Theme: Park. Place: Seven Bends.

City Daily Photo June Theme: Park

I've followed the progress of the new Seven Bends State Park since I first spotted it near Woodstock on Google Maps. The Park did not really exist then; all I could find was a No Trespassing sign at the end of Lupton Road. But in the years since, the park has taken shape and is now officially open. The ribbon cutting did not take place due to the pandemic lockdown, but work continued.

Now signs are in place, parking fees are charged, and trail maps are available.

The main attractions of the park are the river and the hiking trails. The river is the North Fork of the Shenandoah and kayaking, canoeing, and fishing are popular.

The park is named for the "Seven Bends of the Shenandoah River." a river that bends and turns due to the geology of the river. I'm sure there are actually more than seven bends but that's all you see at one time if you look down from Massanutten Mountain.

I am a member of the Friends of Seven Bends State Park.

Sharing with Blue Monday, Through My Lens, and Mosaic Monday.

Seven Bends State Park Will Open Soon!

Our newest state park will open to the public later this month. Construction on Phase One is complete and facilities will open after they pass inspection. The official Ribbon Cutting will be later, perhaps in early spring. 

Seven Bends State Park has two vehicle entrances. (You can also enter by canoe or by hiking.)  The first photo shows the view at the Hollingsworth Road entrance. This is past Muse Vineyards near Woodstock. 

North Fork of the Shenandoah from the low-water bridge.

When the river reaches flood stage, you will not be able to reach the park except possibly by hiking. There is a swinging bridge that people use to reach Muse Vineyards when the low-water bridge is flooded.

Entrance to Stairway down to the Bridge.

The Swinging Bridge Seen from Hollingsworth Road.

Now let's go to the Lupton Road entrance. We drive down a narrow road and cross the river on another low bridge. Enter the park and we see a curved fence which once enclosed a pony ring when the property was Camp Lupton, a summer camp used by Massanutten Military Academy. The old camp buildings were demolished except for a small pony barn.

Sharing with Fences Around the World.

A small picnic shelter has been completed. There are restrooms next to it but they are waiting inspection.

Corn is still being farmed here for now.

The main recreational activities in the first phase of the park will be hiking, fishing, and canoeing. The narrow roads into the park limit vehicles to a fairly small size so there are no plans for RV camping.

I took these photos on October 1st and the weather was unseasonably hot so I did not walk around very much.

Some people were fishing in the river.


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The park is named for seven of the turns in the Shenandoah River, probably for the seven bends that you can see from Woodstock Tower. There are many more bends in the river, both in this North Fork and also in the South Fork on the other side of the Massanutten Range. After the two forks join near Front Royal, there are even more bends before it reaches the Potomac.

Some History of Camp Lupton

A week ago, I stopped by Seven Bends State Park and found a new sign that tells a bit about the park's history. It is on the Lupton Road side of the park near the former pony barn.

I took some close-up shots of the text on the sign. I typed a few excerpts for you, but first take a look at the machine I saw that rolls down the new gravel on a trail.

"Massanutten Military Academy acquired the land in 1930... The Academy farm included a farmhouse, multiple barns with outbuildings, a smoke house, and a well house. It not only provided provisions to Massanutten Military Academy, it also housed horses that the cadets used for riding lessons. The horse stables are the only remains of the original farm that is now a portion of Seven Bends State Park, but other remnants can still be spotted over the entire landscape."

"Observe the Seven Bends State Park's LOVE sign that is erected in the exact location of the original Funkhouser barn and is the perfect model to preserve and showcase the park's deep agricultural history. The LOVE sign stands over six feet tall and each letter weighs over 150lbs. It was constructed with salvaged timbers and beams from the 1800s era bank barn that was originally built by the Funkhousers. Notice the many hand crafted details of the original beams that are still intact hundreds
of years later."

On Sunday I returned to the park to help with an event at the LOVE sign. Hardly anyone showed up because it was windy and cold. Joan, who decorated the sign for Mother's Day, took my picture. I took a picture of the sign from an angle because I have plenty of pictures of this sign already.

Joan had brought some decals and other items with her. I rarely put stickers on my car but I liked the one below so much that it is on the rear window. 

My Post from 3 years ago includes some of the buildings that are now gone.

A Seven Bends Assortment

Seven Bends State Park

1. Here's the LOVE sign in black and white. The state of Virginia has a tourism slogan "Virginia is for Lovers," so you can see variations on this sign throughout the state. 

2. I taken many photos at the park so I combined some into collages using the FotoJet site and Photoshop. (I'm afraid this looks "busy" in this small version so click on it to see the scenes more clearly.) 

3. The park offers good views of the sky.

4. North Fork of the Shenandoah with reflections, seen from the Bass Bight Trail. (A bight is a cove in the river. I wouldn't be surprised if the bass bite in the bight!)

5. One more collage. 

Named for the bends in the Shenandoah River, Seven Bends State Park is on the east side of Woodstock. It offers river access, picnic tables, and hiking trails. It is a new park and more features will come in the future, including a rustic-themed playground.

 

Views from the Effinger Trail

The Effinger Trail in Woodstock's Riverview Park consists of two loops, each a third of a mile long. The trail was muddy on the day we visited and we only walked the first loop. It's fairly level as far as the viewpoint shown here, where you look down on the North Fork of the Shenandoah. After that the trail heads downhill into a ravine where the second loop starts at a footbridge. The first loop heads upwards for a short but steep climb back to the starting point.

The low-water bridge crossing the river leads to Seven Bends State Park... almost! The park is not open yet, but you'll see it on maps. I hope the bridge will be replaced! A low-water bridge is only passable when the river is low, and the Shenandoah is known to flood at times.

The 1,066-acre park will feature nearly four miles of river frontage. "Seven Bends" is an old term referring to the many bends of the river, but there are more than seven.

October 2011 Press Release: Seven Bends State Park Dedicated

Frank on the Effinger Trail, Shenandoah County, VA

Something New at Seven Bends State Park

Our local state park has a new feature that I will explain to you in a few seconds. After we explore that, we’ll see what’s blooming in the children’s garden.

What’s new is that the natural play space has finally opened near the Hollingsworth Road entrance. It has been under construction for a long time, and after the work was completed, a safety inspection had to be done.

Here we see a tunnel that children can crawl through and a shortened version of the Woodstock Tower. 

The tower is pretty irresistible. Small children should be accompanied by an adult because climbing down may be scarier than going up.

From the tower you can look down and see how the path curves back and forth like the bends of the Shenandoah. The park was named for these bends. Small hills were built in this play area and the tower stands on one that represents the Massanutten mountains.

A small but varied garden is near the play area. it is in full bloom and attracting pollinators.

Seven Bends State Park 

A Stop at Seven Bends

Map on Car Navigation System

Construction is underway at the Rivers Way Play Space in Seven Bends State Park. I stopped by there in mid-April to take a look. There was a pipe, heavy equipment, recently moved earth, and plenty of mud from recent rains.

On the map above, we see some of the bends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah. As you can see, there are more than seven, but seven is about all you can see at one time if you are looking down from Massanutten Mountain. 

I walked a little way on a trail by the river. The water was high and some branches were touching it, making ripples.

There were bluebells and other wildflowers blooming. When I turned to head back to the parking area, I found I was facing into the wind. That was chilly!

View more photos after these links.

Seven Bends State Park
Black and White Weekend
Friday Bliss
Garden Affair
Floral Friday
Skywatch