Life Outside Summer 2018 - 9

FROM THE EDITOR

PAT AND CHUCK BLACKLEY

AN UNCHANGING VIEW
The old lodging bulding, the view to the north, the deer-they've been there "forever."

THE BEST OF

'30s HOSPITALITY
Shenandoah National Park's
Skyland Resort-and its
sister destination
at Big Meadows-combines
great outdoor play with
tastes of other eras.

HING OF IT IS, your hikes are right

outside your door. Dinner is a nice walk
down the way or up the hill. Horseback
riding and rock climbing right over there.
And it's all in a kind of retro context, with a
few of the buildings dating to the late 1800s,
when George Freeman Pollock sought to
develop the 3,600-foot elevation ridgeline,
first as a mining area for copper and then as

lots to be sold to affluent vacationers from the
D.C. area and other metros.
Much as happened with the Virginia forests
that have become public lands-after the oldgrowth trees were harvested-when Pollock's
efforts stalled after the building of about 50
cabins and the dining hall, and then fell into
deep debt, the development began its march
toward becoming a public treasure with the
coming of Shenandoah National Park.
It's in that historic context, along with
the Appalachian Trail just out the back door,
the Stony Man view for sunrise or sunset a
short walk away, and the White Oak Falls
trailhead that same short stroll away that
Skyland Resort makes for a fine go-outsideand-play spot.
Our most recent visit, this spring, included
all of those hikes as well as a few others, and
many visits to the dining hall, where the view
is down upon the Shenandoah Valley-broad

and green by day and still fairly delicately
lighted by night.
And while the dinner menu carries echoes
of the early days and the days of the coming
of the Skyline Drive-entrees like New Deal
Turkey, Roosevelt Half Chicken and Rapidan
Camp Trout-the food is anything but rustic,
as Delaware North does a fine job of creating
borderline-gourmet dishes, and providing a
serviceable wine list.
But of course it's going outside that counts.
The loop hikes of nearly any distance are
nearly countless, and the only downside of
the trail along the falls of White Oak Canyon
is that you do your descent first and then
face the nearly 2,800-foot climb back up to
the ridgeline resort.
It's worth it every time, as is the price of a
few nights at a resort that places you in many
Virginia mountain decades all at once.

-KURT RHEINHEIMER

LifeOutsideMag.com // Summer 2018

9
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Life Outside Summer 2018

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