Mt Lake Lodge = home of Dirty Dancing

[jbailey930]

we were in SW Va over a long weekend visiting my daughter at VT. We took a drive up to this famous resort where Dirty Dancing was filmed (some say this is the female "Godfather" ) They were prepping for opening weekend this week. Seems like they were running a little behind but they allowed us to roam around a bit and take some snaps.

http://www.mtnlakelodge.com/

The upper elevation there put the flowering off a bit plus we had changeable weather - see clouds. Looks like interesting place to stay. Apparently the lake was in process of being filled back up. There was a "leak" that kept it empty since not long after the movie was filmed there.

main lodge

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lake bed
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lakeside cottage
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guest cabins
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[Aqualung]

Nice look, had always figured they had also filmed it in the Poconos....and a nice Swayze memorial too.

 

[Pa]

You were tromping around in my back yard, John - wish you had let me know. I live just outside of B'burg, and only about 15 miles from Mountain Lake. We get up there fairly often, but I haven't been there yet this Spring. The hotel has a new owner and they are making major improvements.

The movie "Dirty Dancing" was made in 1987. This photo from my files is from 2005:

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The lake has had episodes of emptying before, but the current one, which began in 2006, has been a long one. Geologists have concluded that something "shifted" back around 2006 causing a drain hole to open up larger. Several years of below average rain and snow caused it to go completely dry. This past winter several large stones plus smaller debris and sand were placed into the hole to try to plug it. Time will tell if it was successful.

 

[NYracefan]

Interesting post, and some cool photos. This is my wife's favorite movie, so I have seen it more times than I can count. Pretty cool to see the photos and then see the same scenes in the movie.

 

[jbailey930]

Jim, I will be down heading into move in for fall semester. It would be great to get the colors up in the mts. I will let you know.

We've heard different stories about the lodge and the lake. My wife thought the lodge caught fire some time ago; a local said the lake was empty for years. We may end up staying there for a long weekend. What was surprising too was how high up its in the mts.

 

[Pa]

Yep, Mountain Lake is at 3875 feet, and Bald Knob, the mountain behind it, goes up to 4300 feet. But there will be no Fall colors there until early October, so you'll have to come back then.

I have been in this area for 39 years, and have visited Mountain Lake at least once or twice every year. The hotel has not burned during that time, and I have never seen anything about it ever having burned. The current stone building was built in 1938.

During my time in this area, the lake has only been this low since 2006.

The hike to Bald Knob is nice, and there will be some unique wildflowers up there during the next few weeks. The view from the top of Bald Knob is spectacular.