The New River is apparently quite long, because this is nowhere near the more reputed New River…read moreGorge National Park. However, even in Virginia it is quite majestic. The main park office lies in a historic hamlet surrounded by farms. A parking charge applied, and if you parked somewhere else along the extensive trail perhaps you could get by without it, but the sights were certainly well worth seeing. I made it maybe a mile down the trail to a riverbend overlooked by a bluff ideally suited for sunsets, but there was a lot more to explore. Some boating was available, and a horse seemed interested to meet me as I departed.

See my Review for Shot Tower. It's the same. I wish I was a cyclist. But I am a hiker and I can't…read morehike a gravel road for miles. All good. Beautiful area!! River is so nice.

This park is located behind the area where there is a McDonalds and Hampton Inn. It was nice to…read moretake a break here. There is a walking trail that I did not go on. I parked by a stream and watched some bluebirds. There are sports areas. I like the Halloween decorations.

Best park in the area, it's clean well-maintained and has bathrooms. It's got a creek to play in…read morethat shallow and safe. It's got outside exercise equipment. Plenty of parking and very nice covered picnic area. The Play ground it's self is very large and has something for kids of all ages. If you're in this area and looking for a playground this is the one you want to go to.

The park is pretty remote, with only occasional cell service (a good thing or a bad thing depending…read moreon one's needs). The parking really close to the mountain is handicap only, so the intention is for most people to walk a 4.5 mile loop that goes around the mountain and then up it on the way back. It is a substantial climb, both down into a gully with an impressive waterfall and up the mountain itself. The rock does offer wide-spanning views. The infrastructure was not in ideal shape at the time of my visit, with some water fountains down and other limitations in amenities. I also found the trail setup a bit confusing as following marks led me once to a dead end and in another case, I had to hike on a gravel road a bit to get back to the trail and that wasn't marked clearly as the right way to go. While these things could be improved, the park is an excellent resource and as is standard practice in NC (but not in SC or VA), is free to enter.

Great place to come hike. Lots to see & do. Downside is that kids are allowed to come here & make…read morenonstop noise.

I hiked the hanging rock trail, window falls and hidden falls…read more The window waterfall was so fun! I almost missed the window; even though there was a sign that pointed in that direction. From the sign/arrow that points at window rock, climb down and you will see the window in the rock to your right. Through the window, you can see a waterfall! Visitor center has nice and clean restrooms. Their water refill station was not working when I went.

Hanging rock is absolutely beautiful for a day trip or even a weekend camping trip. They have many…read moredifferent hiking trails and waterfalls and in the summertime they have a lake you can go swimming in. Such a fun place!!

We needed some time in the mountains. I had visited here before but mostly for shorter trails. This…read moretime we needed some Appalachian Trail in our lives. We did a couple of short trails but the monster was the Appalachian Trail to Mount Rogers Loop. It's logged at 14.3 miles but we ended up logging around 15.2 miles with various trips off trail to check out. The first part of this trail is fine. You walk through areas where some of the wild ponies hangout. Sometimes you can catch wild cattle too(which we did, but not until we were on our way out). The off trail to Mount Rogers is also fairly easy. If you're coming down from Mount Rogers and taking the loop around the mountain, make sure you have plenty of water and maybe some kind of snack for energy. There is a little section from mile 8-12 that almost put me down. It reminded me of a dehydration episode I had in Montana a few years ago. This time I had all the water I needed, but I'm so glad I had food for energy. There's a little section where you gain so much elevation in such a short amount of time... those types of sections always make my legs want to give up. I powered through with some breaks, but it'd help if that section were at the beginning instead of near the end. If I ever do that loop again, I'll take it counter-clockwise. Grayson Highlands is an amazing place that stands on its own in the area. The AT runs through it, but the ponies and cattle and any other animal you might run into make the place magical. Being at the top is also nice. You can see mountains and landscape for miles. It's also a decent place to camp in my opinion since it's so wide open. It can be a bit windy at the top, though. On our trail, there was a fair bit of downed trees, so be aware that you might have to climb, walk around, or whack your way through portions if any storms have rolled through. Watch the weather because it can change fast, but honestly, just prepare for it. You're going to have a unique experience, whether you have to battle fog early in the morning or once the sun comes out. We also hit a patch of drizzly rain, but it didn't last long. We were able to see it coming and adjust our speed to let it pass. Grayson is a state park, so it doesn't have all the amenities that a national park has, but it does connect to some national forests/parks, and it's a beautiful/well-maintained place. Good job Virginia for keeping this place pristine. I realize that not everyone seeks out the long trails. The good thing about Grayson is that there are various trails. You can find 2-5 mile trails, 5-9 mile trails, 10-15 mile trails, and I think there are 1 or 2 that are even longer! There's something for everyone here.

What an incredible experience! I won't even comment on the pics because they speak for themselves!…read moreThis park has several hiking trails, some more challenging than others, mainly due to all the loose rock and gravel, but it made for a great workout on a gorgeous day! They also host overnight camping and are part of the Appalachian Trail as well. $10 to park isn't bad, but there wasn't an attendant when we first got there. I doubled back after we did the first trail so I wouldn't get fined or anything. We heard parking fills up fast so we got there early, but there were actually still plenty of spots by the time we were ready to leave in the early afternoon (we arrived at like 8am).

This is a beautiful trail that leads to a 250 ft waterfall, with some easy hiking, some steep…read morefootsteps. Was easy to moderate for little kids and adults alike. The total hike is 30 mins (to and fro) and has nice marked trees for identification, streams, creeks and bridges. There is some beautiful foliage and trees along the way. There are two sites (start of waterfall and midway) each making for a beautiful photo opportunity.

Paved, with packed gravel surface part of the way, then many steps to get to lower viewing area of…read morecascade falls. Some incline and decline (out and back trail).

Tony Vanoy and I went hiking today at Cascade Falls in Pembroke, VA. Started out really great, we…read morethought it was 1.5 or 2 mile loop hike but OMG it turned out to be 5.57 miles roundtrip!! It cost a $3 per car to park and if you have America the Beautiful Card its free!! It was a beautiful day, but it was so long and so many stairs!! Over 1,000 stairs!!

The provenance of this site is somewhat unclear, but I think it falls under the federal government…read moreand putting up my national parks pass was successful in getting me through a visit without paying any additional parking fee. The main falls are two miles uphill from the parking lot, but the entire journey is a series of eminently worthwhile sights and sounds. Signs warned of challenging currents for anyone taking a dip in the water, which some people did. I would note that when I arrived a rescue operation was underway and emergency services did drive someone by me with what thankfully appeared okay. There are trails on one elevated bank and one closer to the water, as well as some offshoots and extensions. It's a great stretch of forest where you could easily spend more time than the couple of hours I did.

One of the most beautiful areas on the Blue Ridge Parkway, The campground has so many sites that…read moreit's not hard to find a campsite. Plenty of hiking trails, Some that run into the Appalachian Trail. There is a restaurant and gift shop with nice little keepsakes.

This is the largest recreation area (7,000-acre) on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Currently the parkway…read moreis closed to through-way traffic but you can still enter the park and camp. It offers a lodge (Bluffs Lodge- not open all year round), campground, hiking trails, picnic areas.There is supposedly a cabin and homestead, exhibiting isolated mountain life but I didn't get a chance to see it. The use of trails is free, but camping is $16 per 2 person tent. It includes bathrooms but no showers. The view overlooking grassy gap is gorgeous at sunrise. It was much quieter than Julian Price, but probably because of the road construction. You must drive quite a bit inside of the park before you get to the camping area.

It was an amazing day outside and so we wanted to take our two dog babies out for a walk. We went…read moreinto this facility and it was extremely clean and well maintained! The trail was very easy to find and it had a few different loops. Even though the distance isn't that far, the elevation was a little bit more of a hike than we bargained for. There were amazing views and it was a pretty easy trail to walk. 10 out of 10. Highly recommend! We will be back to hike next time here as well. The best part of it is that the trail ends the river which is a beautiful view and there are benches and tables if you want to sit down and have a snack and rest.

The Camp Host at the RV section shows up at my rv door about an hour into getting set up. I open…read morethe door thinking it's my people and this dude about gets his face ripped off by a Belgian Malinois! Maybe try to just leisurely chat with people outside if you don't like the fact someone is parked kinda in the grass. Would that really have been worth it dude? Anyways, the park is another amazing NC State Park.

Hungry Mother State Park is more than a 5 star review for me. It's beautiful. It's also my 30th VA…read moreState Park Visit! Hidden away in the mountains of southern VA, is a great lake with water that looked crystal clear! You can paddleboat, kayak, canoe and swim! The swim spot is more than twice the size of Lake Anna State Park. And surrounded by the beautiful mountains. I hiked the 6 miles around the lake with the stop off ay Molly's Knob. It's gorgeous! I had preplanned this trip to see these parks down here many months ago. While, I camped in a tent at Claytor Lake, I rented a Yurt for two nights here at Hungary Mother. I've never stayed in a Yurt before and I loved it! It was hot though, don't get me wrong. That Yurt was like a volcano tube all day and 1/2 the night. Luckily I was gone during the daytime and due to location, around 3am to 6am it wasn't very hot at all. LoL. Mountains make the difference! The Yurt was spacious and lovely. I'll rent again in the future. Employees were nice. Gift shop was amazing. Unlike most other state parks, this one had long trails. Like I said, one was 6 miles..usually, at other parks, they have .5 and .9 mile trails that you peice together to make a 6 mile trail. Those who've been, know what I mean. My favorite VA State Park is Sky Meadows. Perfect for me and only 25 min from my house. Hungry Mother is second place winner for me!! Love it!

April, 2024. We were traveling between Roanoke, VA and the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park…read morewhen we saw a sign for Hungry Mother State Park in Marion, VA. It was close to lunch time, so we decided to go to check it out and have a picnic lunch there, lake-side. Road signage to the main part of the park wasn't great, and our GPS took us to the campground which was a few miles from the Visitor's Center. A camper sent us in the right direction. We stopped at the Visitor's Center, paid the $7 parking fee, spoke with staff, and picked up a map. We learned from staff that Hungry Mother was one of VA's original six state parks. It's known for its woodlands and placid 108 acre lake. It offers miles of hiking and biking trails, fishing, boating (including rentals), a beach (with concessions in-season), camping and cabin rentals, and special events and programs. Our goal though was to take a short walk and to find a place to eat our picnic lunch! We found the Lake Trail loop, which is a 5.7 mile hiking and biking trail. The first mile parallels Park Blvd, and was gently rolling and relatively flat. Plus, it had picnic tables lake-side! Hungry Mother State Park was a pleasant place to stop during our travels. We hope to return in the future to explore it further. Slight mark-down in rating due to insufficient signage and for charging $7 for parking for a short visit and even when most amenities were still closed off-season. This is state of VA policy, not specific to Hungry Mother.