The first sign of land that’s beloved begins almost three miles away from Dwight Wood’s four-generation ranch in western Augusta County. An “Adopt-a-Highway” marker – it says simply: North Mountain Outfitter.
Saying things simply is part of the ethos here, as is ensuring that generations hence will be able to enjoy the clear air, dark forests, and meandering trails of these Appalachian Mountains. Speaking from a rocking chair on the bunkhouse porch between rainstorms, Dwight Wood shares, “It was a dream to create an outfitter ranch where people could come to touch and remember the old ways.” Offering services to help visitors enjoy horseback riding, hiking, fishing, and more, Dwight launched North Mountain Outfitter with 33 years of law enforcement experience and his knowledge of ranching and livestock. “I started from the dream. I knew it would work. I knew it would work because no one else does it.”
Campfire-Sparked Love Stories
“What we have here is not the norm,” says Dwight. “Actual backcountry trail riding, on land that backs up to the George Washington National Forest. We wanted people to be able to see a little piece of heaven in Augusta County.”
His ranch is nestled among rolling hills and a five-acre pond filled with bass and bluegill. In the early years, now almost 20 years gone, Dwight hosted visitors in canvas wall tents with campfires. Staff prepared meals in an open air kitchen and smoked meat in the evenings. “Families formed close bonds,” says Dwight. “That feeling never goes away.”
In 2008, Dwight built the bunkhouse. “We wanted it Not Fancy. We wanted it to feel like home.” He put fire pits out front, built a covered porch, and draped cowhides over the couches beside the bar. With intimate common areas and no wifi, Dwight says he’s put many a stranger in the bunkhouse together, but they always walk out friends. Watching them return, year after year, is part of his seasonal joy.
When Dwight and his daughter Jennifer eventually opened their Four Winds wedding venue, it wasn’t because they’d planned to be in the wedding business. Returning visitors had tasted the North Mountain air, and they caught the scent of something special. “A young gentleman would call, and he’d say I’d like to get engaged to my girl on a horse ride. Well, that’s not a problem, we’ve got overlooks. We have waterfalls. We know what looks best seasonally.” Before long, North Mountain had a gaggle of love-struck, down-to-earth couples who couldn’t imagine a better place to say “I do” than the one where they had first said “Yes, I will.”
Sharing Joy as Soft as Silence
Success and recognition often translate into growth, and Dwight says he’s careful not to grow the ranch into a machine, nor to lose the welcoming feel of a family business. “I look out, and a big thing I see in the world today is a lack of closeness, a lack of sharing.” For Dwight, the cornerstone of the North Mountain experience is a reconnection with beautiful and “old” ways of living.
Finding the words for what makes North Mountain Outfitter feel so magic can be troublesome, and Dwight tries first with “I mean, just sit here and look.” The rocking chairs squeak rhythmically while the conversation lulls and the leaves of the nearby trees rustle in the wind.
“People come here, and they say two things. First, they say it’s dark. People live in an illuminated world. They go to bed in the lights, they wake up in the lights, their office has lights. Second, they say it’s quiet. We don’t take it for granted here, but we can forget that others just truly don’t know that feeling.”
Dwight shares that many an evening visitor has stood on the bunkhouse porch and asked what’s that white thing in the pond? Dwight pauses. He puts his finger in the air, pointing straight up. “We’ve become a culture of people who don’t know the world, because we’re not living in it.” His visitors may be moonstruck, but he adds that “We have kids come here who have never been around a campfire. It just saddens me that they’ve missed that. I don’t know anything better than that.”
Love of Place and Family Legacy
Dwights sits at the fulcrum of a four generation lineage. His grandfather purchased the farm in 1912, and today his daughter Jennifer is raising her own children in the house where Dwight grew up. Jennifer has owned a graphic design business for more than 20 years, and Dwight says “her eye for perfection and creativity” was a skill that he worried might pull her away. But to Jennifer, it’s a skill that’s called her to stay. In addition to her graphic design work, she’s a North Mountain wrangler, guide, and wedding coordinator. With her days on the farm more fulfilling than the hours behind her computer, choosing to stay and raise her family here is part of a vocation larger than work. “Ever since I was a little girl,” she says, “I knew this place was special. The more folks come and enjoy it, the more I know it is imperative for me to share it.”
Dwight rocks in his chair and says simply: “I’ve been blessed. I have a wonderful daughter that likes and loves the same as me. It all feels like part of the plan.”
