Potomac Highlands - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 1013

WHEN RAMPS GROW RAMPANT
In early March some West Virginians head for the hills, driven not by spring fever but
by a craving for ramps, or wild leeks. These local delicacies, which thrive in the cool
climate of high elevations, look like lilies of the valley but taste like nothing else on
earth. More pungent than garlic or onions, ramps have such an overpowering aroma
thattheonlywaytotoleraterampeatersistojointhem.Visitorscandojustthatatany
of a number of ramp festivals held in the Highlands in April, including those at Elkins
and Richwood.
11. Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park
InnostatedidtheCivilWarcreatesuchsharpdivisionsofloyaltyasitdidinWestVirginia.
While 30,000 men from the hills took up arms for the Union cause, some 7,500 others
traveled south to don Confederate gray. So when the Battle of Droop Mountain took place
on November 6, 1863, the fighting—quite literally—pitted brother against brother.
The clash would also signal an end to the conflict on West Virginia soil; Union forces
outflanked Confederate troops and sent them heading south for good. Some 7,000 men
fought that day, and a few of the 400 who lost their lives are buried here. Three and a
half miles of trails lead from the Battlefield Museum and cemetery through the 287-acre
grounds to ridgetop views of the Greenbrier Valley to the north.