Luray RV Resort, VA
We camped at Luray RV Resort for many times, starting when it was Outlanders, small family run campground. This year it was renovated and extended, it now has a pool with a slide (pretty big one), additional cabins, rentable Airstreams and additional camper sites. Bottom line, it changed.
But the area is still a great place to visit. It’s only half hour away from Thornton Gap and Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. There’s plenty of hiking on the ridge, though it comes in two flavors - going up then coming down or reverse. It seems appropriate to finish our journey in the same area as we started.
Our friends Kathy, Mary Jane and Anthony joined us with Mikel and Daniela arriving later in the week. It was so good to catchup with everyone. Kathy and MJ had a very nice cabin, one of the original one. The first evening we decided to eat in town and after couple of tries, we landed in Ollie Cat Cafe and were not disappointed. Nice eclectic place with good service, good food and family atmosphere.
Our first hike was Hawksbill Mountain, the highest peak in Shenandoah. No views that day, we were in the clouds. It was a challenging hike, short and steep, well worth it. Then we decided to a short hike to Dark Hollow Falls, we realized that it’s lunchtime and we need to make time. The falls are beautiful, the foliage was beautiful and we met lots of folks enjoying the sights.
But since lunch was at the end of it, our descent took about 25 minutes and our ascent was just under 40 minutes. I’ll say we are very food motivated. Lunch at Big Meadows Lodge was good, with Big Meadows IPA to top off the hikes.
The foggy weather improved the next day and we hiked Little Stony Man and Stony Man via AT. This was a great hike, starting with moderate climb after the Little Stony Man lookout and continuing to Stony Man. Great views from the top, it got a busy there since there’s another short trail from the Skylands parking lot, it’s about 1.5 miles. The return on the AT was great, more overlooks, and the climbers we met on the ascent were setting up on one of the lookouts. If you have a chance, please do that hike, as Tom would say, it was delicious.
After lunch, we did another great short hike right from the Skylands Lodge parking lot, Miller’s Head. It’s short with fair elevation gain, but worth the views from the platform at the end. Such a great hiking day.
For the finale, we went to George Washington and Jefferson National Forest’s Kennedy Peak. We have done this hike before, both the short and long versions. The view from the fire tower lookout is unbelievable, the Shenandoah River Valley is right there with the ridge in the distance. Pictures do not do it justice. Hard to get a better view of the area. And the peak is visible from the campground!
The critter on MJ’s leg is the twice stabbed lady beetle. Yep, that’s the name.
You can’t visit Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley without visiting some caves! So Friday we went to Shenandoah Caverns. These are not as elaborate as Luray Caverns but the guided tour, including the experience of “cave darkness”, was very informative. There are six caves in the area (about one hours drive) and Grant Caverns were highly recommended. Walking about a mile exploring the different formations including “bacon” and cave “glitter” was fun. Interestingly, in our group of 12 people there were 10 from NJ!
It was so good to spend time hiking, eating and relaxing with our friends. RV travel adventures are great, but sharing these experiences with friends is even better.
