Grayson Highlands State Park
| Grayson Highlands State Park | |
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Along Highland Trail
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 Map of Virginia
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| Location | Grayson County, Virginia |
| Coordinates | 36°37′45″N 81°30′52″W / 36.62917°N 81.51444°WCoordinates: 36°37′45″N 81°30′52″W / 36.62917°N 81.51444°W |
| Area | 4,822 acres (1,951 ha) |
| Established | 1965 |
| Governing body | Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation |
| Grayson Highlands State Park | |
| Designated | 1974 |
Grayson Highlands State Park is located in Virginia, United States, adjacent to Mount Rogers National Recreation Area. The park lies within Jefferson National Forest. The park was established in 1965 and contains a total of 4,822 acres (19.51 km²). The park hosts a number of outdoor activities including fishing/boating, hiking, camping, mountainbiking, horseback riding, and backpacking. A 2.8 mile (4.5 km) portion of the Appalachian Trail runs through the park in addition to a number of other hiking and horseback riding trails. The state park is musically notable as the home for the Grayson Highlands Fall Festival as well as weekly jam sessions by local folk musicians, who draw upon the traditional styles of the Blue Ridge area. The park is also home to the Wayne C. Henderson Festival and Guitar Competition, a regionally important festival and guitarist contest named for local notable guitar-maker Wayne Henderson.
The park also has a campground cabin store with candies and ice cream inside.
The park hosts forests like those on nearby Mount Rogers, as well as a number of mountain meadows or balds. These meadows provide excellent views of the surrounding area and present a striking change in scenery from the surrounding forests. The balds are dominated by large rocky outcroppings clear of vegetation excepting the occasional windswept tree and low grasses.
The balds are inhabited by a herd of introduced ponies allowed to run wild within the confines of the park. The ponies are very accustomed to humans and rarely halt their grazing as hikers pass close by. Many locals touch and feed the ponies, though this practice is frowned upon and against park policy. Each year, park officials round up the herd and check for health problems in addition to reducing the herd size if necessary; the excess colts are sold at auction.
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