SWVA.tv

There are three main towns that SWVA.tv has selected to be a part of the VA Highlands category: Chilhowie, Marion, and Saltville. Each of these unique towns is a valuable part of southwest Virginia's tapestry. Chilhowe - whose name is derived from an Indian term meaning "valley of many deer" - is conveniently located right off of Interstate I-81. Each year in the early autumn, folks from all over gather in Chilhowie to celebrate the Chilowie Apple Festival. It is a time to greet old friends and meet new ones... a time for the splendor of marching bands, beauty queens, and spicy sweet apples. Only a short distance from Chilhowie is Virginia's highest peak, Mount Rogers. The summit is over 1 mile high (5,729 feet). Mount Rogers National Recreation Area is a large forest district that  boasts more than 100,000 acres. The NRA has 400 miles of maintained trails, including a 60-mile stretch of America's scenic Appalachian Trail and 10,000 acres of wilderness. With bike rental and shuttle services, outfitters, guide services, and dozens of wonderful campgrounds, it is easy to get close to nature here.

Named after American Revolutionary War officer Francis Marion, the town of Marion is an official Virginia Main Street Community and continues to serve as an important industrial, retail and tourist center in Southwest Virginia. It also plays an important role as the neighboring town of the Hungry Mother State Park - one of Virginia's original six state parks. It offers cabins, a family lodge, 118 campsites, a beach, a restaurant, picnicking shelters, a gift store, boating, fishing, and swimming at a beautiful 108-acre lake. In addition to serving as the gateway to Hungry Mother State Park,  Marion is the home of the beautifully-restored Lincoln Theatre. This historic 1929 facility hosts a wide range of events throughout the year: From it's award-winning PBS bluegrass concert series Song of the Mountains,  to children's theater, to big band and classical concerts. Another interesting fact about the town of Marion is that it is the home of Mountain Dew. During the period 1959 to 1962, William H. "Bill" Jones of Marion, created what is now the nationally successful soft drink  at Marion's Tip Bottling Company.

Green Cove Train Station

General Francis Marion Hotel and Convention Center

Saltville

Museum of the Middle Appalachians was opened in 1996 to research and showcase 30,000 years of history! The museum has exhibits on geology, the Ice Age, Native Americans, the Civil War, and industry. It features information on the salt beds deep beneath the town that sustained a 100 year old salt industry, as well as, the unique ice age history of the Saltville Valley. The Ice Age Exhibit also features full-sized casts of a mastodon, woolly mammoth skull, and a giant beaver. 

Civil War Sites

Salt Capital of the Confederacy

Palmer Mill and Play House