featured.
  
• Patsy Cline, a country music singer, was born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore and grew up in Winchester. Cline attended John Handley High School until she dropped out to work at Gaunt’s Drug Store, which still operates on Valley Avenue. Cline moved to Nashville and became a regular performer on the Grand Ole Opry in 1960 before she died in a plane crash in 1963 at the age of 30. Her grave is at the Shenandoah Memorial Cemetery on U.S. 522 south of Winchester. A bell tower was built at the cemetery in her honor.
  
• Willa Cather, a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, was born in Frederick County in 1873 and her home for the first nine years of her life, Willowshade Farm, is on the north side of U.S. 50, east of Gore, about 10 miles west of Winchester. The house was built prior to 1781. Cather moved to Nebraska when she was 10.

Warren County and Front Royal

• Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive bring more visitors to Warren County than any other attraction. The park and drive extend 105 miles over mountain tops from Afton in the south to Front Royal in the north, and parallel a 95-mile portion of the Appalachian Trail. For information and reservations, call (800) 999-4714, and for information on the park and camping, call 540-999-3500. Admission to the park is $10 per car and $5 for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists. An annual park pass is available for $20. Other passes are also available. For more information, visit the Web at www.nps.gov/shen.
  
• Skyline Caverns, on U.S. 340 near the entrance to Skyline Drive, attracts many visitors each year. Discovered in 1937, it is the site of the world’s only known calcite formations dubbed “anthodites” — six-sided crystals with white spikes that spread out in all directions. For more information, call 540-635-4545 or visit the Web site at www.skylinecaverns.com.
  
• Local heritage is the theme of the Festival of Leaves held each October. The festival, sponsored by the Warren Heritage Society, features historical displays, arts and crafts, a parade and live entertainment along Chester and Main streets. Call 540-636-1446 for information.
  
• The Virginia Wine and Mushroom Festival, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, is held in downtown Front Royal annually on the third weekend in May, and features food displays, crafts, wine tasting and entertainment.
  
• Battle of Front Royal Driving Tour. Allow a few of hours for the tour. Contact the Visitor Center at 414 E. Main Street in Front Royal for information and a guide book. The Visitor Center can be reached by calling 540-635-5788.
  
• Linden Vineyards, eight miles east of Front Royal, is open Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It provides free tours and wine tastings and can be reached at 364-1997.
  
• Oasis Vineyards, 14141 Hume Road, on Va. 635, 10 miles southeast of Front Royal, is open year round from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with tours based on availability, Mondays through Fridays. Wine Enthusiast magazine ranked Oasis as one of the top 10 world producers of champagnes and sparkling wines. The vineyard, which covers 100 acres in Hume, can be reached by calling 540-635-7627.
  
• Rappahannock Cellars, 14437 Hume Road, Huntley, 540-635-9398 Tasting and tours available. Open Monday - Thursday from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. On the Web: www.rappahannockcellars.com
  
• The county offers a number of restaurants, motels and bed and breakfast establishments. For more information, contact the Front Royal Visitors Center, located in a restored train station at 414 E. Main St. The center features a collection of travel brochures and maps of the area, region, state and nation. The center is open seven days a week. The phone number is 540-635-5788 or toll-free at (800) 338-2576.