2010 "Andy Guest" Shenandoah River State Park Welcome Guide & Newspaper

8/9/2019 2010 "Andy Guest" Shenandoah River State Park Welcome Guide & Newspaper

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Published by Friends o Shenandoah River State Park Bentonville, VA 540-622-6840 riverparkrien

Welcome to

Shenandoah River State Park

6

14 9 & 12-

Learning in the park History o our riv

10-11

Cleanup

day!

Meet

our

little

brown

bats! 8

See the wild

things in our

river park!

Learn

about

our owlbanding

program


2/16

Page 010 - 011 Welcome Guide Friends o Shenandoah River State Park in Bentonville, VA riverpa

GENERAL INFO: Tis parkshours o operation are between 8a.m. and dusk. NOE: Tis parkis a rash Free Facility - reusemust be removed by park visitor.A central reuse collection area is

at the Cullers Overlook.

Te park is 1,604 acres with 5.6miles o river rontage along thesouth ork o the ShenandoahRiver. Te rolling, mountainousland eatures steep slopes and ismostly wooded. In addition tomeandering river rontage, thepark oers scenic vistas over-looking Massanutten Mountainto the west and Shenandoah Na-tional Park to the east.

OFFERINGS:

Camping Bathhouses Picnic Shelters Canoe Access Fishing Hiking rails Bicycle rail Horse rails

Parking (ee) Pets Some Wheelchair Accessibility

LOCAION: Te park is in War-ren County, eight miles south o

Front Royal and 15 miles northo Luray. Its o Rt. 340 at 350Daughter o Stars Drive, Benton-ville, VA 610.

From Northern Virginia, take I-66 West to exit 13 (Linden). urnlet o the ramp. Go one block to astoplight where youll take a rightonto Rt. 55 West (John MarshallHighway.) At the intersection,turn let onto 340 South. Driveeight miles; the parks entrance ison the right. From I-81 South, take exit 300onto I-66 East. From I-66, takeexit 6. urn right o the ramponto 340 South. Follow 340 Souththrough Front Royal, then driveeight miles to the parks entranceon the right. From I-81 North, take exit 64to New Market and Luray. urnright o the ramp. urn let at the

second stoplight, go one block toanother stoplight and turn rightonto 11 East. Stay on this high-way or 15 miles, where youlltake a right exit onto 340 North.Drive about 1 miles to the parks

entrance on the let. Drive imes: Northern Virginia,two and a hal hours; Richmond,two and a hal hours; idewater/Virginia Beach, our hours; Roa-noke, two and a hal hours

OVERNIGH FACILIIES:Camping. For inormation onavailability o overnight accom-modations, particular park ame-nities or to make a reservation,you can reserve online or call 1-800-933-PARK.

River Right Campground - enstandard tent canoe-in / walk-insites (entStd), each with a pic-nic table and re ring. Te sitesare ewer than 50 yards rom theparking lot. Te campground hasa ull service bathhouse. Potablewater is available near the twovault toilets, and gray water sinks

are near the bathhouse and the vault toilets by the parking lot.Tere are two river access points,and there is parking available or1 vehicles. Reserve these sitesthrough the Reservation Center,

1-800-933-PARK. Click here todownload a map (PDF) o thecampground. Cottonwood Primitive GroupCamp - Tis walk-in site, or tentsonly, accommodates up to 30 andis about 100 yards rom the park-ing lot. Tis site is or organizedgroups and generally open year-round, depending on weatherand site conditions. Teres abathhouse nearby. o reservethis site, call the park directly at(540) 6-6840. Te cancellationee or a group site accommodat-ing at least seven people is high-er than is the ee or individualcampsites.

CABINS: Tere are eleven cab-ins: nine -bedroom, one 3-bed-room and one 6-bedroom lodge.Check back or opening dates.

CAMPING: 10 tenCottonwood group is building a new RVwith 3 electric anand our camping cback or opening da

SWIMMING: NoWading and oatinted.

RAILS: 13 miles,are multi-use.

FISHING, BOAIN

oers a car top acceuse area, located 3.stream rom the Becess area. Te sharea, near Shelter 3,wade shing. Freshis available, howeveboat rentals. Tere top launches and twithin ve minutes

HUNING: Checkce about this parkportunities.

General park information

Visit us on the web! riverparkrien


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010 - 011 Welcome GuFriends o Shenandoah River State Park in Bentonville, VA riverparkriends.org

HORSES: Yes, but no horse rent-als.

VISIOR CENER, GIF

SHOP: Te parks new visitorcenter and git shop opened in

August, 009.

NAURE, HISORY PRO-

GRAMS: Seasonal schedule be-tween Memorial Day and LaborDay.

NEARBY ARACIONS:

Shenandoah National Park, Sky-line Drive, Skyline Caverns, Lu-ray Caverns, Sky Meadows StatePark, Down River Canoe Co.,Front Royal Canoe Co..

PICNIC SHELERS: Four shel-ters may be rented through theReservation Center. Call 1-800-933-PARK. Tey are available intwo sizes: large and very large.Tey are rented all day rom 8a.m. to dusk. All shelters havelighting, are handicap accessible,and eature pedestal grills, a wa-ter ountain. (Electricity upon

request.) Also, all are adjacent toparking. Daily parking ees applyto all shelter guests.

Cancellation policy: No reundwithin 14 days beore reserved

date. Beore then, theres a can-cellation ee.

Shelter 1 (large) - It is riverside,accommodates 50 and is handi-cap accessible. Te shelter, whichis octagonal and has 900 squareeet o oor area with seven pic-nic tables, is about 00 eet awayrom a restroom. Tere are 9parking spaces.

Shelter (large) - It is riverside,accommodates 50 and is handi-cap accessible. Te shelter, whichis octagonal and has 900 squareeet o oor area with seven pic-nic tables, is about 150 eet awayrom a restroom. Tere are 15parking spaces.

Shelter 3 (large) - It is riverside,accommodates 50 and is handi-cap accessible. Te shelter, which

is octagonal and has 900 squareeet o oor area with seven pic-nic tables, is about 300 eet awayrom a rest room. Tere are 14parking spaces.

Massanutten Shelter (extralarge) - Tis shelter overlooksMassanutten Mountain and theriver, and can accommodate 100.Its about 34 x 34 eet with two 1x 0 oot wings, is about 300 eetaway rom a restroom and is be-side a 55-space parking lot.

ACCESSIBILIY:

Although motorized vehiclesare not permitted on park trails,electric wheelchairs and electricscooters that meet the ederaldenition or wheelchairs are al-lowed to enable people with dis-abilities to use the trails. All picnic shelters are accessiblevia paved sidewalks. Day use restrooms are also accessible. Shel-ters eature wheelchair accessiblepicnic tables. Unpaved paths leading to

campsites, vault toilets and thebathhouse are covered with natu-ral wood chips. Bathhouse toiletshave handicapped rails, but vaulttoilets do not.

LAUNDRY: Te closest acility is10 miles away in Front Royal.

RESAURAN: en miles awayin Front Royal. Also in Front Roy-al are Martins Grocery and FoodLion. As well, there are two con- venience stores about one-quar-

ter mile away in Ben

FRIENDS GROU

enjoys the support citizen group, Friendoah River State Pa

is to help the park ptional and recreationities while osterinand community invogroup meets on theeach month, and evcome to attend the

riverparkrie

General park informat

CALL TODAY! 540-635-4169 ext. 1

Tis welcome guide is a publication o FrieShenandoah River State Park.

Edited and all photographs by Dan [email protected]

Join our non-prot volunteer group by meetus the rst uesday o each month at the par

Center.

www.riverparkriend

Visit us on the web! riverparkriends.org


4/16

Page 4 010 - 011 Welcome Guide Friends o Shenandoah River State Park in Bentonville, VA riverpa

Wild things in our park

Experienbuying

Great selection of NEW

andPRE-OWNED carsand trucks.

9135 Winchester Road, Front Royal, VA

540-636-2901www.shenandoahford.com

Eastern Bluebird

American Bald Eagle Eastern Cottontail

Black BearNorthern Black Racer

Canada Goose


5/16


Join our gro

Who are the Friends?

Te Friends are a group o park supporterswho assist the park in achieving its goalso serving visitors and protecting park re-sources.

Te Friends raise money to provide ad-ditional support or park programs suchas Junior Rangers, Interpretive and Mul-ticultural events and special activities likeHaunted Halloween.

Te Friends have many interests and back-grounds. Our members are sensitive to theneeds o guests and seek to support all othe unique park opportunities includingnature, history, hiking, canoeing and manymore.

Why Join?You participate in un and interesting ac-tivities like canoeing, educational walks,photography and any other events you canthink o!

You help the park accomplish the programsneeded to support its visitors and the envi-

ronment.

BenefitsVolunteers can earn awards based on thenumber o hours donated:

Annual pass to all state parks

Free use o State Park cabinsgroundsDiscounts on git itemsAppreciation rom park sthuman and animal guests!

Friends member Marge Groetsch teaches Shenandoah

River State Park Junior Rangers about the differenttypes of trees found in Virginias bountiful Shenandoah

Valley Migratory owl-tagging is just one of th

important activities at Shenandoah Rive

Join usPlease consider becoming

of Shenandoah River State

Annual Dues____Individual $15.00____Student $5.00 (Fulltime high school or college ____Fami ly $25.00

Name: _______________________

Address: _____________________

City: _________________________

State: _________ Zip: _______

Phone: ______________________

Email: _______________________

Date: _______________________

MakecheckspayabletoFriendsofRiverStateParkandmailorbringtofice: FriendsofShenandoahRiverSt 350DaughterofStarsDr.

Bentonville,VA22610 (540)622-6840

EveryoneinthecommunityisinvitedparticipateinFriendsmeetingsandaingatmembershipmeetingsislimitedperpaidmembership(individual,studily.)

All contributions are tax

ible and directly beneft

doah River State Park.


6/16


Volunteers clean up the parBy Cyndi JuarezDistrict III Visitor Services Spe-cialist, Virginia State Parks

Aletterromtheselproclaimed

AssistantrashCoordinator,DickFox:

Greetings all! On behal oFriends o Shenandoah RiverState Park, I just wanted to dropa note o thanks to everyone orthe stellar support o our verysuccessul river cleanup eventSaturday, Sept. 0, 009. Heres asummary o what we collected:

1340 lb. o trash total40 bags o trash (approx.)7 tires1 beach umbrella1 muer1 tractor steering wheel5 cinder blocksseveral bricks1 large tarpselected mens and ladies un-dergarmentstoo many aluminum cansand plastic bottles to count

We had 6 state park volunteersparticipating, two antastic ca-noe companies, our parks chieranger and two other rangers andeven an ace reporter rom War-

ren County Report newspaper. Ilie is air, maybe well even makethe next edition!

A special vote o thanks to DonRoberts o Front Royal Canoe

Company and John Gibson oDownriver Canoe or your lead-ership and support o our com-munity project and or the loano those canoes that started outclean and came back very dirty!

Tanks also to ony Widmer,Andy Davis, Brett Clawson, Don-na Smith, Ben Tomas and StanMiller or all your support andhard work; to Cyndi Juarez or

all the advertising banners; and to ourJinny Fox and rasBennett or gettingnized.

Tanks to Dan Mcrecorded the eventall eel like national

Tanks to our FrieLeah Peyton and Jancoming out and gett

River park cleanup Visit us on the web! riverparkrien


7/16


dirty or a great cause. And or allthe other volunteers they reallygot their eet wet! And, they got awarm welcome and initiation to

become Friends o the Park andattend our next meeting.

- Dick Fox, Assistant rash Co-ordinator

Our Heartelt thanksto all o

our participants and especiallytheFriendsoShenandoahRiver

State Park.We look orward to

working together onmanymore

unandmeaningulprojects. Everyone iswelcometo attendFriendsmeetingsat7PMonthe

frstuesdayothemonthatthe

parksVisitorCenter.

Tis event was another great

waytoconnectchildreninnature

and was a Kabooevent.AsaChesape

wayslocationtheriv

ShenandoahRiverS

helpedtoprotectChNatureandprovideul Virginia outdo

orallparticipants.

riverparkfr

River park clea

125 S. Royal Ave.

Front R oyal, VA

635-2153

NEW Cars 9 Commerce Ave

Front Royal

USED Ca

635-2156 ~ 635-92


8/16


Secrets of the park!

Our parks seasonal visitors:

little brown bats!

(Above) Little brown bats live in the information kiosk near

PawPaw Trail (right) for a few months each summer. Ac -

cording to Wikipedia little brown bats are insectivores,

eating moths, wasps, beetles, gnats, mosquitoes, midges

and mayies, among others. Since many of their preferred

meals are insects with an aquatic life stage, such as mos-

quitoes, they prefer to roost near water. They echolocate

to nd their prey. Often they will catch larger prey with a

wingtip, transfer it to a cup formed by their tail, then eat

it - smaller prey are usually just caught in the mouth. Theyoften use the same routes over and over again every night,

ying 3-6 meters high above water or among trees. An adult

can sometimes ll its stomach in 15 minutes; young have

more difculty. If they do not catch any food, they will en-

ter a torpor similar to hibernation that day, awakening at

night to hunt again.

A baby bat fell to the gravel under a kiosk at Shenandoah River State Park. It was

picked up by a passerby and placed back on kiosk wall.


9/16


Secrets of the paVisit us on the web! riverparkriends.org

Paleo-Indians hunting a glyptodont by Heinrich Harder (1858-1935), c

Lithic peoples or Paleo-Indians, are the earliest known humans of the

The periods name derives from the appearance of lithic aked ston

Shenandoah River State Park Friends investigate ar-

tifacts from the time Paleo Indians lived in the area.

Our parks frst residents: Te Paleo Indi ThousandsofyearsagoancientPaleoIndiansbuilttheoldeststructuresin

NorthAmerica inan area nearShenandoahRiverStatePark.According to

Wikipedia,evidencesuggestsbig-gamehunterscrossedtheBeringStraitfromAsia (Eurasia)intoNorthAmericaovera land bridge(Beringia),thatexisted

between47,000-14,000yearsago.Smallisolatedgroupsofhunter-gatherers

migratedalongsideherdsoflargeherbivoresfarintoAlaska.18,500-15,500

yearsago,ice-freecorridorsdevelopedalongthePacificcoastandvalleysof

NorthAmerica.Thisallowedanimals,followedbyhumans,tomigratesouthintotheinterior.Thepeoplewentonfootorusedprimitiveboatsalongthecoastline.

TheprecisedatesandroutesofthepeoplingoftheNewWorldaresubjectto

ongoingdebateamongtheexperts.


10/16


Owl banding

On ThShenan

In thheart

SmallmBass

Trou

Count121 Main S

Edinburg, VA540-984-

www.murraysf

Nets are hung in certain locations throughout the

park to safely capture owls for tagging.

Owls are checked for an existing tag placed their byother teams of researchers and volunteers.

Owls are drawn to the nets by special calls designedto attract a specic type of owl.

Owls are

weighed (in thiPringles can!)

Visit us on the web! riverparkrien

970 US Hwy. 211W

Luray, VA

540-743-6551www.LurayCaverns.com


11/16


Owl band

Visit us on the web! riverparkriends.org

Volunteer or the owl band

program at Shenandoah River

Park. Call 540-622-6840

(Above left) This Northern

Saw-whet owl had already

been banded and was

spotted in Canada beforevisiting our park. (Above)

The owl is checked under

various lighting to see if

it shows signs of disease

and to check growth pat-terns. This little guy is

quite healthy! (Left) The

owl is released back into

the park by a trained vol-

unteer where it will proba-bly scope out some dinner.

Mice beware!


12/16


By Dan McDermott

Long beore there was an Inter-state 81, a Route 5, or railroads,there was the Shenandoah River,the Daughter o the Stars. Tis oncepristine 300 mile waterway stretchesrom orks in New Market in thenorth and Port Republic in the southand joins in Front Royal. Te mainriver runs rom Front Royal until itempties into the Potomac at Harp-ers Ferry, West Virginia.

It turns out that human activity sur-rounding the Shenandoah dates backa very long timeover 11,000 years.Beginning in 9300 BC, Paleo-Indiansbuilt structures along the North andSouth Forks o the Shenandoah andlived near Front Royal or more than,500 years. In act, their homes arethe oldest buildings ever ound in allo North America. It should be not-ed that these early settlers inhabitedthe Shenandoah Valley only 0,000years ater the disappearance o theNeanderthal!

Almost 8,000 years later, aroundthe year 900, Native Americans be-gan arming along the ShenandoahRiver.

Te rst European settlers arrivedin the Shenandoah Valley in 1669,encountering abundant wildlie,beautiul terrain, and many Indiantribes. Many English navy vesselshad masts made rom the ne tim-ber the Shenandoah Rivers thirstytrees provided. George Washingtonsurveyed the Shenandoah Valley andRiver when he worked or Northernand Western Virginias English own-er, Lord Tomas Fairax.

oward the end o the 18th cen-tury, the Shenandoah River quicklybecame a major commercial routein the Valley. Mills sprung up alongthe rivers edge grinding grain intoour. And iron was abundant in theregion. o get these and other prod-

ucts to their northern buyers, trad-ers built at bottomed boats calledgundalows. o navigate these 90 oot vessels through the Shenandoahsrough terrain, the Patowmack Com-pany was ormed in 1785 with theencouragement o George Wash-ington and began blasting rock anddredging the river bed to create anavigable passage or trade. In espe-cially shallow areas, V shaped damswere built with an opening in thecenter to create a higher owing pas-sageway.

Te cost to transport goods wasairly high or the period. In todaysdollars it seems a bargain. Commo-dore Jacob Sipe advertised in theRockingham Register in 1841 thathe would transport a barrel o ourweighing almost 00 lbs rom PortRepublic to Georgetown or about$1.0. oday that that would mostlikely be sent by truck and wouldcost about 37.50 or a commercialshipper. A single gundalow couldhold more than 100 barrels, about

hal the capacity o a modern 18-wheel truck and trailer.

Port Republic gets its name becauseit was the commercial port at the tipo the South Fork o the Shenandoah.On the North Fork, Bridgewater wasoriginally called Bridgeport becauseit too was a hub o commercial trafcon the waterway. Harpers Ferry rstbecame amous or George Wash-ingtons decision to build an armorythere. He chose this location becauseo its proximity to the joining o theShenandoah and Potomac Rivers.Iron could be brought north on the

Shenandoah and made into weaponsin Harpers Ferry.

Te gundalows that brought man-uactured goods north were made owood and they were destined or aone way trip. Since railroads had notyet arrived, these boats could not beeasily brought back south or a sec-ond use. At their port o destination,they were sold or up to $5 and madeinto houses. Some o these housesstill exist today and are a ascinat-ing indicator o the rich commercialhistory o the Shenandoah. Ater thejourney north, the gundalows crew

would literally walk back homea

journey that would taIt is interesting that the river by gundaltwice as long becausbends and the muscmove a 90 oot boat thtimes shallow river.

In 1854, the Railrthrough the town oTis made Front Roynal stop or gundalowcould be transerred tbrought to other par

try not served by co

Daughter o the StarTerichhistoryotheShenandoahRive

History Visit us on the web! riverparkrien

Newtown Antiques and Pawn5441 Main Street

Stephens City, VA 22655

(540) 869-2669Antique Furniture and Antique Estate Jewelry

Sterling Silver and HollowareBuy, Sell, Loan

located off I-81 exit 307


13/16


trafc. At the time, Front Royal wasknown as Helltown. It seems that thisrural community was not immune tothe usual eect o sailors arriving in

a port with a pocketul o money andtime to chase women and booze.

oday, the gundalows are longgone. But the tremendous value o

the Shenandoah Riva 199 survey, over went whitewater raShenandoah and thFront Royal has a newCanoe Capital o Virg

Much o this historrom two great sourcPage County Chambelooks into the historyriver in its website: lAnother wonderul smation on the Shencan be ound in thRiver Atlas, publishedthe Shenandoah River

editor@warrenco

Hist

Mission:Weconductresearchtoaidinthesurvival

of species and their habitats, and to

ensure the health and wel l-being of

animalsincaptivityandinthewild.

[email protected]

Formoreinformationabout:

volunteeropportunitiesannualfallfestival

schooloutreachtrainingprograms

lectures

Smithsonian

Conservation Biology Institute

Visit www.treesfrontroyal.org for information about

All About Trees 2010


14/16


Important educational programs

400 Blandy Farm La

Unit 2

Boyce,Virginia 2262

540-837-1600

The mission of DCRs Virginia State Parks Youth Corps (VSPYC) is to engageVirginias youth in a structured program of important conservation and park proj-

ects on public lands while providing learning that fosters teamwork, self-esteem,

social responsibility and respect for the environment.

The park friends group

helps run the Junior Rang-

er Day camp each sum-mer. We arent sure if who

has more fun, the friends

or the kids! For more in-formation on this terric

program call the park at540-622-6840. (See the

ad on this page.)

HelpsupportShenandoahRiver

StateParkandreachthousandsof

visitorsbyadvertisinginnextyears

WelcomeGuide.Visitourwebsitefor

moreinformation.

www.riverparkfriends.org


15/16


Helping and enjoying our p

Front Royal Tourismand Visitor Information

800-338-2576www.discoverfrontroyal.com

The Northern Virginia4-H Educational and

Conference Center

Located in beautifulFront Royal, Virgin-ia with a backyardof 229 acres situat-ed amidst the BlueRidge Mountainsand access to the

Appalachian Trail,there are few betterplaces to discoverthe natural world!

Environmental Education

Challenge Course

Four Lodges

Auditorium

Cafeteria

540-635-7171www.nova4h.ext.vt.edu

ShenandState P

Ranger B

son hold

line disp

tainer bu

friends gber Bria

middle.

is Assis

Manager

vis.

Shenandoah R

Park in Bento

offers spectac

for campers at

visitors during year long. For m

mation call 540

or visit us on th

riverparkfri


16/16

Shenandoah River - South Fork

Tent

Shelter 1

Twin Creek Llamas

Shelter 2

Trout

Unlimited

Visitor Center

Entrance Rd. from Rt. 340

Shelter 3

D.A.R.E.

Shelter 4

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WELCOME TO ANDY GUEST/ SHENANDOAH RIVER STATE PARK COMMUNITY PARKFEST May 22, 2010 from 10am

Hereisamapshowingthelocationofthingstosee.PleasecheckwiththeFriendsinShelter1forsign-upforParktours,Audubonwalks,andgeocache.

BLUE RIDGE WILDLIFE CENTERwillpresentashowat11:00andLURAY ZOOwillpresentashowat1:00.TherewillbeapresentationtoVA Delegate

at2:00followedbyourraffledrawing.Allshowsandthedrawingareinthetent.FOODbySWFCinShelter4

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BlueRidgeWildlifeCenter PageValleyCycling VANativePlantSociety Raffleat2:30

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Tis is a publication oFriends o ShenandoahRiver State Park. Join

our non-prot volunteergroup by meeting withus the rst uesday o

each month at the parkVisitor Center.

www.riverparkriends.org

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Documents

2010 "Andy Guest" Shenandoah River State Park Welcome Guide & Newspaper