Virginia State Route 252 is 29.06 miles of country road pieced together from bridle paths and stagecoach routes. Though not established as a turnpike until 1851 (Arbor Hill toll gate charged 10 cents per wagon), a road connecting Staunton to Lexington appears as early as 1807 on a map commissioned by James Madison.
Today, the route begins just north of Lexington in Rockbridge County. It winds its bucolic way into Augusta County, passing through several tiny hamlets that once were trading posts or stagecoach stops, until it reaches its terminus in downtown Staunton. Those stagecoaches are long gone (as are the tolls), but something about this winding road transports the traveler to another era: an era of one-room schoolhouses, local grocers, and antebellum homes.
It also transports you to a burgeoning region of Virginia wine country and a new wine trail: The RT 252 Turnpike Wine and History Trail!
The number of wineries along, or not far from, Route 252 is growing, and why not spend a weekend to visit them all? A word to the wise: there is not a single gas station or restaurant along the route (though there is a butcher called The Meating Place that sometimes has a food truck out front, and a general store in Middlebrook that will sell you a soda and some snacks if you are lucky enough to catch it open.) So tank up your car, fill your picnic hamper, and slip back in time!
(Note: A leisurely ride up RT 252 sans stops takes around 45 minutes. For a faster route back, I-81 runs parallel, and it has plenty of gas stations and fast food.)
Just north of Lexington, Route 252 (in Rockbridge County known as Brownsburg Turnpike) begins where it branches from Route 39, also known as the Maury River Road, itself a meandering drive worth the views of the river that runs alongside it.
By an odd coincidence, this picture has something in common with the final picture in part 2 of this blog. After part 2 is posted, see if you can find the similarity.
But let’s start a little south of this intersection at Lexington Valley Vineyards, family owned and operated since 1999. Lexington Valley offers cool climate vinifera varieties along with hybrids and a native variety Norton. They offer a snack baskets!
(As with all wineries and businesses along the route, check the websites for open hours before setting out. Lexington Valley Vineyards it is about a fourteen-minute drive south of the beginning of Route 252. Check for directions. In fact, you may want to download off-line maps of the entire journey as there is limited cell reception in the area.)
Back at the 39/252 intersection, we commence north on 252. We quickly reach a place ironically called Bustleburg.
One could slip past Bustleburg with barely a blink. Was this place once a beehive of activity, as the Richard Scarry sounding name suggests? Or did the founder, Ollie T. Wade, who opened a general store there in 1928 (possibly the store in the picture?) name the burg to entice potential settlers, in the manner of Eric the Red naming Greenland? Try googling “Bustleburg, Virginia.” Practically nothing will come up. Except maybe this blog.
For a pleasant detour, at the entrance to Bustleburg turn left onto Decatur Rd and head east for two miles until you reach Lavender Fields at Tantivy Farm (open Friday – Saturday) for lavender fields, workshops, and lavender related gifts.
If you continue on Decatur Rd, you will reach US 11 South (Lee Highway) which will lead you to signs for Ecco Adesso Vineyards.
(There are definitely more direct routes to Ecco Adesso from I 81, but we’re smelling the roses, remember?)
You won’t regret this detour! Ecco Adesso is owned by the Weatherly family, who discovered this stunning site on the west side of the Blue Ridge Mountains during the COVID lockdown. Their love of all things Tuscan can be seen in the architecture. Ecco Adesso often collaborates with a winery in Italy as well as its sister winery, Williamsburg Winery, here in Virginia.
Now let’s hop back onto 252 where we left off and continue north towards Brownsburg. We’ll wind in and out of pastures and wooded road.
This stretch of RT 252 parallels Cedar Branch Creek, which feeds into the Maury River. Cedar Branch Creek’s source is just south of Brownsburg.
After a mere 4 miles for travel from Bustleburg we enter Brownsburg. As the historic marker says, the town was established in 1793 as a stagecoach stop. The Nicholas Spring’s Tavern, which was built in 1834 as a stagecoach stop, is a beautiful log structure. Since it is now a private residence, I do not have it pictured here, but you will see it on the right just as you enter Brownsburg.
While small, like all communities along 252, Brownsburg is loaded with charm and history; it even has a museum, open by appointment. Love log homes? Brownsburg hosts several. Can you spot one peeking onto the street in the picture below?
Brownsburg has a lovely website complete with a suggested walking tour.
And here is a news video about the Brownsburg Old Country Store museum.
As you are leaving Brownsburg you come to an intersection with Hays Creek Road, Route 724, to the left. This road intersects with idyllic Walkers Creek Road, Route 602, which take you to Jump Mountain Vineyards!
Notice the distinctive shape of the mountain behind the winery in the picture below. That is Jump Mountain. It can be seen from several locations along Route 252, and the vineyard is situated on its slope.
As might be expected, there is a Native American legend involving love and death (the authenticity of which is a point of some controversy) associated with the mountain’s name. The legend is that a Cherokee chief told his lover to wait for him to return from battle. When she received word of his death, she jumps off the mountain to her own death. Click on this academic journal article which takes issue with the legend.
Run entirely by a husband-and-wife team, Mary Hughes and David Vermillion, Jump Mountain Vineyards is well worth the visit. The couple planted their first vines in 2008 and produced their first bottle in 2012. They have a Cabernet Sauvignon, a rarity in the Shenandoah Valley!
Back on 252, heading north. We are now traveling along to Hayes Creek.
This bank barn is a German design called a Sweitzer barn. The design dates to the 1700s and is common primarily in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley and in Pennsylvania. Usually built against a bank, or slope, with level access to both the bottom stalls on one side of the structure and upper-level hay storage on the other side, the Sweitzer barn is typified by an overhang on one end over the foundation. Everything looks tired in this picture, which was taken in late summer.
Between Brownsburg and the village of Newport is the Route 606 turnoff to Raphine. Turn right onto 606, Raphine Road, to reach your next winery, Rockbridge Vineyards and Brewery.
(If you are coming from the north, you will see an earlier 606 turnoff to your right. That will not take you to Raphine. Take the next 606 turn which will be a left.)
Rockbridge Vineyards is one of the oldest wineries in the Shenandoah Valley. Here you will find both dry and sweeter wines, and yes, beer!
Winemaker Shepherd Rouse and his wife Jane Millott-Rouse founded Rockbridge Winery in 1992. Shep had already established himself as a fine winemaker in other Virginia wineries before he took the leap to start his own establishment. Enjoy the wines around the fire pit on a chilly day or step on over to their brewery!
Afterwards, or beforehand, be sure to visit Wade’s Mill, the state’s oldest continuously operating commercial grist mill (founded 1750), along the way.
Or perhaps you’d like to hike St. Mary’s Wilderness Hike , an out-and-back trail running just over five miles, where you can enjoy swimming holes and waterfalls. If you want to hike, be sure to bring appropriate shoes—rocks at the river crossing are often slippery!
When you return to 252 and head north you will parallel the path of yet another creek, Moffatts Creek.
As you may have noticed, an abundance of creeks run along this corridor. Here we have a cow grazing along Moffatts Creek.
Along this stretch, we cross from Rockbridge County into Augusta County, and the name of Route 252 changes from Brownsburg Turnpike to Middlebrook Road.
We will continue our journey north on scenic Route 252 in part two of this blog.
Happy travels!
