There are literal Meadows in the sky at Sky Meadows State Park!
It’s no secret that I love a good state park, but one park that recently blew me away is Sky Meadows State Park!
After waking up one fall morning, I rolled over and said to Heidi Joy, “I want to get outside but I need a new park destination!”
It was the time of year when you go to witness the leaves go through their seasonal change OR just to get a break from the stimuli that is technology, both accurate in this case. No matter your reason, Sky Meadows provides that level of respite you are looking for complete with breathtaking views!
After breakfast, we jumped into Lil Sippa and started to head North toward Warrenton. After a quick AllTrails search, I locked in on Sky Meadows, as it was around 45 mins from our current location.
Before hitting the trails our stomachs told us it was lunch time so we drove around looking for somewhere to stop. After driving for about 5-10 mins we ended up in Upperville, VA (about 2-3 miles away from the park entrance). There we found a kitchen market by the name of The Market at Bluewater. What a Gem! Family-owned and operated, The Market at Bluewater is the headquarters for Bluewater Kitchen Catering & Events. In the Market they provide quick, high-quality daily made grab & go prepared meals, key grocery items, craft beer, and locally curated goods.
In addition to the wide assortment, The Market also boasts an extensive menu of farm-to-table fare from chicken sandwiches to the special that we ordered: the Sheepshead Fish Sandwich. Complete with house-made pico, avo, and special sauce all on a deliciously buttered brioche roll… it got DEMOLISHED!! Talk about a tasty sandwich, we straight destroyed it, with, “Yoooo’s” and “Yums” after each bite. Nothing from that meal was safe, all the way down to the last crispy snicklefrit fry in our box. Not only did we crush that but we also scooped a snack ham biscuit to save for the trail and a loaf of rustic bread for snackingtons on the way home.
Sky Meadows State Park is a 1,862-acre park in the Virginia State Park system located in Delaplane, VA or more specifically the most extreme northwest Fauquier County, Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains, near Paris, Virginia. It is about an hour outside of the Washington, D.C. metro region. Within it, you can find exactly as its name states… Meadows in the SKY! While most parks I have visited in Virginia boast a beautiful bounty of trees and trails, streams and ponds- Sky Meadows has those as well as meadows & working grazing fields complete with big beautiful cows! That’s right, cows! One key differentiator between this park and other state parks in Virginia is the 200 or so cattle living at the park.
The park was formed when Paul Mellon donated 1,132 acres of land back in 1975. But has expanded twice! Once in 1987 when 248 acres (which contains the Appalachian Trail) were added and again in 1991 when Mellon donated an additional 462 acres bringing the park to its present size. While these meadows are literally in the sky, the name Sky Meadows actually came from former owner Sir Robert Hadow, who named the property "Skye Farm" after an island in Scotland.
While visiting you’ll see open pastures with cattle grazing, as well as corn and pumpkins growing in the fields, and beehives all maintained as an active farm by the Park Rangers just as Paul Mellon intended when he donated the land.
After arriving we of course made sure to pay our parking fee (always remember to pay your state park fee!) and then started our adventure on the Lost Mountain Trail. Wide open trails, perfect for horseback riding or a casual walk. We basically had the entire place to ourselves, other than maybe 3 other people. We wandered around, frolicked, and while Heidi Joy collected dried flowers I continued to be the “very best” and caught my share of bugs including a praying mantis! We decided to make our way back to the car in search of the visitor center to see if we could get another stamp for our Park Passport book… that is where, in my opinion, the best views are!
The Sky Meadows Loop, Piedmont Overlook, and South Ridge: Upon entering you’ll go through a wooden junction that has a sign to warn hikers about the active farm nature of the trail and the potential to spot said cows. After a moderately strenuous hike up the ridge (about half a mile), you reach a “summit” where you can see a sight marker that speaks about “Our Treasured Land” and gives insight around the Crooked Run Valley and a visual representation of where and how far different areas around the park are like Loudon County, Reston & Tysons. The views, the vieeews are amazing and worth the trek. We sat up there just soaking it all in and reflecting on life, especially considering at one point I actually used to a work corporate in Reston, VA.
On the way down from this remarkable view, you are met with a collective of beautiful bovine. We couldn’t hold in our excitement the whole time. Getting videos, taking selfies, and even attempting to feed them grass. They were all so cute and just as content as can be munching on their grass, completely unbothered by our presence. There are wooden benches scattered about too if you have the time to hang out.
Before heading out we made our way through the visitor center on the property which is actually housed in the backside of the historic Federal-style Mt. Bleak House, built in 1843 for merchant Abner H. Settle. Come to find out the park is actually partly situated in the Crooked Run Valley Historic District. The house was closed but we did get to peep the visitor center where there are a collection of maps, guides, animal pelts, a slider turtle, and also a collection of souvenirs and trail snacks. Leaving the visitor center Heidi Joy was pleased to see a community garden that is actually maintained by the staff and friends of the park.
We are happy to see more and more community gardens on our travels, as it cultivates community and a love for nature. Heidi Joy started a new garden this summer, growing zinnias, cosmos, marigolds, and sweet williams from seeds while having a few other plants she saved from the clearance section of Lowes like a hibiscus plant. She was STOKED to see this community garden overflowing with boldly bright and tall cosmos, it reminds me of how some of the most beautiful things in life are simple and free. There were also marigolds, some tomato plants, and what looked like maybe some kind of vines of zucchini/squash. The flowers are great sources of food for pollinators and so easy to grow. Heidi Joy likes to respectfully deadhead a few flowers to harvest a few seeds from our travels to add to her own garden, labeled by place of origin.
As for the passport stamp, I’m sure you are wondering if we got it… we did! Only because we helped ourselves into the Park Ranger's office (we did not know they were closed at this point) but thankfully we were greeted by a kind ranger who was nice enough to give us the stamp we were hunting for all along and not just kick us out… shouts to them!
This was a great park to come across especially considering when we first woke up we had no idea where we’d end up. But once there, the kid was super happy… just the kind of therapy I knew I needed that day, and man, did mommy nature really deliver!
Looking for more Virginia State Park Adventure? Check out our blog on Virginia’s Natural Bridge State Park!
Sources: https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/sky-meadowshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Meadows_State_Park