Sky Meadows State Park

38°59′5″N 77°57′31″W / 38.98472°N 77.95861°W / 38.98472; -77.95861Area1862 acres (754 ha)Established1975Governing bodyVirginia Department of Conservation and Recreation Location11012 Edmonds Ln., near Delaplane, VirginiaArea1,618.3 acres (654.9 ha)Builtc. 1780 (1780)Architectural styleFederal, VernacularNRHP reference No.04000552^[1]VLR No.030-0283Significant datesAdded to NRHPMay 24, 2004Designated VLRMarch 17, 2004^[2]

Sky Meadows State Park is a 1,862-acre (754 ha) park in the Virginia state park system. It is located in extreme northwest Fauquier County, Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains, near Paris, Virginia. It is about an hour outside of the Washington, D.C. metro region.

History and amenities

The park was formed when Paul Mellon donated 1,132 acres (458 ha) of land in 1975. The name Sky Meadows came from former owner Sir Robert Hadow, who named the property "Skye Farm" after the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.^[3] The park opened to the public on 27 August 1983.^[4] It has expanded its borders twice since then—248 acres (100 ha) were added in 1987, containing the Appalachian Trail, and in 1991 Mellon donated an additional 462 acres (187 ha), bringing the park to its present size.

It is located near Paris, Virginia off US 17, one mile (1.6 km) south of US 50 and seven miles (11 km) north of Interstate 66.

It starts in a valley between the foothills and the Blue Ridge Mountains, then has meadows and forests stretching up to the ridge of the mountain and the Appalachian Trail.

There is a basic walk-in campground, over 12 miles (19 km) of hiking trails and 6 miles (10 km) of bridle paths. The horse trails are east of US 17 and the hiking trails (and most of the park) is west of US 17.

With a combination of meadows, grazed fields, forest, scrub, and streams, it has a wide variety of ecological zones.

Most of the year, there are monthly "astronomy nights" where amateur astronomers bring their telescopes and use them to show attendees various celestial objects. Typically, an astronomer from the Smithsonian Institution is among the leaders.

Sky Meadows is a year-round bird watching site. It is known for a colony of red-headed woodpeckers that live in an oak grove just past the contact station. Depending on the time of the year, it is almost certain that this and the other six species of woodpeckers—downy, hairy, red-bellied, yellow-bellied sapsucker, pileated, and northern flicker—commonly found in this part of Virginia will be present.

Except for "astronomy nights", the park closes at dusk, and campers must be in the park and others out of the park at that time.

Mt. Bleak-Skye Farm

Mt. Bleak-Skye Farm is a national historic district located in Sky Meadows State Park. The district encompasses 23 contributing buildings including barns, 1 contributing site, and 3 contributing structures dating between 1780 and 1954. The oldest is the 1+1⁄2-story, Wayside Cottage dated to about 1780. It also includes the Timberlake farmstead (c. 1860), Federal-style Mount Bleak mansion (c. 1843), and the frame Meeting House (c. 1845).^[5]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.^[1]

See also

• List of Virginia state parks
• List of Virginia state forests

References

External links

• Official website of Sky Meadows State Park
• Sky Meadows State Park in World Database on Protected Areas
• Audubon Society of Northern Virginia (ASNV) Birding Hotspot Factsheet

Federal

National Parks	Shenandoah
National Historical Parks, Historic Sites & Monuments	Appomattox Court House NHP Arlington House Booker T. Washington NM Cedar Creek and Belle Grove NHP Claude Moore Colonial Farm Colonial NHP Cumberland Gap NHP Fort Monroe NM George Washington Birthplace NM Harpers Ferry NHP Maggie L. Walker NHS
National Military Parks, Battlefields & Battlefield Parks	Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP Manassas NBP Petersburg NB Richmond NBP
National Cemeteries	Alexandria Arlington Balls Bluff City Point Cold Harbor Culpeper Danville Fort Harrison Fredericksburg Glendale Hampton Hampton VAMC Poplar Grove Quantico Richmond Seven Pines Staunton Winchester Yorktown
National Parkways	Blue Ridge Parkway (Blue Ridge Music Center Mabry Mill Peaks of Otter Rocky Knob Recreation Area) George Washington Memorial Parkway
National Trails	Appalachian Trail Captain John Smith Chesapeake NHT Overmountain Victory NHT Potomac Heritage Trail Star-Spangled Banner NHT
National Wildlife Refuges	Back Bay Chincoteague Eastern Shore of Virginia Mason Neck Featherstone Fisherman Island Glenn Martin Great Dismal Swamp James River Nansemond Occoquan Bay Plum Tree Island Presquile Rappahannock River Valley Wallops Island
National Forests	George Washington and Jefferson
USFS National Recreation Areas	Mount Rogers National Recreation Area
Other NPS Areas	Assateague Island National Seashore Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network Prince William Forest Park Wolf Trap NP for the Performing Arts
Wilderness Areas	Barbours Creek James River Face Mountain Lake Priest Ramsey's Draft Rich Hole Rough Mountain Saint Mary's Three Ridges
National Estuarine Research Reserves	Chesapeake Bay

State

State parks	Bear Creek Lake Belle Isle Breaks Interstate Caledon Chippokes Claytor Lake Clinch River Culpeper Battlefields Douthat Fairy Stone False Cape First Landing Grayson Highlands High Bridge Trail Holliday Lake Hungry Mother James River Kiptopeke Lake Anna Leesylvania Machicomoco Mason Neck Mayo River Middle Peninsula Natural Bridge Natural Tunnel New River Trail Occoneechee Pocahontas Powhatan Sailor's Creek Battlefield Seven Bends Shot Tower Shenandoah River Sky Meadows Smith Mountain Lake Southwest Virginia Museum Staunton River Staunton River Battlefield Sweet Run Tabb Monument Twin Lakes Westmoreland Widewater Wilderness Road York River
State forests	Appomattox-Buckingham Big Woods Bourassa Browne Channels Charlotte Chesterfield Chilton Woods Conway Robinson Crawfords Cumberland Devil's Backbone Dragon Run First Mountain Hawks Lesesne Matthews Moore's Creek Niday Place Old Flat Paul Prince Edward-Gallion Sandy Point South Quay Whitney Zoar
Natural Area Preserves	Antioch Pines Bald Knob Bethel Beach Big Spring Bog Blackwater Buffalo Mountain Bull Run Mountains Bush Mill Stream Camp Branch Wetlands Cape Charles Coastal Habitat Cave Hill The Cedars The Channels Cherry Orchard Bog Chestnut Creek Wetlands Chestnut Ridge Chotank Creek Chub Sandhill Cleveland Barrens Clover Hollow Cowbane Prairie Crawford's Knob Crow's Nest Cumberland Marsh Dameron Marsh Deep Run Ponds Dendron Swamp Difficult Creek Elklick Woodlands False Cape Folly Mills Creek Fen Goshen Pass Grafton Ponds Grassy Hill Grayson Glades Hickory Hollow Hughlett Point Johnsons Creek Lyndhurst Ponds Magothy Bay Mark's and Jack's Island Mount Joy Pond Mutton Hunk Fen Naked Mountain New Point Comfort North Landing River Northwest River Ogdens Cave Parkers Marsh Parramore Island Pedlar Hills Glades Piney Grove Flatwoods Pinnacle Poor Mountain Redrock Mountain Savage Neck Dunes Unthanks Cave William B. Trower Bayshore Wreck Island
Wildlife Management Areas	Amelia Big Survey Big Woods Briery Creek Chester F. Phelps Cavalier Chickahominy Clinch Mountain Crooked Creek Dick Cross Doe Creek Fairystone Farms Featherfin G. Richard Thompson Game Farm Marsh Goshen and Little North Mountain Hardware River Havens Hidden Valley Highland Hog Island Horsepen Lake James River Land's End Mattaponi Mattaponi Bluffs Merrimac Farm Mockhorn Island Oakley Forest Pettigrew Powhatan Princess Anne Ragged Island Rapidan Robert W. Duncan Saxis Short Hills Smith Mountain Cooperative Stewarts Creek T. M. Gathright Turkeycock Ware Creek Weston White Oak Mountain

Other

Registered Historic Places in Virginia	Virginia Landmarks Register National Register of Historic Places listings in Virginia Bridges National Historic Landmarks