Humpback Rocks Picnic Area and Water Supply: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Blue Ridge Parkway
Regions 1, 2, & 4 Park Cultural Landscapes Program. 2013. Humpback Rocks Picnic Area and Water Supply: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Blue Ridge Parkway. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 975984. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. NPS Southeast Regional Office, Atlanta, Georgia / CRIS-CL Database
Inventory Unit Description: The Humpback Rocks developed area is one of eight recreation areas spaced along the Virginia section of the Blue Ridge Parkway that contain larger land areas to accommodate motorist needs, interpretive programming, and recreational opportunities. Humpback Rocks is the northernmost of these recreation areas, and was sited on the landscape around the dramatic geologic formation that had served as a local landmark for more than a century. Thus the Humpback Rocks developed area is the first such facility encountered by motorists traveling south from milepost 1 of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Located between mileposts 8 and 9, the Picnic Area and Water Supply component landscape is one of four component landscapes of the developed area. Primary construction dates include 1955 for Comfort Station A, access road, upper loop road and picnic spots; 1962 for the lower loop and picnic spots; and 1965 for Comfort Station B. A water supply and storage area was added in 1985. The area is accessed by a spur road that leads to paved upper and lower loop roads. Sited along the loop roads are picnic tables and benches, grills, two comfort stations, drinking fountains, parking spaces, and dumpsters for refuse. The entrance features a gate that can restrict access to the picnic area. There are ninety-six picnic sites within the picnic area and ninety-eight picnic tables. Two of the sites have two tables. The Greenstone Overlook and Greenstone Trail are located across the Blue Ridge Parkway from the picnic area. Located at the end of a hard-packed earth road extending from the picnic area access road, the water supply and storage area includes a small clearing, several water collection and storage structures, a solar panel, and well heads used to supply water to the developed area. There is a picnic table located along the wooded margin of the clearing. The majority of the component landscape is wooded, and it is bounded by the Blue Ridge Parkway to the north and west. This component landscape is significant under Criteria A and C. The period of significance identified for the parent landscape—Humpback Rocks developed area—is 1939–1965, which encompasses initial parkway construction through completion of proposed developments consistent with early master plans for the site. Parkway design principles are conveyed throughout the developed area, including the Mountain Farm component landscape, tying it to the broader 469-mile linear historic landscape. In addition, Humpback Rocks affords several of the key components that early designers considered important for motorists to experience when traveling the corridor, including opportunities for visitors to connect more deeply with the region through recreation and education, picnicking, and other amenities.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Regions 1, 2, & 4 Park Cultural Landscapes Program
- Date of Issue
- 2013-01-09
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- BLRI , SER
- Keywords
- agriculture, comfort station, conservation, engineering, greenstone overlook, historic designed landscape, Humpback Rocks developed area, landscape architecture, mission 66, parkway development, recreation, rustic architecture, tourism, transportation, Virginia