AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - January 2021 - 37

PILOT BRIEFING
DESTINATIONS |

Small town charm
Visit Harrisonburg, Virginia, and its family-friendly ski resorts
B Y J U L I E S U M M E R S WA L K E R

DISCLAIMER: I went to college in Harrisonburg,
Virginia-James Madison University, home of
The Dukes! Graduates of this little/big school
bleed purple and gold, the school colors. To
say JMU fans are fanatic is an understatement. One of the reasons is because this big
campus (721 acres) lives like a small school.
Established in 1908 as a women's teaching
college, it was simply Madison College until
1977 when major endowments sent this liberal arts college into university status, adding
massive sports facilities, arts centers, and so
much more. The bluestone campus buildings
(constructed of area bluestone) are the original
campus and main quad inside the city proper
of Harrisonburg. The continuing expansion
has taken the university across I-81 with residence halls, rec centers, alumni buildings, and
more athletic fields. Students traverse under
I-81 through tunnels and side roads. The big
football stadium with its iconic purple and gold
colors and Duke the Bulldog logo are emblematic on I-81 that you have arrived.
One of the reasons JMU became so popular-aside from good academics, great
sports programs, relatively low tuition, a
major art and theater program, and more-is
the beauty of the campus and its surrounding area. Flanked on one side by the George
Washington National Forest, Shenandoah
National Park, and an entryway to the famed
Skyline Drive, Harrisonburg is naturally

beautiful most any time of the year. Fall brings
the changing colors of the trees-vibrant reds,
yellows, and oranges.
Skyline Drive is a 105-mile scenic drive
within Shenandoah National Park with amazing views and incredible hiking and biking
trails. The entrance to Skyline Drive is at Swift
Run Gap off Rt. 33 from Harrisonburg. Rt. 33
also takes you into the George Washington
National Forest, its winding mountain road
not for the faint of heart.
Two resorts worth visiting in the area
are Massanutten and Bryce Mountain. You'll
find golfing and lake swimming in the spring
and summer, fishing and hiking in the fall,
and family friendly ski areas in the winter (I
taught my sons to ski at Massanutten, which
some ski snobs refer to as a " mass of nothin "
because it's so small-14 trails-and its longest run is 0.75 miles with a 1,100-foot vertical
drop). Snowfall is the biggest challenge; as little as 10 inches some seasons, although there
is snowmaking. One early winter we golfed in
the morning, skied in the afternoon, and went
to the indoor water park (with a full-service
bar) in the evening.
Bryce also has family friendly skiing, tubing, and other fun winter activities and its small
runway is 200 yards from the resort activities
such as golf, skiing, zip lining, and more.

GETTING THERE
Three general aviation
airports best serve the
GA traveler here. They
are Bridgewater Air Park
Airport (VBW) seven miles
south, New Market Airport
(8W2) 17 miles north, and
Staunton's Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD)
25 miles south.
Bryce Mountain Resort
has its own airport. Sky
Bryce Airport (VG18) has
a 2,240-foot runway at an
elevation of 1,263 feet. It
is daylight operations and
VFR only and there is no
fuel service (800-821-1444).

WHY YOU SHOULD GO
Harrisonburg is a quintessential small Virginia town in
the Shenandoah Valley region. The city was named a
Great American Main Street
in 2014, and Southern Living
calls it one of its " Affordable
small towns we love. "

EMAIL julie.walker@aopa.org

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AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - January 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - January 2021