Blackburn Trail Center
I did several work trips here.

Highacre in Harper's Ferry, WV is 100 feet from "Jefferson's Rock". My kids and I visited. I had the bay window on 2nd floor, Mary corner room 2nd floor and boys in back room.

Conley Cabin on the Vining Tract near Shenandoah Nat. Park. I, my kids and Travis, the son of an old friend, have stayed here many times while on work trips to this and other cabins on the tract.

Jones Mtn. Cabin in Shenandoah Nat. Park. This cabin was "lost" for many years. It became the home of Mr. Nicholson a well known Moonshiner of pre-park days. He was supposed to have been a cold hard man but members of the hiking club have located the nearby grave of his wife who died while he lived here. She is buried on a small rise clearly viewed from the front porch.. that coupled with his loss of interest in his property and industry makes me wonder how cold and hard he really was.

Dawson Cabin The kids and I visited the cabin once. It has a fairly nice view but has little other to offer as the area is full of other "vacation" cabins in a big development.

Morris Cabin on the Vining Tract near Shenandoah Nat. Park. My kids, I and various friends have taken several trips here, one time on a bitterly cold night. This cabin was once owned by the folk in the image far left below.

This is Mr. and Mrs. Morris who owned much of the land in what is now the Vining Tract. The whole area was once free of trees and they raised corn, cattle and bred horse on the land.

"New" Mutton Top Cabin. The original Mutton Top Cabin burned due to a lightning strike. Travis, the son of an old friend, and I took a work trip to this cabin. The view from the porch is beautiful. This design was done by a Chilian member of the Appalachian Trail Club who is an architect and Ski Lodge designer. It shows.

Olive Green Cabin near Caledonia State Park and Camp David, the Presidential Resort. Olive Green was a real person like most other cabin namesakes but she lived in this cabin until the late 1960's when she passed away.

Pocosin Cabin in Shenandoah Nat. Park. This is one of the easiest cabins to get to in the park at less than one mile of hiking. It was an old cabin used by rangers and Civilian Conservation Corp members during construction of the park. Nearby, about 1 mile down the mountain is the remnant of a once active community now deserted due to park takeover. Interesting hike but the cabin gets little natural light due to location and is always dark. Will and I once stayed here and had to call the rangers to open the Parkway gate because the park was closed due to a snow storm. My 4X4 paid for itself that day. In spite of the potential danger of the storm it was a beautiful trip due to the snow. The cabin is small and tight and easy to heat to a nice toasty temp.

Range View Cabin is my daughter Mary's favorite cabin. A number of times she requested a trip to this cabin as a birthday present. It is all stone and very cold and hard to heat in winter. But, the view is beautiful and it is on a site that was once an apple orchard. A few bits of apple thrown into the field in front of the door pays off with DOZENS of deer in the morning :-)) Lots of water, short walk, beautiful view make up for the heating problems.

Wineberry Cabin. This cabin is the reason for my many trips to the Vining Tract. I did dozens of work trips to save this historic old cabin.

Corbin Cabin was another home of Mr Nicholson of Jones Mtn Cabin. He was a Moonshiner and the area of Nicholson Hollow this cabin sits in became known as "Free State Hollow" because no one including law enforcement people went into the area unless invited. My father, although not a member of the trail club, worked on the tin roof of this cabin in the early sixties or late fifties. I vaguely remember the tiring hike down and up the mountain. The 2 mile hike is vicious with a huge altitude change. However, the cabin sits next to Rose River (originally Rowe's River but mispelled by park mapmakers due to the "country accent" of the then owners) which is a beautiful little river with icy water even on the hottest of days.