GRAYSON COUNTY

Grayson County is known as the Rooftop of Virginia because the highest peaks in Virginia are amidst the mountains in the western end of the county. Situated on the border of North Carolina, west of I-77 and south of I-81, Grayson County’s rural landscape is bisected by Route 58 running the length of the county and by Route 21 moving traffic north and south through the area. These highways meet and cross in the county seat of Independence, a small town with a magnificent century-old historic courthouse devoted to preserving the history and legacy of the county for future generations.

In addition to the spectacular highland scenery, the county is further defined by the New River which winds its 45 mile way from the community of Mouth of Wilson to the charming little historic mill town of Fries and the start of the New River Trail along the New River. The Blue Ridge Parkway crosses the southeast corner of Grayson County bringing nature lovers and bird watchers from all across the country. And speaking of roads and trails, this county is host to some of the best hiking, biking, horseback riding and birding arteries in the eastern part of America. A spectacular section of the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail marches along the peaks of Grayson County connecting the New River Trail State Park and the Virginia Creeper Trail. While you are in the western mountains of Grayson County, don’t miss the terrifc scenery and the hiking, biking, camping and horseback riding in one of the most pristine state parks in the nation, Grayson Highlands State Park. And all of these aforementioned attractions are stars on the Western VA Birding and Wildlife Trail, a must-see for nature lovers.

Grayson County, to quote the local pickers, is a ”hotbed of musicians.” For more than 200 years their music has floated off the porches to mingle with the mountain breezes of the Blue Ridge Highlands. The production and reproduction of musical talent has been the work of this county for generations. The Crooked Road travels the entire length of the county occasionally following along the New River and then climbing in hairpin turns to the high country. Starting in the east, your first stop should be the Blue Ridge Music Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Enjoy concerts every weekend throughout the summer, plus pre-concert jam sessions.

Following The Crooked Road westward, you will come to the luthier shop of Wayne Henderson, where you can watch him make guitars and perhaps listen to an impromptu jam session with Wayne and his friends.

A ways up the mountain you’ll pass Mt. Rogers Combined School (K-12) where the “band” boasts fiddles and banjos, not trumpets and tubas. It is the only school in the state with a music program devoted to the mountain music that is bred in the bones of the young musicians.

For musicians and music lovers, there are three fiddlers’ conventions each year in Grayson County including the Fairview Ruritan’s Fiddler’s Convention, the Grayson County Fiddler’s Convention, the Fries Fiddler’s Convention and then don’t forget the Wayne C. Henderson Music Festival and Guitar Competition. Grayson County has more than 50 vacation rentals, cabins and cottages, a motel and six B&B’s. Plus eateries along The Crooked Road that often offer live music along with good country cooking. Come stay with us – and play with us.