Jefferson Rock

Jefferson Rock is a projecting shelf of Harpers phyllite near the top of the steps that climb from the lower town up to St. Peter's Church, with a sweeping view of the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers, the Maryland and Virginia ridges beyond, and the railway bridge below. Thomas Jefferson visited in 1783 and recorded his admiration in Notes on the State of Virginia.

The climb from the historic district takes about 10 minutes up a steep stone stair. The Appalachian Trail passes directly by Jefferson Rock, and through-hikers are a common sight here. The view is finest in early morning or late afternoon, when the light catches the rivers and the wooded hills to either side. A short continuation of the trail leads to the ruins of St. John's Episcopal Church, burned and rebuilt several times during and after the Civil War and now preserved as a roofless ruin.

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A story
The rock Thomas Jefferson stood on in 1783 is a precarious stack of shale slabs that has been propped up on stone pillars since 1860, when it became clear that the base was eroding and the whole thing might topple. Jefferson wrote in his Notes on the State of Virginia that the view from this spot was "worth a voyage across the Atlantic." He was not given to hyperbole, but this may have been an exception — the view is extraordinary, but so are many views.

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