Virginia's Explore Park—Step Back in Time!

Late Summer 2007

One of the things you must do while you're in the Roanoke Valley is drive up Mill Mountain to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Just a stone's throw north, at Milepost 115, is Virginia's Explore Park.

This 1,100-acre preserve (open Wednesday–Sunday, April to mid-November) offers outdoor adventure and a heaping helping of history—with wonderful interpretive exhibits, showcasing the daily life of the Roanoke Valley's 16th-19th century inhabitants.

Begin at the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center, and explore the new, permanent exhibit chronicling the development of the Blue Ridge Parkway, from initial planning stages to today; the settlement of the region; and the Roanoke Valley today.

If your interest is outdoor recreation, Virginia's Explore Park offers mountain biking and hiking trails, great fishing, and two put-in points for canoeing and kayaking.

The recreation is great, but that's just the beginning at Virginia's Explore Park—the history shines! The interpretive exhibits here offer a unique sampling of early western Virginia eras and cultures.

A Totero Indian Village represents the life of Native Americans here in the 17th century, with poplar tree bark houses, working gardens, and authentically-costumed interpreters.

A Frontier Fort is next in the progression of time. See a fortified homestead, common to the western frontier in the 18th century, with a log house, two log cabins, and a stockade.

The 19th century is represented by a farmstead, barns, a one-room school house, and a grist mill. There's also a Batteauman's Shanty, highlighting 19th century life along the river. Stop in to see the miller and the blacksmith, and learn about their life's work, while you're in the 19th century!

You'll certainly want to eat while you're here, so head over to the historic Brugh Tavern for lunch, served 11-3, Wednesday–Sunday, through October.

If you're fortunate enough to be here on a Sunday, take advantage of the Jamestown-themed Sunday afternoon programs, 12-5 each week.

Don't miss Virginia's Explore Park this summer!

Article text ©2007, Shenandoah Specialty Publishing, LLC.
May be printed for personal use only.

Staunton's Frontier Culture Museum—
History Comes to Life

Early Summer 2007

Before you leave Staunton, visit the Frontier Culture Museum, just west of the city on US 250, with summer programs on farming, food preservation, and the rural arts.

The Museum is a living history center, depicting the roots and melding of cultures of the Shenandoah Valley's early European settlers, through the activities of working farm life. An Early American farmstead is joined by authentic German, Scotch-Irish, and English farms—which were brought here brick by brick, and stone by stone, from their countries of origin, and reconstructed in perfect detail. The farms are worked by authentically-costumed interpreters, who truly bring the past to life.

The museum is open year ’round, seven days a week. Over the next few years, the museum will add an 1850s hamlet, a West African farm, an American Indian village, and a gallery representing the ocean voyage from the Old World to the New.

Article text ©2007, Shenandoah Specialty Publishing, LLC.
May be printed for personal use only.

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