Key Observation Post

Signal Knob

This Civil War Trails interpretive sign overlooks the North Fork in Strasburg Town Park. It describes the significance of Signal Knob during campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley, and even tells you where to go if you want to hike up to the peak (knob). 

I find it interesting that they could communicate with distant signal stations using signal flags, lanterns, and telescopes. A Confederate General described the view in 1864: “What a splendid sight was before me....The vision was limited by the Blue Ridge on the right, the Alleghenies on the left...like a narrow ditch the Shenandoah wound its way through the plain at the foot of the mountain toward the Blue Ridge....The Valley Pike like a white ribbon lay along the center, the country roads looked like foot-paths, the woods looked like little parks, and the fields looked like little gardens....”

You can read the rest of the sign on Historical Marker Database. I have posted pictures of Signal Knob many times, especially when I lived where I had a view of it from the other side. 

Here’s how it looks from the entrance to the Town Park. 

Signal Knob is at the northern end of the Massanutten Range.