State Route 263 (SR 263) is a primary

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the U.S. state of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Known as Orkney Grade, the state highway runs from SR 659 in Orkney Springs east to

U.S. Route 11 {{Infobox road , country=USA , type=US , route=11 , map={{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, frame-height=330, type=line, from=U.S. Route 11.map , map_custom=yes , map_notes=US 11 in red, US 11E in blue, US 11W in ...

(US 11) in Mount Jackson. SR 263 connects Mount Jackson with a resort area in the mountains of southwestern

Shenandoah County Shenandoah County (formerly Dunmore County) is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 44,186. Its county seat is Woodstock. It is part of the Shenandoah Valley region of Virgin ...

. SR 263 is a

Virginia Byway A Virginia Byway is a scenic road designated by the Commonwealth of Virginia as one that can introduce tourists to alternative destinations. According to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), there are over of scenic roads in Virginia ...

Route description

SR 263 begins at the eastern end of Shrine Mont Circle, a loop that is designated SR 659 and serves Shrine Mont, an

Episcopal Diocese of Virginia The Diocese of Virginia is the largest diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing 38 counties in the northern and central parts of the state of Virginia. The diocese was organized in 1785 and is one of the Episco ...

retreat that hosts the annual Shenandoah Valley Music Festival. The state highway heads northeast as a two-lane undivided road from Orkney Springs through a narrow valley between

Great North Mountain Great North Mountain is a long mountain ridge within the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. The ridge is located west of the Shenandoah Valley and Massanutten Mountain in Virginia, and east of the A ...

to the west and Supin Lick Mountain to the east. After passing the

Bryce Resort Bryce Resort is a 400-acre member-owned resort the northern part of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley that is open to the public. The facility opened in 1965 and is located near the West Virginia border, 11 miles west of Mount Jackson, Virginia. Th ...

, SR 263 veers southeast and crosses the latter mountain and follows Straight Run through a gap in Timber Ridge to enter the

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge- ...

, on the west edge of which the state highway intersects SR 42 (Senedo Road). The state highway passes through Mount Clifton and follows Mill Creek to the town of Mount Jackson, which the highway enters at its underpass of

Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Island ...

. SR 263 passes under the

Chesapeake Western Railway The Chesapeake Western Railway is an intrastate railroad in west-central Virginia and it is an operating subsidiary of the Norfolk Southern Railway. It extended from Elkton, Virginia on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River in Rockingham Cou ...

before reaching its eastern terminus at US 11 (Main Street).

Major intersections

References

External links

Virginia Highways Project: VA 263
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263 __NOTOC__ Year 263 ( CCLXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Albinus and Dexter (or, less frequently, year 1016 ' ...

State Route 263