The Old Wildcat Road - Backroads Tour

By Bob Heafner © 1985

Issue: February, 1985

Mayberry Presbyterian Church, mile 00.0 on our BACKROAD Tour, "The Old Wildcat Road."BACKROADS tours always make a complete loop back to the point where we started. The underlined numbers at the beginning of each paragraph indicate the total number of miles we've traveled from our point of beginning. The numbers in parenthesis ( ) indicate the distance from the last point of interest that we passed.

By all means bring along your camera and plenty film.

This tour will begin at the intersection of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Virginia state road 600. This intersection is located in Mayberry, Virginia just south of Parkway Mile Post 180 and 2.4 miles south of Meadows of Dan, Virginia. The entire tour will cover a distance of only 3.3 miles and will require approximately 20 minutes to complete. While this is a short drive, it is extremely pretty and enjoyable. Many of the farms we will pass have remained in the same family for over 100 years and the rolling meadows and trout streams are among the finest in the Blue Ridge.

00.0 (0.0) Traveling south on the Blue Ridge Parkway, we will turn right onto state road 600 just after passing Parkway Mile Post 180. Mayberry Presbyterian Church will be on the left side of the Parkway as we turn right.

00.1 (0.1) At this intersection, state road 747 turns left, but we will bear to our right and continue to follow state road 600.

00.2 (0.1) The old tumbled down house on our left was built with timbers taken from the old Scott homeplace which once stood between Mayberry Trading Post and the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Scott family once owned the Trading Post and Simon Scott once operated a tannery and a brick kiln in Mayberry. An exhibit of his work and tools are on display at Mabry Mill.

00.5 (0.3) The old house on the left is the Vol Reynolds place. Our readers will recall hearing of Mr. Reynolds in stories written by John Hassell Yeatts which have appeared in past issues of The Mountain Laurel.

00.9 (0.4) Here we will turn right and continue to follow state road 600. This portion of state road 600 was one of the first roads in the area and was known as the "Wildcat Road."

01.2 (0.3) The farm on our left is the home of Miss Addie Wood. This property has been in Miss Addie's family for over 100 years and it was in this house that Miss Addie was born. Miss Addie operates Mayberry Trading Post.

01.4 (0.2) Here we cross Round Meadow Creek.

01.9 (0.5) At this stop sign we will turn right onto the Blue Ridge Parkway.

02.4 (0.5) As we approach the bridge over Round Meadow Creek, there is a pull-over and parking spaces to our right. If you have time, we recommend taking the short hiking trail which leads from this parking area to Round Meadow Creek. The trail makes a loop and is well marked and it is a beautiful short hike beneath towering evergreen trees and rhododendrons. Round Meadow Creek offers excellent trout fishing as well as picturesque rapids for those who wish to enjoy the scenery.

03.3 (0.9) We are now back to our point of beginning at the intersection of state road 600 and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We hope that you enjoy this BACKROAD tour as much as we did.