Rapidan Camp - Hemlock Run

The Hoovers at Hemlock Falls

Water played an important role in the camp. Early on, when the Hoovers were reviewing sites, Mrs. Hoover said, "My husband's idea was to have a camp down on one of the tree-covered flats beside a stream or at the junction between two streams. He likes to be near enough to hear the water murmuring." As plans developed, the Hoovers endeavored to extend that courtesy to all their guests instructing the Marines to build Hemlock Run. The Laurel Prong was diverted by an upstream sluice gate creating the two-thousand-foot-long water channel that meanders through the forest and past several of the camp's buildings. Where the channel passes between the President's Cabin and the Prime Minister's Cabin, existing rock outcrops and boulders were incorporated into the channel to for a small waterfall called Hemlock Falls. Next to the falls is a small, concrete-lined pool for holding freshly caught trout.