Swift Run Gap
| Swift Run Gap | |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 2,365 ft (721 m) |
| Traversed by |
 US 33
|
| Location |
Greene / Rockingham counties, Virginia, United States |
| Range | Blue Ridge Mountains |
| Coordinates | 38°21′25″N 78°32′42″W / 38.3570724°N 78.5450130°WCoordinates: 38°21′25″N 78°32′42″W / 38.3570724°N 78.5450130°W |
Swift Run Gap is a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains located in the U.S. state of Virginia.
At an elevation of 2,365 feet (721 m), it is the site of the mountain crossing of U.S. Highway 33 between the Piedmont region on the eastern side and the Shenandoah Valley (or Great Valley of Virginia) to the west.
Generally following the mountain ridge tops, the bucolic Skyline Drive, which is part of Shenandoah National Park, has an entry point at Swift Run Gap, and the Appalachian Trail also passes through nearby. The mountain ridge forms the border between Greene County and Rockingham County. Swift Run Gap lies along a drainage divide between southeast-flowing streams in the James River watershed and northwest-flowing streams that drain to the Shenandoah River system.
The bedrock beneath Swift Run Gap is 1.05 billion year old granitic rocks of the Blue Ridge basement complex. The type location for the Swift Run Formation, a Neoproterozoic metasedimentary unit, is approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of the gap. A steeply dipping, northwest-striking transverse fault cuts through Swift Run Gap, and differential erosion of the fractured bedrock along this fault may be responsible for the development of a gap at this location.
Swift Run Gap is a long-used and historic crossing in the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 1716, Royal Governor Alexander Spotswood of the Virginia Colony, with 62 other men and 74 horses, led a real estate speculation expedition up the Rapidan River valley during westward exploration of the interior of Virginia. The party reached the top of the Blue Ridge at Swift Run Gap on September 5, 1716. Upon descending into a portion of the Shenandoah Valley on the east side of Massanutten Mountain, they reached a point near the current town of Elkton, where they celebrated their arrival on the banks of the Shenandoah River with multiple volleys and special toasts of brandy and claret to the King and the Governor, naming a peak for each.
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