Rockfish River Road

A road trip along Rockfish River Road/Route 617 can be exciting at anytime of year. The driving route travels Route 617 along the northern edge of the Rockfish River between Howardsville and US 29, providing opportunities to stop and scan the river and the deciduous forest along its banks. Look for wood duck and Canada geese in summer and hooded merganser in the winter months. Keep checking the skies for resident red-shouldered and red-tailed hawks, or the occasional osprey or bald eagle.

As you pass through the quaint depot of Rockfish, if you can find a place to safely pull over, be sure to check the railway bridge, which has hosted nesting great-horned owls and common ravens over the years. En route, watch, as wild turkeys seem to lead the way along the roadside. To fully appreciate the diversity of passerines in the area, you will have to stop and check the treetops along the way. Hooded, worm-eating, pine warblers, northern parula and Louisiana waterthrush all nest nearby, as do blue-gray gnatcatchers and red-eyed vireos. During migration, all sorts of surprises could occur from a kettle of broad-winged hawks to a skulking Connecticut warbler. If the birding potential is not enough to draw you in, the creek hosts a good variety of damsel- and dragonflies, as well as butterflies which can be especially numerous in early summer when the wildflowers are in full bloom.