Humpback Rocks Visitor Center and Farm Museum is a great stop for people driving the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. Located at milepost 5.8 just south of Skyline Drive, visitors can get a feel for life as it was in the 19th century by walking the mountain farm trail which is open year-round.
The National Park Service has assembled actual buildings from nearby locations to create the homestead, which consists of an original log cabin and several outbuildings. The self-guided walking trail provides signs explaining the setting. The farm museum shows how mountain people used the abundant resources around them to be self sufficient.
Actual farming takes place at the mountain homestead in season, when interpreters are on site in period costumes demonstrating local crafts and skills.
The Visitor Center and Hiking Trails
Humpback Rocks Visitor Center offers exhibits and books about the area as well as gifts and crafts. To get there, visitors can take Interstate 64 or U.S. Route 250 between Charlottesville and Waynesboro.
Humpback Mountain is named for an outcrop of rocks near its peak of 3,080 feet. A short distance south of the visitor center is a trail where tourists can view geology and flora in the area or hike a longer trail to the rocks, which takes about 40 minutes. Hikers who reach the summit can see in all directions, and the Appalachian Trail is nearby.
