Humpback Rock
Encyclopedia
Humpback Rock is a massive greenstone outcrop near the peak of Humpback Mountain with a summit elevation of 3080 feet (938.8 m). The rock is so named for the visual effect of a "hump" it creates on the western face of the mountain. Humpback Rocks, along with a well maintained trail and visitors' center, are located in the Blue Ridge Mountains
near Waynesboro, Virginia
in Augusta County
and Nelson County
.
Located six miles (10 km) south of the northern entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway
, Humpback Rocks stands out from many other mountain summits in the Blue Ridge due to its exposed rocky summit, in contrast to the heavily vegetated peaks of surrounding mountains.
, Humpback Rocks is underlain by an enormous granite formation, created during the Grenville Orogeny
on the ocean floor about a billion years ago. About 400 million years after the Grenville Orogeny during the Catoctin Formation, basaltic magma was deposited, forming a layer of greenstone
over the granite. Over time, sand and rock sedimented on the ocean floor forming quartzite
and sandstone
deposits. Finally sedimentation of shells and skeletons of foraminifera
resulted in deposition of a layer of limestone
. Approximately 700 million years after the Grenville Oregny, the Iapetus Ocean began to close resulting in the Alleghenian Orogeny
where slabs of granite and rock were transported westward and eventually thrust up over the limestone bed around it, forming Humpback Rock and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
. Often the travelers camped at Humpback Gap. Nearby are the 795 acres (3.2 km²) of Humpback Rocks Recreation Area. Notable is the rock fence, reputedly built by slaves of a plantation owner, that separates the gap and Greenstone Overlook.
Shortly by, at milepost 5.8 are the Humpback Rocks.
The early European settlers of the Appalachian Mountains
forged a living from the native materials so abundant around them. Hickory
, chestnut
and oak trees provided nuts for food, logs for building and tannin
for curing hides, while the rocks were put to use as foundations and chimneys for the houses and in stone fences to control wandering livestock. Many self-sufficient farms sprang up in the Humpback Mountain area.
Today, visitors can tour a collection of 19th Century farm buildings. The Mountain Farm trail provides access to the cabin and various outbuildings. The area also houses a visitor center with new exhibits, a picnic area, and trails.
Hikers may continue to follow the Trail for 0.5 mile (0.80467 km), passing along the top of a cliff with views to the south and east before descending 1.2 miles (1.9 km) to a blue blaze trail. This trail leads 0.3 mile (0.482802 km) into the Humpback Rocks Picnic Area. The distance between Humpback Gap and the Humpback Rocks Picnic Area is 3.6 miles (5.8 km). A map of the hike and of the Humpback Gap Overlook is available through the Blue Ridge Parkway website.
Continuing past Humpback Rocks itself, the summit of Humpback Mountain is only a few minutes further. The Appalachian Trail
is only a short hike to the north, at milepost 6.
for 5.8 miles (9.3 km) to reach the Humpback Rocks Visitors Center, or continue another 0.2 mile (0.321868 km) to arrive at the Humpback Gap parking area on the left.
A map of the Blue Ridge Parkway
including Humpback Rocks can be found at the Texas Library webpage
a few miles south. Coming from the north on the Appalachian Trail
there is an AT shelter called The Paul C. Wolfe shelter.
can also be accessed from the Humpback Gap parking area. Southbound hikers can reach it by continuing south on the Humpback Rocks trail. Northbound hikers can reach it taking the one mile (1.6 km) blue blazed path at the northern end of the parking lot, or the one mile (1.6 km) white blazed path just off of the Howardsville Turnpike.
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
near Waynesboro, Virginia
Waynesboro, Virginia
Waynesboro, deriving its name from General Anthony Wayne, is an independent city surrounded by Augusta County in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 21,006 in 2010.....
in Augusta County
Augusta County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 65,615 people, 24,818 households, and 18,911 families residing in the county. The population density was 68 people per square mile . There were 26,738 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...
and Nelson County
Nelson County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 14,445 people, 5,887 households, and 4,144 families residing in the county. The population density was 31 people per square mile . There were 8,554 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile...
.
Located six miles (10 km) south of the northern entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway
Blue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. It runs for 469 miles , mostly along the famous Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains...
, Humpback Rocks stands out from many other mountain summits in the Blue Ridge due to its exposed rocky summit, in contrast to the heavily vegetated peaks of surrounding mountains.
Geology
As is the case for most of the surrounding mountains, such as Old Rag MountainOld Rag Mountain
Old Rag Mountain is a popular hiking destination with a summit elevation of , located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia's Madison County, near Sperryville....
, Humpback Rocks is underlain by an enormous granite formation, created during the Grenville Orogeny
Grenville orogeny
The Grenville Orogeny was a long-lived Mesoproterozoic mountain-building event associated with the assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia. Its record is a prominent orogenic belt which spans a significant portion of the North American continent, from Labrador to Mexico, as well as to Scotland...
on the ocean floor about a billion years ago. About 400 million years after the Grenville Orogeny during the Catoctin Formation, basaltic magma was deposited, forming a layer of greenstone
Greenschist
Greenschist is a general field petrologic term applied to metamorphic or altered mafic volcanic rock. The term greenstone is sometimes used to refer to greenschist but can refer to other rock types too. The green is due to abundant green chlorite, actinolite and epidote minerals that dominate the...
over the granite. Over time, sand and rock sedimented on the ocean floor forming quartzite
Quartzite
Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...
and sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
deposits. Finally sedimentation of shells and skeletons of foraminifera
Foraminifera
The Foraminifera , or forams for short, are a large group of amoeboid protists which are among the commonest plankton species. They have reticulating pseudopods, fine strands of cytoplasm that branch and merge to form a dynamic net...
resulted in deposition of a layer of limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. Approximately 700 million years after the Grenville Oregny, the Iapetus Ocean began to close resulting in the Alleghenian Orogeny
Alleghenian orogeny
The Alleghenian orogeny or Appalachian orogeny is one of the geological mountain-forming events that formed the Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny Mountains. The term and spelling Alleghany orogeny was originally proposed by H.P. Woodward in 1957....
where slabs of granite and rock were transported westward and eventually thrust up over the limestone bed around it, forming Humpback Rock and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Humpback Gap Overlook
From 1851 until the early 1900s wagoners hauling cargo used the bygone road Howardsville Turnpike to go between Howardsville and the Shenandoah ValleyShenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
. Often the travelers camped at Humpback Gap. Nearby are the 795 acres (3.2 km²) of Humpback Rocks Recreation Area. Notable is the rock fence, reputedly built by slaves of a plantation owner, that separates the gap and Greenstone Overlook.
Shortly by, at milepost 5.8 are the Humpback Rocks.
The early European settlers of the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
forged a living from the native materials so abundant around them. Hickory
Hickory
Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as hickory, derived from the Powhatan language of Virginia. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and big nuts...
, chestnut
Chestnut
Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...
and oak trees provided nuts for food, logs for building and tannin
Tannin
A tannin is an astringent, bitter plant polyphenolic compound that binds to and precipitates proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.The term tannin refers to the use of...
for curing hides, while the rocks were put to use as foundations and chimneys for the houses and in stone fences to control wandering livestock. Many self-sufficient farms sprang up in the Humpback Mountain area.
Today, visitors can tour a collection of 19th Century farm buildings. The Mountain Farm trail provides access to the cabin and various outbuildings. The area also houses a visitor center with new exhibits, a picnic area, and trails.
Hiking
Overview
Hiking Humpback Rocks is a relatively short hike following a 2 miles (3.2 km) trail loop. With a roughly 45 minute hike to ascend 740 feet (225.6 m) to the peak, and a 20-25 minute descent, this ranks as one of the shorter hikes along the Blue Ridge, however it remains one of the most rewarding. The peak affords a spectacular 360 degree view of the surrounding terrain. To the north you can see into the southern section of Shenandoah National Park, to the east check out the patchwork of farms, to the southwest you see thick woods and mountain ridges of the George Washington National Forest.Hikers may continue to follow the Trail for 0.5 mile (0.80467 km), passing along the top of a cliff with views to the south and east before descending 1.2 miles (1.9 km) to a blue blaze trail. This trail leads 0.3 mile (0.482802 km) into the Humpback Rocks Picnic Area. The distance between Humpback Gap and the Humpback Rocks Picnic Area is 3.6 miles (5.8 km). A map of the hike and of the Humpback Gap Overlook is available through the Blue Ridge Parkway website.
Continuing past Humpback Rocks itself, the summit of Humpback Mountain is only a few minutes further. The Appalachian Trail
Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...
is only a short hike to the north, at milepost 6.
Directions
The Humpback Rocks Visitors Center is located at milemarker 5.8, a leisurely six miles south of the Rockfish Gap Interchange of I-64 and US 250. It is most easily accessed by either one of these two highways. Head south on the Blue Ridge ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. It runs for 469 miles , mostly along the famous Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains...
for 5.8 miles (9.3 km) to reach the Humpback Rocks Visitors Center, or continue another 0.2 mile (0.321868 km) to arrive at the Humpback Gap parking area on the left.
A map of the Blue Ridge Parkway
Blue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. It runs for 469 miles , mostly along the famous Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains...
including Humpback Rocks can be found at the Texas Library webpage
Camping
Camping is available nearby in the Sherando Lake Recreation Area in the George Washington National Forest off the Blue Ridge ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. It runs for 469 miles , mostly along the famous Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains...
a few miles south. Coming from the north on the Appalachian Trail
Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...
there is an AT shelter called The Paul C. Wolfe shelter.
Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian TrailAppalachian Trail
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...
can also be accessed from the Humpback Gap parking area. Southbound hikers can reach it by continuing south on the Humpback Rocks trail. Northbound hikers can reach it taking the one mile (1.6 km) blue blazed path at the northern end of the parking lot, or the one mile (1.6 km) white blazed path just off of the Howardsville Turnpike.