Humpback Rocks: Cultural Landscape Report, Blue Ridge Parkway (Virginia), National Park Service
Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. and John Milner Associates, Inc.. 2013. Humpback Rocks: Cultural Landscape Report, Blue Ridge Parkway (Virginia), National Park Service. 601/124805A. NPS Southeast Regional Office. Southeast Regional Office, National Park Service
Humpback Rocks, so named for the dramatic geological formations found at the site, is a cultural landscape found along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs 469 miles from Shenandoah National Park in Central Virginia to Great Smokey Mountains National Park near Cherokee, North Carolina. Humpback Rocks is located in South River, Virginia, approximately 23 miles southwest of Charlottesville, and was originally identified as one of the eighteen recreation and service areas along the Parkway in the 1930s. It is the first recreational and service area motorists encounter traveling south from milepost 1 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Also known as the Humpback Rocks developed area, it includes a visitor center, picnic grounds, hiking trails, and an interpretative exhibit of late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries pioneer mountain life. Over the years, routine maintenance, evolving park management, and heavy visitor use at Humpback Rocks have led to proposals for change within the park. The National Park Service is evaluating the need for expanded parking facilities; rehabilitation of asphalt-paved roads, parking areas, walks, and storm water ditches; enhanced picnic area facilities; replacement of orientation exhibits at the visitor center; and repair of historic stone walls. These actions have the potential to affect the integrity of the designed historic landscape unless considered carefully within the parameters of the original design intent. This cultural landscape report (CLR) is intended to inform the design and implementation of changes, repairs, and rehabilitation projects proposed by the National Park Service. This CLR documents historic and existing conditions of the Humpback Rocks developed area, identifies the character-defining features of the park, evaluates the historic significance and integrity of the site, and provides treatment recommendations intended to assist park staff in improving the condition of park resources while furthering planned improvements.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.; John Milner Associates, Inc.
- Date of Issue
- 2013-02
- Publisher
- NPS Southeast Regional Office
- Units
- BLRI
- Keywords
- Appalachian Mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway, Cultural Landscape, developed area, Engineering, Humpback Rocks, Landscape architecture, Mission 66, Recreational Landscape, Report, South River, Stanley Abbott, Virginia
- Subjects
- CRIS-CL: 975978: Humpback Gap and Trail , CRIS-CL: 550229: Humpback Rocks , CRIS-CL: 975982: Humpback Rocks Mountain Farm , CRIS-CL: 975984: Humpback Rocks Picnic Area and Water Supply , CRIS-CL: 975980: Humpback Rocks Visitor Center