Huts & Lodges: Big Meadows Lodge

GPS: 38°51'N 78°34'W

President Herbert Hoover, though no economic whiz, was wise enough to escape sweltering D.C. for the cool crest of the Blue Ridge on summer weekends. Hoover’s fishing getaway, Rapidan Camp, still stands just a short distance by trail from Big Meadows Lodge in Shenandoah National Park. Check in to the refined, vintage retreat (circa 1939)—request a view of the Shenandoah Valley—then lace up the boots: It’s off on a 7.4-mile (11.9-kilometer) circuit that stops by Hoover’s digs. Use the Mill Prong, Laurel Prong, and Appalachian Trails to complete the loop.

Vitals: $106; www.visitshenandoah.org

Originally published in the April 2008 edition of National Geographic Adventure

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