Evening star., 1928-04-29
~ of Shenandoah Park Offers Great Tourists Paradise

or 1t may take the opposite course and
make an underground passage into the
park itself. The antechambers were
glistening with stalactiCes and stalag-
mites. as the lime loaded water has
trickled from crevices of the ceiling II
takes century to MAKE one sLalacrlte
four inches long. When did those ivory
like formations begin to solidify?
DR.. Davis has Summer cottage close
by 135 feet above the river, upon the
very edge Of perpendicular bluff. That
is his fad-his delightful retreat. where
he usually invites so boys to camp and
spend some weeks IN sport and wood
craft He thinks boys are as Turing
mysteries as Mystery Cave. No girls
need apply-much less any groWn-ups,
but the doctor is as enthusiastic over
the sports Of horseback riding, canoeing.
ball playing and tennis, and above all
Of the hikes with foresters and scien-
lists over the mountains, as any Of his
juvenile guests. He usually has some
cronieS Of scientists and experts IN
athletics with him during the Summer,
but they must be invited without their
own Observation-Disclosures the 200 acres
would not contain the willing visitors.
Overall Is the gateway into the very
heart of the park, and into regions Of
mountain picturesqueness and water
falls. Close By. there is one fall, 100
feet high, and another tuI1b!fng down
into what are called THE Basins s"-two
bath tubs smoothly hewn out Of solid
rock. by the water and located at the
top Of rocky slant running some 30 or
40 feet down to a third landing.
There is story Of tiInid tourist
who. last Summer. stood gazing IN
trepidation at this freak Of water and
rock, and just as h rs.narked that II
would be awful to slfds down that
watery slope, his !-ct slipped and he
cried in fright as he rushed down. Bat
the slide IS 50 Cured that he was u1-
| injured, beyond q ducking in the bowl
! below. TO the hilarious delight OF the
| boys who were safe and dry above.
WHILE these references to natural
| W attractions apply particularly 70
| the northern end Of the park, it must
not be assumed that section holds a
monopoly Of interesting features. So
/ rich is the whole Blue Ridge that 10
would be impossible to give any ade-
| quate list Of what nature holds there as
/ bait for tourists. Just outside the PARK
are famous Luray Cave and Natural
/ Bridge
The total park area exceeds 600 square
miles-65 miles long b. from to Il
miles wide-frCm Front Pcyal to
/ Waynesboro and Winchester. Rich, toe.
/ is the entire region in historic interest.
/ from pre-Revolutionary legends to Civil
I War battles and marches.
The distance from Washington. D. C.,
| and Baltimore to Washington. Va,
which latter place IS at the northern
| limit. the drive by automobile is 80 70
| ll0 miles. One-third Of the population
of the United States lives within a two
| cay drive by automobile Of this. the
! finest scenery in the Easily many en-
| thusiasts declared the finest IN America.
One observer has expressed his ap-
/ probation as follows:
1T is important 10 realize that far
| too much is made Of altitude in CON-
pairing Eastern and Western mountains.
| The Rockies rising TO $4,000 feet abote
valleys 5000 feet IN altitude. or the
| Blue Ridge rising 1000 feet from valleys
I less than 1000 feet in sltitude--what
difference does it make to the observer?
Stony Man in the Blue Ridge towers
above Shenandoah as high as Fl Capt.
| tan above the Yosemite. II to
cur unaccustomed eyes the bare crags
and snow fields az the higher Western
mountains provoke the greater thrill,
to many this advantage viii be more
than Offset by the superior richness c.
form ana color in our Eastern forests
over the stately repetitions OF the ranked
coniferS Of the Western attitudes More
than hundred tree species glortfy the
Appalachians, few more than dozen
| the Sierra