The Crooked Road

Winding through the mountains like the curves on a fiddle, The Crooked Road stretches 253 miles along some of the most rural roads in Southwest Virginia.

This is Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, a tourism and economic initiative that began with an idea among friends in 2002 and has since blossomed into an attraction luring people from around the world to hear songs that have been preserved across generations.

Years before that, however, linking musical sites across Southwest Virginia by way of a road tour was suggested by Virginia tourism official Kitty Barker.

About 10 years ago, while serving as executive director of the Blue Ridge Travel Association, Barker promoted what might be called a forerunner to The Crooked Road, a Southwest Virginia driving tour that linked the sites of Galax and Bristol to the Carter Fold in Scott County and the Homeplace Mountain Farm and Museum at Wadlow Gap near Weber City.

Largely, that corridor followed U.S. Highway 58, Virginia’s longest road.

TELL YOUR OWN STORY
Today, The Crooked Road serves as a link between the music-makers and the instrument-crafters, the general stores and the small towns.

From Ferrum and Floyd to Bristol and Breaks, The Crooked Road spans 10 counties and follows U.S. Highway 58 for about half its length.

The Crooked Road now marks its beginning at the Rocky Mount Depot in Franklin County. Next, it zigzags, crossing the Blue Ridge three times, including one treacherous stretch along “Shooting Creek Road.”

Passing near the world-famous Mabry Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway, the road slips through Galax, the “World’s Capital of Old-Time Mountain Music.”

Since 1935, Galax has hosted an Old Fiddlers Convention, drawing thousands each August. And it’s a city where residents like to brag about its history being tied to mountain musicians.

“You have to tell your own story,” said H.W. “Bill” Smith, the executive director of The Crooked Road. “The cool thing about The Crooked Road is to tell a story about a region that is much more diverse than what people realize.”

A GREAT IDEA
East of Galax, The Crooked Road glides across Grayson County, passing over the New River. Still following U.S. 58, the road winds along Whitetop Laurel Creek and sails into Abingdon.

After reaching Bristol, the “Birthplace of Country Music,” it goes west to reach the Carter Fold at Maces Spring near Hiltons, then climbs to the Country Cabin at Josephine, on the outskirts of Norton.

Getting people from Galax and Mabry Mill to sites like Norton and Big Stone Gap is important for the mission of The Crooked Road, Smith said.

“It was a way to bring people out of the Blue Ridge and into the coalfields,” he said.

Along the highway lies the Natural Tunnel State Park, the site of the Papa Joe Smiddy Music Festival held each Labor Day weekend.

The namesake of the festival, mountain musician “Papa” Joe Smiddy, has promoted the region surrounding The Crooked Road for years, especially through his work in guiding the University of Virginia’s College at Wise.

In 1973, “The Virginia Way” author Guy Friddell noted how Smiddy liked to romance money from politicians with his banjo and a folk tale.

So maybe it’s no surprise that Smiddy, an octogenarian, strongly supports The Crooked Road.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Smiddy said. “And, I’ll tell you, it’s working. It’s bringing people to the area.”

A LOT OF FOLKS
Crossing into the Cumberlands, the road pushes past Pound and cruises into Clintwood, home of a $2 million state-of-the-art museum that honors old-time Appalachian musician Ralph Stanley.

Then it hones in on Haysi and goes north to Breaks Interstate Park, home of a gospel music celebration also held each Labor Day weekend.

Originally, The Crooked Road ended at the Ralph Stanley Museum in Clintwood. But it has since been extended – going to Haysi and terminating at Breaks Interstate Park.

Along the route, several affiliated partners have joined the list of places promoted by The Crooked Road.

Among these are a jam session at Glade Spring and shows at the Old Grayson County Courthouse in Independence.
Tourists love it, Smith said.

“We’re seeing people coming in here from overseas,” Smith said. “And there’s a lot of folks coming from Florida, Georgia and Mississippi.”