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Experience Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and enjoy national parks atop the fabled Blue Ridge Mountains, walk Civil War battlefields and Revolutionary War sites, tour caverns and gardens, ski and golf at year-round resorts.

Discover museums, historic homes and colleges.

Stay in bed-and-breakfasts, inns, hotels and motels, campgrounds and cabins.

Dine and shop in town squares surrounded by buildings dating back to the 1700s.

The Valley stretches 200 miles from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, to Roanoke and Salem, Virginia.

Bordered to the east by the Skyline Drive/Shenandoah National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway and to the west by the Alleghany Mountains, the Valley's thoroughfares are the scenic Interstate 81 and the less hurried US 11 to encompass three regions: Northern, Central and Southern.

The Shenandoah Valley, known as the "Daughter of the Stars," is a diverse and unique region awaiting your exploration.

The Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park lies astride a beautiful section of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which form the eastern rampart of the Appalachian Mountains between Pennsylvania and Georgia.

The Shenandoah River flows through the valley to the west, with Massanutten Mountain, 40 miles long, standing between the river's north and south forks. The rolling Piedmont country lies to the east of the park.

Skyline Drive, a 105-mile road that winds along the crest of the mountains through the length of the park, provides vistas of the spectacular landscape to east and west.

The park holds more than 500 miles of trails, including 101 miles of the Appalachian Trail.

Trails may follow a ridge crest, or they may lead to high places with panoramic views or to waterfalls in deep canyons. Many animals, including deer, black bears, and wild turkeys, flourish among the rich growth of an oak-hickory forest.

In season, bushes and wildflowers bloom along the Drive and trails and fill the open spaces. Apple trees, stone foundations, and cemeteries are reminders of the families who once called this place home.

Shenandoah History and Culture

The oldest rocks in the Blue Ridge Mountains were created over a billion years ago as magma deep within the earth's crust moved upward.

Over eons it cooled, fractured, and was joined by younger metamorphic rocks formed from sedimentary deposits.

All were altered and eroded to shape today's granite peaks and sylvan hollows.

Around 10,000 years ago, but seconds in geologic time, the first traces of humans were recorded on the land that would become the park.

Native Americans seasonally visited the area to hunt, to gather nuts and berries, and to find sources for and to make their stone tools.

Europeans first experienced the beauty of these mountains less than 300 years ago.

First came hunters and trappers, and soon after 1750 the first settlers moved into the lower hollows near springs and streams.

In the early 20th century the first calls for National parks in the east were heard in the United States Congress.

It would be two decades before Shenandoah National Park was authorized and another ten years before it was established.

During that time President and Lou Henry Hoover established their Summer White House on the Rapidan River, the construction of Skyline Drive began, the Civilian Conservation Corps was established and moved into the park area, and over 450 families of mountain residents were relocated from the Blue Ridge.

With the establishment of the park in December 1935, the CCC began to build visitor facilities throughout the mountain, areas that were initially racially segregated.

The core of the park's development was completed by the beginning of WWII and, to a great extent, the mountains were released to nature.

Shenandoah Valley History

The location and geography of the Shenan-doah Valley gave it significant military importance during the Civil War. Its southwest to northeast direction provided for the Confederacy an ideal "Avenue of Invasion."

Southern armies marching northeast in the Valley drew closer to the Federal capital at Washington, D.C., while their Union counterparts, advancing southwest, marched away from the Confederate capital in Richmond.

Little wonder that Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson said: "I have only to say this -that if this Valley is lost, Virginia is lost."

The Valley is bordered on the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains and on the west by the Alleghenies.

 Between Harrisonburg and Strasburg, the Massanutten Mountain divides the countryside into two narrow valleys.

At the time of the Civil War, the Valley also boasted one of the longest all-weather roads in North America - The Valley Turnpike.

With a macadam surface constructed in the 1840s, this wide, graded roadway also proved essential for the rapid movement of large armies.

Early in the war, Jackson used the Valley to threaten Washington and the operations of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

A special Federal force, commanded by Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, was dispatched to secure the area.

Judiciously taking advantage of the natural terrain features of the Valley, Jackson executed his famous Valley Campaign of 1862, defeating Banks.

The Valley figured heavily in both major Confederate invasions of the North.

Both invasions ended in failure: the first in September 1862 along Antietam Creek near the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland; the second in early July 1863 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Following each of those two defeats, the Valley afforded Gen. Robert E. Lee's bloodied Confederates both a route of unimpeded withdrawal and an area to rest and recuperate.

By 1864, the Federal high command realized that control of the Valley was imperative.

Gen. Franz Sigel, who was first given that assignment, met with miserable defeat at New Market, May 15, 1864, and was replaced by Gen. David Hunter.

Hunter experienced greater success until he came up against Jackson's old corps, now commanded by Gen. Jubal A. Early, at Lynchburg.

Using the Valley as his "Avenue of Invasion," Early followed up his success by marching north into Maryland and eventually to the gates of the Federal capital.

Finally, Federal Gen. Ulysses S. Grant insisted that Gen. Philip H. Sheridan be given command of a force large enough to defeat Early and destroy the Valley's ability to feed Lee's army besieged at Petersburg.

Following a series of fierce battles, the Federal commander could finally boast that his objectives had been achieved.

Once the Valley was secured, Washington D.C. was no longer seriously threatened, and the Union armies could be concentrated for the final push against Lee's Petersburg defenders.

1862 Jackson's Valley Campaign

During the spring of 1862, Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson conducted one of the most brilliant military campaigns in our nation's history - a campaign of deception, rapid movement and assault against a disjointed enemy.

Jackson's Valley Campaign was intensely studied by American and European officers during the dark days prior to World War II.

The 1862 Valley Campaign unofficially began with the evacuation of Winchester, March 11,1862.

Two weeks later Jackson's small force - about 3,500 men - returned to fight the battle of Kernstown, just south of the city.

After Kernstown, Jackson's army withdrew south, up the Valley, to Rude's Hill, then later to Conrad's Store (today's Elkton) just west of Swift Run Gap.

Here, Jackson strengthened his army by reorganizing, drilling and persuading Richmond to send additional troops.

He increased the size of his fighting force to more than 17,000 men and downsized his wagon train to increase the army's mobility.

Jackson first moved to secure his western flank by driving the Federals, camped near Staunton, across the Alleghenies.

At the Battle of McDowell, May 8, Confederate troops defeated the commands of Gens. Robert Milroy and Robert Schenck.

Jackson then turned his attention to Gen. Nathaniel Banks' command fortified at Strasburg. At New Market, he turned east to cross the Massanutten Mountain.

He then marched north, down the Page Valley, to Front Royal.

There, on May 23, the Confederates overwhelmed a small Federal garrison of 1,000 men, rendering Banks' position untenable.

During the night, Banks ordered an evacuation north to Winchester. On the morning of May 25, Banks made a stand on the hills south of Winchester.

After a stubborn fight, Jackson drove the Federals off with a flank attack.

The Federal position crumbled and the Confederates were free to advance all the way to the Potomac.

The lower Valley remained in Confederate hands for almost a week.

Before the end of May, Jackson learned two Federal armies were moving toward him.

Gen. John C. Fremont's army was moving from the west and Gen. James Shields' division was coming from the east.

Both were headed for Strasburg in an attempt to cut Jackson off.

With a 42-mile forced march May 31 and June 1, Jackson's army escaped the closing trap.

Both Shields' and Fremont's forces pursued Jackson: Shields in the Page Valley, Fremont in the main Valley.

Jackson sent part of his cavalry to White House in the Page Valley to burn the Shenandoah River Bridge and delay the Federals.

Fremont continued his pursuit on the Valley Pike.

During a skirmish near Harrisonburg, Jackson's famous cavalry commander, Turner Ashby, was killed.

Two days later, on June 8, Jackson defeated Fremont at the Battle of Cross Keys.

The next day, Jackson defeated Shields at the Battle of Port Republic.

After the fighting, Jackson's men got a much-needed rest until departing for Richmond on June 18.

Jackson's men had earned the nickname, "The Foot Cavalry" for their rapid marches.

In 48 marching days, they covered 679 miles.

They fought five battles, numerous skirmishes and defeated three separate Federal armies. Jackson had done his job.

His Valley Campaign had drawn 60,000 Federal soldiers away from McClellan's Peninsula Campaign at Richmond.

The Road To Gettysburg

During the late spring of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee again decided to carry the war into the North.

To accomplish this, his Army of Northern Virginia had to first rid the Valley of Federal troops to maintain his lines of supply, communication and withdrawal.

Gen. Robert Milroy's Federal force (about 9,600 men) was stationed in the Winchester area to protect the vital transportation and communication lines to the north and secure the area from Confederate threat.

On June 12,1863, Lee's Second Corps, led by Gen. Richard S. Ewell, entered the Valley at Chester Gap southeast of Front Royal.

Unaware that thousands of Confederates were headed his way, Milroy had decided to hold Winchester.

On June 13, Swell's men pushed the Federals back into the Winchester defenses.

The following day, in a bold assault, Ewell's men captured a key fort on the western edge of town, forcing Milroy to abandon the city.

Anticipating this move, Ewell sent Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson to intercept Milroy's retreat at Stephenson's Depot.

Half the Federal force was captured during the fighting there.

Ewell's troops also captured 23 pieces of artillery, many of which Lee took with him to Gettysburg.

From childhood, Jedediah Hotchkiss had been a keen observer of his surroundings, recording his discoveries in great detail.

In his first assignment for the Valley Confederate army as a teamster, Hotchkiss occupied long hours on the wagons by taking meticulous notes, recording elevations, mileage, road conditions and other observations.

A meeting with Confederate Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson in March 1862 was a significant turning point for military affairs in the Valley.

Following a brief discussion, Jackson abruptly came to the point: "I want you to make me a map of the Valley, from Harpers Ferry to Lexington, showing all the points of offense and defense in those places.

Mr. Pendleton will give you orders for whatever outfit you want.

Good morning, Sir."

With this directive, Hotchkiss embarked on the monumental task of mapping a valley that is 140 miles long and from 12 to 24 miles wide.

Although his nine-foot Valley map was not completed until after Jackson's death, Hotchkiss continued to prove his worth as a 2nd Corps staff member and topographical engineer until the close of the war.

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