James Wamsley
Highland County, Virginia

Drive west from Staunton, Virginia, on U.S. 250, and soon you’ll reach an ethereal overlook where mountains tumble to the horizon like frozen, giant waves. The view from 3,670-foot [1,119-meter] Shenandoah Mountain into Highland County, a scene of pure Allegheny wilderness, is not misleading. Highland’s rugged.

Only 2,500 populate a spare, tidy culture of sheep farming, maple sugar refining, and blindingly white frame houses. The towns of McDowell and Monterey chime with 19th-century echoes. Highland County calls me like a severe, but hauntingly seductive, siren of the hills. Visit and be smitten.

James Wamsley is author of The Brandywine Valley.