Big Meadows CCC Camp

Big Meadows CCC Camp, once Camp NP-2, is a historic camp site at Big Meadows, mile 51 on Skyline Drive. It makes a good half-hour-to-hour stop if you want to see how the Civilian Conservation Corps shaped the park's early developed areas. Start at the Byrd Visitor Center, cross Skyline Drive and follow the 12-stop walking tour toward the meadow's far-right edge. The walk is easy and takes 30 to 60 minutes; the route and its stories are the main draw, not a preserved set of camp buildings.

At the marked camp site, metal stakes outline former buildings beside an interpretive panel called “A Home Away From Home.” The camp occupied a broader Big Meadows area, from Milam Gap to Fishers Gap and north to today's campground. The modern site is a meadow footprint with marker stakes, not a restored row of barracks.

The camp began with surplus tents, field kitchens and latrines. Permanent buildings followed, including barracks, an infirmary, administration buildings, a garage and a recreation building. Camp NP-2 was later renamed Camp Fechner for CCC director Robert Fechner, who died in 1939. The walking tour is a good way to put the camp's layout and daily life back into a landscape that now looks open and quiet.

The CCC crew worked on erosion control, cleared dead chestnut trees, planted vegetation, and built trails, shelters and picnic areas. A nursery at the meadow's northeastern edge propagated native plants to stabilize slopes. Big Meadows also served as a glider site in the early 1930s; the CCC built a runway and temporary hangar for sailplanes. Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated Shenandoah National Park at Big Meadows on July 3, 1936, and CCC, park and concessionaire work helped establish the nearby campground, cabins, lodge and wayside over the next several years.