Great little secrets
May 8th, 2008
When you live in a county as beautiful as Shenandoah, there is no shortage of beautiful scenery or secret spots to visit.
Shenandoah is a large, long county that is bordered on the west by Great North Mountain and on the east by the Massanutten mountains. In between is our part of the fertile Shenandoah Valley - once known as the breadbasket of the Confederacy.
Take Route 600 over the mountain and you almost feel like you have entered another world. The community of Zepp has a beautiful stillness that our city friends can only imagine. When the sun goes down in Zepp, it is country dark. Cedar Creek dazzles the eye and the lush forest pristine and lovely.
Slip over the ridge on the other side of the county and you land in Fort Valley, so named because of the fortress-like nature of the mountainous community. “The Fort,” as everyone calls it around here, is 23 miles long and three miles wide at its widest point.
Like Zepp, the Fort is quite isolated and has that same sort of other-worldly feel to it. It is largely agricultural, so scenic beauty includes rolling fields, cattle, horses and the seasonal checkerboard of hay bales.
Camp Roosevelt, which was the nation’s first Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp, is commemorated in the George Washington National Forest in Fort Valley. The GW Forest covers much of Fort Valley and the Elizabeth Furnace recreational area is close to the CCC camp area.
Many years ago, when I first came to the Shenandoah Valley as a young reporter, I attended one of the anniversary celebrations of Camp Roosevelt. What great stories from the men who had been in their teens and 20s during the Great Depression. They went to work in the CCC often because their families could not afford to keep them at home. They lived in the camps and sent any money they made to their families.
One of my very favorite “secret” spots in Shenandoah County is actually in the center of the county in a little hamlet called Jerome. St. Paul Lutheran Church sits on a small hill surrounded by mountains.
I found this spot when I was out exploring the county one afternoon. I liked to pick a road and follow it just to see what I would find. It helped me learn a lot about the county.
I was charmed by the bright white little church on the hill with the old cemetery on the hillside. But the real treat came when drove up to the church and looked at the view from the church yard. Gentle mountains fold their arms around this church on one side and cattle grazed in a piedmont pasture behind the church. It was a discovery I have never forgotten. When people come to visit me, it is one of my favorite spots to share.
I’ll share some other “secret” spots with you in the future.