Fairy Stone State Park
Virginia State Park; One Of The Six Original 1936 Parks, The Largest Of Them, Built By The Civilian Conservation Corps And Named For Its Staurolite Crystals · Stuart, Virginia
The largest of the six parks that opened on 15 June 1936, nearly five thousand acres of Patrick County woodland around a hundred-and-sixty-eight-acre lake, and the only state park in America named after a mineral. The mineral is staurolite, which crystallises in this part of the Blue Ridge foothills in twinned forms that come out of the ground as almost perfect crosses - Roman, Maltese or St Andrew's - and which local tradition holds are the tears fairies wept on hearing of the death of Christ. Theodore Roosevelt is supposed to have carried one. Finding them is the reason many people come, and here is the thing the park website says and most visitors miss: the collecting site is NOT inside the park. It is a separate roadside area operated by the park a short drive away, and you cannot dig for them on park land. Beyond the crystals the park is a full CCC-built resort in miniature - a lake with a sand beach and a bath house, cabins, camping, boat rental, and a trail network through hardwood that is quiet almost all year.
967 Fairystone Lake Drive, Stuart, Virginia, 24171, United States
Park open daily, generally 8 AM to dusk with shorter winter gate hours. Beach, bath house, boat rental and camp store are SEASONAL, mainly June to August. Cabins and camping by reservation. Separate charge for the beach. THE FAIRY STONE COLLECTING SITE IS OUTSIDE THE PARK and keeps its own hours - ask at the visitor centre for current directions before setting out.
Fairy Stone State Park on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos