Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship

Bears Den Trail Center

Bears Den is a large stone lodge at the center of 66 acres of ridgetop woods owned by ATC and abutting the Appalachian Trail in northern Virginia on the south side of U.S. 7 between the towns of Berryville and Bluemont, overlooking the Shenandoah River valley.

The house was built for a Washington physician named Huron Lawson and his wife, Francesca, a singer, in the 1920s. The Lawsons sold the property in the 1950s to a developer of a second-home subdivision. Although one brick cottage/model home was constructed, the development scheme failed, and the property was eventually sold to the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) and later still was sold to ATC.

Since the early 1980s, a hostel has been operated in the lodge. A series of major renovations was completed in 1999, and the hostel managers and volunteers began a program of adding nature trails and other interpretive features to the property. The Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship took over the operation of the property in February 2003.

For reservations or further information, call (540) 554-8708; e-mail [email protected]; or visit the website www.bearsdencenter.org.

Directions to Bears Den
From DC
Take beltway or Highway 66 and exit onto the Dulles Toll Road going West
Take Dulles Toll Road all the way to the end until you are forced to merge
Merge onto the Greenway Toll Road
Take Greenway until you are forced to merge onto Rt 7
Follow directions from Leesburg

From Leesburg
Take Highway Rt 7 West
Go 20 miles
Pass the town of Round Hill
Climb the mountain
Look for flashing yellow sign to indicate Rt 601
Turn left onto Rt 601 (sign says Blueridge Mountain Rd)
Go about a half a mile and turn right at the first driveway (green mailbox that says Bears Den)

From Winchester (I-81)
Take Highway Rt 7 East
Go 20 miles
Pass the town of Berryville
Cross the Shenandoah River
Climb the mountain
Look for flashing yellow sign to indicate Rt 601
Turn right onto Rt 601 (sign says Blueridge Mountain Rd)
Go about a half a mile and turn right at the first driveway (green mailbox that says Bears Den)