Burke's Garden

I first heard of Burke's Garden from my Computer Science & Math professor at Radford College back in the 1970's.  Only now have I taken the opportunity to visit the area.  What a gorgeous place!  Burke's Garden is a natural bowl not formed by volcanic activity  Rather, it was formed by the erosion of the sandstone in the middle leaving harder rock of the rim.

If you go, I highly recommend you gas up and visit restrooms in Tazewell.  There is nothing much in Burke's Garden.  We were lucky to find the Burke's Garden General Store open when we happened by. I recommend you stop there.  Lots of great items for sale. 

The Lost World Ranch raises Appaloosa Llamas in Burke's Garden.  To get there, take a left on SR 666.  Don't you just love that "666" name?  If Burke's Garden is God's Country, why do they have a road called "666?"  

Do take the time to do the full loop of the bowl to see as much as possible.  When done, do take the SR 623 out of the bowl to Ceres, VA.  Highly worth the effort!  Lots of great views of the valley.

Click on my photos below to see them in high resolution on Flickr.  You can view the photos in high resolution by clicking here!

Two Llamas at Lost World Ranch in Burke's Garden, VA

An Appaloosa Llama at Lost World Ranch

An Appaloosa Llama at Lost World Ranch

Many barns have signs on them.  This one sports a smiley face 8^)

Many of the barns and sheds have icons on their sides.  

Lots of cattle in Burke's Garden.  We also saw goats and horses.

The farms we saw there are in great shape.  The vast majority of the land is under active cultivation.  There was very little litter and no mobile homes or double-wides.  The population of Burke's Garden is approximately 250 people.

An Amish woman runs the Burke's Garden General Store.  We stopped in for some cold soft drinks.

A view of the eastern rim from Medley Valley Road.

Another view from Medley Valley Road.

Burke's Garden from SR 623 as we left the valley heading east.

Valley View from SR 623

A farm nestled in the valley.

Closer view of a farm from SR 623

You can view the entire set in high resolution by clicking here!

Lover's Leap - Patrick County, Virginia

We decided to take the southern route to Hungry Mother State Park from our home town of Midlothian, VA to minimize the time we would have to drive on I-81.  We took US 360 south west from Woodlake to US 58 at South Boston.  Turning onto US 58 west, we drove to Danville  where we took a break for lunch.  From Danville, we took US 58 west around Martinsville to Stuart in Patrick County.

Stuart is the county seat of Patrick County.  It is located at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  My parents lived in Stuart in the early to mid 1970's.  I often visited during my undergrad days at Radford College in Radford, and while I worked for Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.  We drove around town a bit and drove by our old house.

From Stuart, we climbed the mountain via US 58 to Meadows of Dan.  On the way up, we stopped at Lover's Leap Wayside for some awesome views of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Patrick County.  

Click on my photos below to see them in high resolution on Flickr.  You can view the photos in high resolution by clicking here!

The wayside gets its name from the Legend of Lover's Leap.  In the 1600's, a settler fell in love with a Chief's daughter, Morning Flower.  They were criticized and shunned by both the settlers and her tribe. To remain together, the couple leaped off this cliff to their deaths.  If you search the net, you will find many locations with the same name inspired by a similar tragic story.

At the top of the mountain on US 58 is Woolwine and Meadows of Dan.  Gorgeous farm country on a plateau.  We continued on to Hillsville where we picked up I-77 for a short stretch to I-81 South.  We finished the journey by taking I-81 South to US 11 at Marion and Park Blvd to Hungry Mother State Park.