Grayson Highlands State Park is a state park located in Grayson County, Virginia, United States. It is adjacent to the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area and lies within the Jefferson National Forest. The park was established in 1965 and contains a total of 4,502 acres (1,822 ha). The park hosts a number of outdoor activities including hiking, camping, mountainbiking, horseback riding, and backpacking. A 2.8 mile (4.5 km) portion of the Appalachian Trail runs through the park in addition to a number of other hiking and horseback riding trails. The state park is musically notable as the home for the Grayson Highlands Fall Festival as well as weekly jam sessions by local folk musicians, who draw upon the traditional styles of the Blue Ridge area. The park is also home to the Wayne C. Henderson Festival and Guitar Competition, a regionally important festival and guitarist contest named for local notable guitar-maker Wayne Henderson.Plan your Grayson Highlands State Park visit and explore what else you can see and do in Mouth of Wilson using our Mouth of Wilson travel route planner.
The park also has a campground cabin store with candies and ice cream inside.
The park hosts forests like those on nearby Mount Rogers, as well as a number of mountain meadows or balds. These meadows provide excellent views of the surrounding area and present a striking change in scenery from the surrounding forests. The balds are dominated by large rocky outcroppings clear of vegetation excepting the occasional windswept tree and low grasses.
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Grayson Highlands State Park reviews
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Came up for a race and had so much fun running the trails and seeing the abundance of wildlife and views. The ponies are wild but many will walk right up to you. The abundance of trails including the.... more »
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Saw the wild horses and hiked the trails....one of a kind experiences in life. We were in site 22 plenty of room for our 28 ft. gray wolf. Hike to Little Pinnacle (behind visitors center) to see a..... more »
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If I can give this place 100 stars I would. My favorite place to seek nature and solitude used to be Spruce Knob area in West Va. My favorite place to see hiking trails with beautiful vistas used to be The Great Smokey Mountains. I say used to be, because after visiting Grayson Highlands for the first time, I can truly say I have found what both places have to offer in one spot, AND closer to home! Where do I start? First, this park is not that crowded, in fact when I went it was almost empty. I find that places like this will get more and more popular as people provide good reviews like mine, and while I'd love to keep it a secret, I feel that people should know how magical this place really is. Imagine hiking up to a mountain top, with open fields, wild horses, cows and bulls, blackberries and blueberries growing in the wild to pick and eat freely. Of course there's more to it than that. I am not going to be able to really explain why this place is a bucket list type of visit, other than to say, just GO! Pack your bags, a tent and some gear and go. You won't be sorry. The area around it is really nice as well, and I think I found where I'd like to retire someday!
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Absolutely wonderful state park for all travelers! Very friendly options for families with kids (even with camping options!), great longer hikes for more experienced hikers, and links right to the AT for backpacking options. Wonderful views - the trees were just starting to turn and I imagine it's gorgeous in the full of fall! We hiked a while to see some of the wild ponies, it's luck of the draw on where to see them but it's pretty fun. We also saw more than a dozen turkeys, too! The visitors center is well done, too. Smiles all around!
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