Rudes Hill
Rudes Hill rises to 299 m in Virginia. Church Rock stands 910 m to the west, 13 miles off. The nearest named place is Statue of Liberty, a artwork 1.4 miles away. Skyline Drive passes 16 miles off.
The story
Rude's Hill is a 981-foot hill just outside of the town of Mt. Jackson in Shenandoah County, Virginia, United States, primarily known because it was a strategically placed elevation on which many Civil War events occurred. It was named after the Danish Lutheran minister Anders Rudolph Rude, who arrived in the US in 1836 and married the widow of the Steenbergen plantation. They inhabited a house on the hill called "Locust Grove" which dates to 1792, according to county records. As of July 2014 when the property was for sale, "Locust Grove" was in severely neglected condition with several ungainly exterior modifications over the years, but was still standing.
Rude's Hill was an important site in the American Civil War, occupying a commanding high point overlooking the key Valley Turnpike where is passes through a point between Smith Creek on the east and the North Fork of the Shenandoah River on the western side. Rude's Hill is the first elevation on that route beyond the flat Meems bottomland on the south end of the town of Mt. Jackson. It was a particularly defensible high ground because the only practical enemy approach to Rude's Hill was from the north was via single bridges spanning Mill Creek and the Shenandoah's north fork, after which an enemy would need to cross the broad, flat Meems Bottom, commanded by Rude's Hill beyond. And also because if required to retreat, a force could withdraw from Rude's Hill through mountain passes of the Massanutten Range. Because of its strategic placement and high ground location on the Valley Pike and the fact the area had so much action between 1862 and 1865, Rude's Hill figured prominently in the Civil War history of the Shenandoah Valley.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q7376860, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 299 m
How to reach it
- 16.2 mi off the Skyline Drive, National
Overlooks nearby
- Blackrock Overlook · 16 mi
- Stony Man Lookout · 16 mi
- Spitler Knoll Overlook · 16 mi
- Stony Man Overlook · 16 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Turkey Knob: 2.6 mi
- The Knob: 3.2 mi
- The Knob: 3.2 mi
- Kerns Mountain: 3.2 mi
- Third Hill: 3.2 mi
- Mayors Park: 3.2 mi
- Mount Jackson Community Park: 3.3 mi
- Rebel Park: 3.6 mi
- New Market Pocket Park: 4.1 mi
- New Market Community Park: 4.6 mi
- 54th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment: 2.7 mi
- Veterans Memorial: 3.1 mi
- Luray Caverns Discovery Marker: 9.1 mi
- Bethany Veney Remembrance Garden: 9.4 mi
- Catherine Furnace: 10.0 mi
- Hiden Spring: 3.5 mi
- Edinburg Gap Spring: 9.0 mi
- Pitt Spring: 9.6 mi
- Shenandoah Alum Springs: 11.6 mi
- Cold Spring: 13.4 mi
- Falls Ridge Waterfall: 14.3 mi
- Lewis Spring Falls: 16.4 mi
- Rose River Falls: 17.4 mi
- Dark Hollow Falls: 17.4 mi
- Naked Creek Falls: 17.6 mi
- American Celebration on Parade: 1.4 mi
- Main Street of Yesteryear: 1.6 mi
- New Market Battlefield Military Museum: 3.7 mi
- New Market Battlefield Military Museum & Wharton Advance Trail: 3.8 mi
- Museum of American Calvary: 4.1 mi
- Statue of Liberty: 1.4 mi
- Cootie Bug: 1.5 mi
- Love: 9.2 mi
- Happy Moon, 10,000 Smiles: 10.4 mi
- Flames: 20.4 mi
- Yellow Cliffs: 5.3 mi
- Markley Rocks: 13.0 mi
- Franklin Cliffs: 16.6 mi
- Huckleberry Cliff: 17.7 mi
- Halfmile Cliff: 18.8 mi
- Shenandoah Caverns: 1.6 mi
- Cooter's Luray: 6.6 mi
- The Garden Maze: 9.1 mi
- Luray Caverns: 9.1 mi
- Luray Caverns: 9.1 mi
- Pavilian: 7.1 mi
- Picnic Area: 9.0 mi
- Picnic Area: 9.2 mi
- Big Meadows Picnic Grounds: 16.3 mi
- Blue Hole Day Use Area: 16.3 mi
- Old grape garden: 13.8 mi
- W.O. Riley Park Garden: 14.2 mi
- Heishman Garden: 20.4 mi
- ISAT Patio: 22.0 mi
- Edith J. Carrier Arboretum: 22.3 mi
- Water Street Nature Reserve: 13.8 mi
- Lost River State Park: 20.1 mi
- PATC Entry Run Tract: 23.9 mi
- Mole Hill Acres: 24.0 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 13.2 miles of Rudes Hill. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Church Rock | W 281° | 910 m | 13.2 mi |
| Big Mountain | S 178° | 859 m | 7.7 mi |
| Short Mountain | NE 46° | 856 m | 7.8 mi |
| Middle Mountain | ESE 107° | 855 m | 4.6 mi |
| Waterfall Mountain | ESE 110° | 840 m | 4.1 mi |
| Duncan Knob | E 89° | 833 m | 5.2 mi |
| Waonaze Peak | NE 47° | 825 m | 10.0 mi |
| Strickler Knob | ESE 123° | 811 m | 4.6 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:19 | 18:52 | 19:27 |
| June solstice | 05:51 | 20:04 | 20:43 |
| September equinox | 07:03 | 18:38 | 19:13 |
| December solstice | 07:30 | 16:15 | 16:57 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Apr–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 32 | 35 | 41 | 52 | 61 | 70 | 74 | 72 | 65 | 54 | 43 | 35 |
| Precip in | 2.4 | 1.8 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 2.7 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Edinburg, 8 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/356584457
Day trips start here
- Shenandoah National Park · 17 mi
Take the scenic way to Rudes Hill.
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