Free previewStop 2 of Skyline Drive Through Shenandoah
The Resort the Park Kept
You've pulled in at Skyland, on the crest of the Blue Ridge, about 3,680 feet up. Skyline Drive reaches its highest point near here. Turn toward the west, past the lodge buildings, and let your eyes drop all the way down to the Shenandoah Valley, spread out like a map below you. That view is the reason everything around you exists.
The man who saw a business in it was George Freeman Pollock, a young man from Washington, D.C. His father owned a great deal of the surrounding mountain land, and in 1895 Pollock opened a resort up here called Stony Man Camp. He would later call the view "beauty beyond description." His guests were well-off city people looking for cool air and fresh starts. Early on, he even advertised the place as a dude ranch. And there was no Skyline Drive yet.
That's the opening. The rest plays at stop 2 of Skyline Drive Through Shenandoah (3 min in all). Unlock the tour to hear it all, or try stop 1 free first.
