Sky Meadows State Park
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Sky Meadows State Park is a 1,862 acre park in the Virginia state park system. It is located in northern Virginia, about an hour outside of the Washington, D.C. metro region.
The park was formed when Paul Mellon donated 1,132 acres of land in 1975. It has has expanded its borders twice since then. 248 acres were added in 1987 containing the Appalachian Trail. In 1991 Mellon donated an additional 462 acres, bringing the park to its present size.
It is located near Paris, Va off US 17, one mile south of US 50 and seven miles north of Interstate 66.
It has a website: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/sky.shtml
It starts in a valley between the foothills and the Blue Ridge Mountains then has meadows and forests strecthing up to the ridge of the mountain and the Appalacian Trail. There is a primitive walk in campground, over 12 miles of hiking trails and 6 miles of bridal trails. The horse trails are East of US 17 and the hiking trails (and most of the park) is West of US 17
With a combination of meadows, grazed fields, forest, scrub and streams it has a wide variety of ecological zones.
Most of the year there are monthly "astronomy nights" where amateur astronomers bring their telescopes and use them to show attendees various celectial objects. Normally an astronomer from the Smithsonian Institution is among the leaders.
Except for "astronomy nights" the park closes at dusk and campers must be in the park and others out of the park at that time.
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| Protected Areas of Virginia Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation | Virginia Department of Forestry |
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|---|---|
| State Parks | Bear Creek Lake | Belle Isle | Chippokes Plantation | Claytor Lake | Douthat | Fairy Stone | False Cape | First Landing | Grayson Highlands | Holliday Lake | Hungry Mother | James River | Kiptopeke | Lake Anna | Mason Neck | Natural Tunnel | New River Trail | Occoneechee | Pocahontas | Sailor's Creek Battlefield | Shenandoah River | Sky Meadows | Smith Mountain Lake | Staunton River | Staunton River Battlefield | Twin Lakes | Westmoreland | Wilderness Road | York River |
| Historical State Parks | George Washington's Grist Mill | Shot Tower | Southwest Virginia Museum |
| State Natural Areas | Bethel Beach | Bush Mill Stream | Caledon | Goshen Pass | Hughlett Point | Lick Creek | Pinnacle |
| State Forests | Appomatox-Buckingham | Bourassa | Browne | Chilton Woods | Conway-Robinson | Crawfords | Cumberland | Devil's Backbone | Hawks | Lesesne | Matthews | Niday Place | Paul | Prince Edward-Gallion | Sandy Point | Whitney | Zoar |
| Other Affiliated Areas | Breaks Interstate Park | Chippokes Farm and Forestry Museum | Clinch Mountain Wildlife Management Area | Holliday Creek Trout Fishing Area | Tabb Monument |
