Living in central Virginia one has the choice of worlds, the mountains or the sea. On the one hand I can get on Interstate 64 and, in about an hour and a half, I can be at Virginia Beach and the Atlantic Ocean. On the other hand, I can drive for about an hour to an hour and a half and be at one of several points of the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP).
To the north I have Washington D.C. and to the south I have…did I mention that to the north I have Washington D.C.? Seriously, there is nothing wrong with the North Carolina-Virginia border area but there is just no big tourist draws unless you just want to go down ad drive along U.S. Route 58 for a bit. At one time that would have been appealing but, with gas prices the way they are, merely driving for the fun of it is out in my book.
The point is, if you live in central Virginia, you have a good choice of one day trip options. I am here to help you select one.
Going to the beach is nice, if you like traffic, crowds and high prices. I do not. Don’t get me wrong, I like to go every now and then, say once every five years of so. Besides, the last time I went down there and lay on the beach Greenpeace showed up and kept trying to “roll me back in.” It was embarrassing so I will put off the next trip as long as possible.
Washington has lots of museums and other attractions but “traffic” does not begin to describe what you will encounter anywhere north of Fredericksburg, Virginia. My job requires that I travel all over the Commonwealth and I cannot stand it if I have to pass the exit for US Route 17 at Fredericksburg on I-95 north. Additionally, the costs of food, fuel and anything else in D.C are astronomical. Again, I will pass.
So let us look west. The Blue Ridge Mountains. I must confess, I have always been more of the “mountain man” type. So, even though these are not the Rockies or the Chugach Mountains, along which I used to live in Alaska, they get my blood flowing.
Aside from my personal affinity for any bump in the ground there are some good reasons for folks from central Virginia to head for the hills for a day trip. While the northern tourist road, the Skyline drive, is a toll road and costs money to drive on, the much longer and less jammed up Blue Ridge Parkway is free. The BRP begins at Rockfish gap where I-64 crosses Afton Mountain. This is just east the city of Waynesboro, Virginia and west of Charlottesville.
I might mention that Charlottesville is a nice stop of point itself. The Downtown Mall is a very long pedestrian walkway with many shops and restaurants. I get a kick out of all the reasonably priced used book stores along this mall and, since I am there several times a year on business, my book collection grows regularly from my visits. Charlottesville is also the home of Monticello and the nearby Michie Tavern which make a splendid day trip by themselves, though you will lay out a few dollars there.
Back to the BRP. Heading south from Mile Marker zero at Rockfish gap is a good way to start a trip on the Parkway. For a day trip you may simply drive down the parkway to anyone of several crossroad options for heading back towards central Virginia. Or you may opt to generally head down the Parkway but take side trips to other destinations such as Sherando Lake or down to Stuarts Draft, Virginia.
Sherando Lake, is located about five miles west, off the BRP down state route 814. The turn off is not too far south of Rockfish gap around mile marker 16. Sherando Lake has camping, fishing, picnicking and swimming (in the summer). It is just pretty there. Oh and, there is a great little country store on the left just past the entrance to the park. The store has all kinds of sodas that are hard to find anywhere around Richmond. Sundrop, Cheerwine, RC, ok, maybe you can find them around Richmond in plastic, 2-liter jugs but not in glass bottles. I always thought soda just tastes better out of a longneck glass bottle.
The Sherando Lake turn off, from the BRP, will take you down to Stuarts Draft. What is in Stuarts Draft you ask? Nothing much, at least nothing to draw big crowds but, if you know where to look there are some bright gems. Along U.S. Route 11, the “main drag, so to speak, there are several good antique malls. Just pick one. You can follow the tour busses to “The Cheese Shop.” This is a Mennonite owned bulk buy cheese and baking good store which also has a deli section. It is worth a stop. As you head back toward town and cross Route 11 you will pass “The Old Schoolhouse Restaurant” on your left, a great place to have lunch or dinner. Further into town, make a left at the hardware store, just before you get to the railroad track and you will find a small Mennonite bakery. As I recall they are only open Wednesday through Saturday so it is worth planning your day trip accordingly. Do not be on a diet when you stop here.
If you are finished with Stuarts Draft and have made your way back to the parkway, or just did not want a side trip to start with, you can continue south. There are all sorts of overlooks and stops along the BRP and I will not try to detail them all. The National Park Service has an excellent website, http://www.nps.gov/blri/.
I will tell about some of the nearby off parkway sites and one of these is around milepost 27. You can get off the BRP onto county route 56 heading east. Go about three miles and you will come to a private campground/ general store/fishing pond. The general store is neat, my stepson gets a real kick out of it and the fishing pond is the perfect thing for small kids, they are practically guaranteed to catch a fish without too much bother. I have never stayed at the campground but it looks nice.
If you want to wrap up your trip, this is a good opportunity to. You may continue east on 56 to 151. Take 151 to US 29 South. Take US 29 to US 60 back to the Richmond area. Or you may get back on the BRP and continue on. The next neat stop is where US 60 crosses the BRP just east of the town of Buena Vista.
If you are into fairly strenuous day hiking you can turn east on Route 60. You will come to a little store with a small road beside it on the left. There will be a sign pointing to the “Henry Latham Trail.” Take this road until the pavement runs out. Have no fear, the road becomes gravel but does not get to rough. You will reach a parking area with National Park Service Signs. The Henry Latham Trail, which used to be known as the Mt. Pleasant/ Mt Pompey Trail circles two peaks and is a fairly strenuous climb, for these parts anyway. I assume I need not name the two peaks. The top of Mt. Pleasant offers some good views. Since I suffered a permanent leg injury about eight years ago I have not been able to make the climb but, at that time, you could backpack and overnight on the mountain. I used to take my daughter up there for a Friday night and then we would drive the BRP on Saturday and end up back in Chesterfield Saturday evening. I may not get to hike anymore but I will still say, if you go please respect the land, if you bring it in, take it out with you. If you see something someone else left, please do us all a favor and take it down to the trail head, they have trash cans there and you may drop something off. Thank you if you do.
If you are not into day hiking, you can head west to Buena Vista if you like. I have not spent much time there but it is a cute town and you are bound to find something interesting if you poke around.
If neither of these is to your liking and you are ready to head back to Richmond, the crossover of US Route 60 is a good spot to do it. Just leave the BRP and head east. Be prepared for a pleasant drive. You will pass through Forks of Buffalo, a beautiful spot, Amherst and several other small towns. Personally, I like driving 60 back to Richmond almost as much as driving on the BRP.
If you still have time and want to continue on, or if your “day trip” is actually a “two day trip,” you can continue on down to Peaks of Otter. Ok, I said I was not going to get into stuff on the BRP itself but I will make an exception here because this is pretty much as far south as I think you can hope to make in a day. Plus, Peaks of Otter is just, well, it is a day trip in and of itself. I can and do take my family there just for the “Peaks.”
First there is the usual BRP stop off amenities. Campground, restaurant, gift shop, gas station (I tremble at the thought of what gas will be going for up there this year), and a wildlife center where they do “ranger programs” in the evening for the campers. Then there is the Peaks of Otter Lodge. Then there is the little hiking trail head behind the gift shop. The one which goes upwards.
Now, I have lived where there where MOUNTAINS and I had a job which required me to go up those mountains. The tallest of the Peaks of Otter peaks tops out at just less than 4,000 feet. They are no real monsters compared to some I have been on or seen. But this is a Virginia Mountain and quite lovely. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson have climbed it. I have been around the world and seen a great many mountains, I will be content with Peaks of Otter from now on. I have even managed to make it up the mountain since I had my leg reconstructed. I have made it down the mountain twice, oh, I should mention that they have a bus you can take about two thirds of the way to the top if you are not up to the whole climb. The tickets are available in the gift shop. The bus drives along a very narrow road and the drive up and down can be quite exciting for the faint of heart. I have yet to hear of that bus falling of the mountain though.
Frankly, a camping trip to Peaks of Otter is a great family weekend. Here I am going to tell you how to get back to central Virginia from the BRP and wrap up our “day trip” but, for a weekend camping trip to Peaks of Otter you just drive it in reverse.
To get back to Central Virginia, from the BRP at Peaks of Otter, head east on Route 43 to Bedford, Virginia. By the way, Bedford is another town you could spend a day in. The National D-day Memorial is located there and everyone in driving range should try to make it there at least once. Also in Bedford, in the towns old train depot, next to the railroad tracks, is a restaurant called, “Liberty Station.” I have only been there for lunch but I will be back. It was good.
Once you get through Bedford you will hit US Route 460 heading east towards Lynchburg. 460 will take you through Appomattox, another potential “daytrip” destination, and past Farmville. You will turn off 460 onto county route 307, which is a shortcut to US Route 360. When you hit three 360 hang a left and head east towards Richmond. That is it.
Obviously, if you try to do everything I have mentioned, it will take you longer than a day. Just making the round trip drive, with no major stops can be done in a day but you will be defeating your purpose I think. If you want to do the whole thing I recommend you do make it a weekend trip and find hotel or camp along the way. Also obviously, you can mix or match any of the information I have provided. I have mentioned three main routes to and from the Richmond area to the BRP, I-64, US 60, and the US 360-460-State 43 route. I-64 gets you up there and back the fastest but it is the least scenic. 460 and 60 and fun drives in and of themselves. My job requires me to drive up and back 460 frequently and I never tire of it. If you really want to spend some quality time going back and forth and see some of the “off the beaten path” parts of the Commonwealth, then get a roadmap and drive some of the back roads between central Virginia and the mountains. It will take longer but you may see something interesting. If you do, let me know.
If you ever want to vary this theme, you might do the same sort of thing as I have discussed except, instead of hitting the BRP, travel down the eastern edge of the mountains on US 29. You could then visit the Walton’s Mountain museum in Schuyler, Virginia. Or you could drive down the western side of the Blue Ridge on route 11 down the Shenandoah Valley. This will take you through Stuarts Draft and a dozen other small towns. Just south of Stuarts Draft is the Edelweiss, a wonderful little German restaurant sitting on the left. Best German food I have had since I actually lived in Germany.
Play with it. Read over what I have found, get a map, don’t worry about your GPS system and see what you find. I know that gas prices are keeping most of us parked so real exploring is out. I have given you the key “points” where things are. The trick is seeing what you may see as you drive to these points, since none of use can afford just to go driving around anymore. Good luck and, if you find your self standing on top of Sharp Top mountain (the main peak at Peaks of Otter) looking back towards Richmond, give a wave because you know that somewhere back there I am wishing I could be there with you.
