[Illustration: SKYLAND
REV. JAN. 1963 MARCH 1958 NP-SHE-7011D]
STONY MAN 4010
HORSE TRAIL
APPALACHIAN TRAIL
NATURE TRAIL
PARKING
WHITEOAK CANYON
SKYLINE DRIVE
RESTAURANT
RECREATION HALL
OFFICE
CAMPFIRE CIRCLE
STABLE
Skyland, at 3,680 feet elevation, is the highest point on Skyline Drive.
Here in the largest of the park’s developed areas are accommodations for
350 persons. The lodge is the center of the community, with groups of
multiple-unit cottages scattered within walking distance along the ridge
and under the trees. Besides dining room, coffeeshop, and gift shop,
there are lounges for use on chilly nights and a terrace for lazy
sunning.
Skyland is the starting point for many of the guided walks and horseback
trips; stables are just downhill from the lodge. The campfire circle is
the scene of naturalist talks on fine evenings; in rainy weather you
will find them in the recreation hall, “under the hill.”
Don’t leave this area until you hike the 1½-mile round trip to Stony Man
Mountain. You saw the rock profile in view for many miles if you
approached Skyland from the north. From this cliff of weathered,
greenstone rock, the view is sheerly downward to the valley, and
sweepingly across to the Massanutten Mountain, a hazy blue in the
distance. The half-day hikes to Whiteoak Canyon, and to the summit of
Marys Rock (trail starts at Panorama), as well as shorter walks to
Millers Head, Little Stony Man Cliffs, and Hawksbill Mountain, are most
easily reached from Skyland.