Arriving at Shenandoah National Park felt like being transporting into an eerie, moody mystery novel. The park was socked in by thick damp fog. The kind that’s more cloud than fog. Leaving all surfaces glistening with a cold wet sheen and reducing visibility to minimal amounts. As we wound our way further up the mountains, the tree-lined road slowly appeared out of the dense white background. From the overlooks we could see only hazy outlines of tree tops below, with a large expanse of seemingly endless slowly swirling mist. We pretty much expected an ax murder to run out of the bushes at any moment.

After spending a night regretting my latest reading choice—Stephen King short stories—we ventured further into the park. We were soon rewarded with patches of clearing fog and intermittent blue skies. Shenandoah NP is long and narrow. There’s only one main public road which runs the length of the park along the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The road is aptly named Skyline Drive. Assuming you’re not in “the mist” Skyline Drive boasts expansive views of valleys and lush green rolling mountains on both sides. The Appalachian Trail runs near Skyline Drive for the length of the park. We saw numerous AT hikers each day. Fortunately, none of them turned out to be ax murderers.

The forecast for our time at Shenandoah wasn’t exactly sunny-side-up so we took a ranger’s advice and opted for mostly waterfall and historical site treks with some brief summit hikes when the weather cooperated. The thing we quickly learned about the park is that a waterfall hike means elevation gain—I’m not talking about a measly couple hundred feet either. If you’re starting a hike from inside the park, the trailhead will be at Skyline Drive. From there you go down. And down. And down. It makes for some incredible hiking because you’re following a waterfall down a mountain and get to see the full feature falls at the bottom. However, then you have to climb back up. Up. Up. Never thought I’d say this but we were almost too tired to eat one night after our biggest hike. Almost.

We chanced two summit hikes and were rewarded both times by clearing fog. The second hike was actually a rock scramble. I’ve seen rock scrambles on many maps before but admit I’d never known the exact definition of until now. A rock scramble just means that instead of a trail, you’ll be climbing a pile of large rocks that require you to use your upper body as well as lower body to traverse them.

This particular hike/rock scramble, was short but leads to the top of a massive pile of rocks with a 360° view of the area. Since my upper body strength is equivalent to that of a five-year old and I have an unnatural fear of heights this didn’t exactly seem like my kind of hike. But I figured, when in Shenandoah right? Plus one of my goals is to get past my own neurotic fears. So rock scramble here I came!

The trail is well marked with blue paint strategically placed on key boulders letting you know which way to climb up. We only went astray once and it was an easy back-track to fix. There was just one spot where I almost lost my nerve. It was a boulder hanging particularly far away from the other boulders with what in my mind was a vast void of empty air as far as you could see beneath it. According to Tom in reality the ground was about 40 feet below. Still not a fun fall. Also did I mention this boulder was the only way up? After making my less than graceful accent I continued to crawl (yes, on all fours, I have no shame when it comes to heights) up past the boulder of death and eventually made it to the top.

At the top the feeling of elation, adrenaline, accomplishment, and sheer awe at the beauty that unfolds below on all sides is hard to describe. We perched on rocks at the top and took in the view of forested mountains spreading out in all directions. Some still covered in a low-lying mist. Some with looming angry gray storm clouds. And some with mere angsty clouds and rays of sunlight streaking down to the clear valley floor below.

We watched a thunderstorm roll in. As it picked up speed we decided that the top of a rock pile probably wasn’t the best place to be and quickly descended. Going down was actually quite easy. As we made our way back on the trail another group of hikers reached the summit. Or at least we assume they did because we heard a series of celebratory shouts, “YEAH! WHOOOOOO!!! YEAH!” That’s actually a perfect way to describe the feeling of reaching the top.

Shenandoah NP wasn’t created the way many national parks were. Instead of being formed primarily to preserve a special area of nature, it was created because someone perceived a human need. In the early 1920’s over a dozen national parks existed including the popular Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Glacier. Most of the parks at this point were in the west. Rising costs of train travel caused them to be inaccessible for many people in the east. Additionally, automobile travel was becoming increasingly popular. In 1923 the National Park Service Director sought to establish a new park in the southeast part of the country.

The timing was perfect for some businessmen and real estate investors operating in the Shenandoah area. They responded to a questionnaire from the National Park Committee advocating for the new park. Their questionnaire and report stated that not only was the Shenandoah area perfect for the park, it was completely free of improvements such as towns, farms, and other industry or business workings.

The only problem was that the report was false. The Shenandoah area was and had been inhabited for many generations. Communities of people and families lived and worked in and off of the mountains. In fact, one of the great challenges in building the park was that the land was privately owned by many different parties. All of the existing parks were created from land that was already government owned or donated. Never before had such an effort been made to create a park from privately held land.

This wasn’t the last time that false reports and the publication of propaganda would be used to convince the public and government to proceed with development of the park. Miriam Sizer, was hired by the Commonwealth of Virginia to study the mountain people while she taught at a school in the area. She sent letters and reports filled with sweeping generalizations and stereotypes about the local residents. She felt that the mountain people were unfit to care for themselves. That they should be relocated to more inhabited areas where they could be properly cared for.

Additionally she invited other sociologists to come and study the local people. This resulted in the book Hollow Folk being written and published. This book portrays the mountain residents as uneducated and goes so far as to say they are helpless. You can imagine the outrage and sheer perplexity of the local Shenandoah inhabitants upon hearing these reports. You also have to wonder what role the original park advocates who expected to gain personal financial benefits from the park may have played in these reports.

By the time everything was said and done approximately 500 families were relocated from the Shenandoah area so that the land could be taken over by the government. Some of the mountain dwellers were in support of the park and voluntarily sold their homes. Others however were less inclined to leave their land, their lives, and their livelihoods. Some made stands and evictions ensued. It took until 1938 for the relocation and resettlement activities to be complete—two years after the park was officially opened.

There are numerous other interesting historical happenings in Shenandoah. President Herbert Hoover purchased land in the park boundaries and created Rapidan Camp—the summer White House. It consisted of 13 buildings including a town hall for gatherings and a mess hall for meals. Hoover conducted a large amount of government business there during his term. Much of the camp still exists including the Hoover’s cabin. It’s now officially part of the National Park and offers free ranger led tours.

In an effort to create jobs and stimulate the economy during the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt implemented the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). This was a program made up of young men (and some boys who lied about their age) that were enlisted to help build, maintain, and restore natural areas across the country. Shenandoah NP housed over 1,000 CCC members at any given time. Many of the roads and trails were built by these young workers.

Shenandoah is steeped in US human history (likely because of its proximity to high populous areas). This post has a few highlights but there are so many other stories and tales. It’s a unique place not only from a natural beauty perspective but also from a historical standpoint. Shenandoah’s inception wasn’t all honorable and humans have played a substantial role in defining what the park is today. The National Parks Service doesn’t hide the park’s dark past. Much of this information is available at the Byrd visitor center exhibit.

What do you think about the relocation? Obviously the residents were treated very unfairly, but in the long-run, was it better to protect and preserve the land? Even if some of the largest park advocates were motivated by selfishness and greed?

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