Location: 22 miles west of Staunton
Size: 19, 290 acres, 6,519-acre Wilderness area
Administration: USDAFS George Washington National Forest, Deerfield Ranger District
Elevation: 2,200 to 4, 282 feet
System trails: 37 miles
History:
The area was purchased by the federal government in 1913 and has been managed as Wilderness since 1935, the year the Wilderness Society was launched. The lower portion of the area had been used as a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in the 1930s, and the CCC was responsible for creating many of the trails that are used today. During the Civil War, Stonewall Jackson's army camped near Mountain House Picnic Area, prior to the battle at McDowell. Mountain House was a tollbooth and a favorite rest stop for travelers along the Parkersburg-Staunton turnpike before the Civil War. Confederate soldiers constructed the breastworks at the crest of Shenandoah Mountain as a stronghold to keep Union forces out of the valley and the turnpike open.
Size: 19, 290 acres, 6,519-acre Wilderness area
Administration: USDAFS George Washington National Forest, Deerfield Ranger District
Elevation: 2,200 to 4, 282 feet
System trails: 37 miles
History:
The area was purchased by the federal government in 1913 and has been managed as Wilderness since 1935, the year the Wilderness Society was launched. The lower portion of the area had been used as a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in the 1930s, and the CCC was responsible for creating many of the trails that are used today. During the Civil War, Stonewall Jackson's army camped near Mountain House Picnic Area, prior to the battle at McDowell. Mountain House was a tollbooth and a favorite rest stop for travelers along the Parkersburg-Staunton turnpike before the Civil War. Confederate soldiers constructed the breastworks at the crest of Shenandoah Mountain as a stronghold to keep Union forces out of the valley and the turnpike open.
