During a family vacation stay at an AirBnb river house in Draper VA over a long weekend in mid-June…read more2022, I called Anthony at River Junction C&C to rent a canoe for 2 days. He was very friendly and offered to deliver the canoe, paddles, and 2 adult life vests on early Saturday morning (8:30am). Very reasonable rates and friendly service. I would strongly recommend River Junction C&C for any of your canoe rental needs. Anthony prefers to communicate by phone or text messages (instead of emails). Look for more information on their Facebook page which will have the following URL: https://www.facebook.com/riverjunctioncampground.

I feel like I found a hidden gem at this campground! Located right on the massive River, the site…read morehad plenty of space for my tent, car, plus a picnic table and fire ring. Restrooms with shower were clean and roomy. The rv campers were friendly too. All and all, I wish I lived closer because I would love to make this a regular experience. Woke up to the fog covering the land making it feel magical. It's a 10/10!

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.

I know that a campground is more than just clean, well maintained bathrooms and showers, but this…read moreplace sets the bar in that critically important area. They offer several individual bathrooms, all with their own private showers. Spotlessly clean, too! As for the RV spots, there aren't many, and they're not very private, but that's okay for a night. The cabins are clean and comfortable, however they have no running water, so you'll be enjoying the aforementioned restrooms and showers. Beautiful setting, with a stunning sunset view. They also offer WiFi, which is something of a rarity along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

This review is for one of the 8 motel rooms. If you are looking for a comfort level-up from…read morecamping, but still feel like you are camping, this is the place for you. I decided on the motel based on Yelp reviews and because we were not camping but on our way to Washington DC, and Fancy Gap was the perfect place to stop on the way. I also wanted a private bathroom, so I did not choose a cabin. This campground/cabins/motel is located about 6 miles off of Interstate 77, with the Blue Ridge Parkway within view and the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background. The motel is located up a quite steep gravel hill maybe about 1/4 mile from the campground and cabins, so it was much quieter than the campground area, which had quite a few noisy kids. The motel room was tiny (basically like a cabin but with a shower just large enough to stand in, toilet and sink) and very clean. We did see 2 spiders, but that is to be expected in the woody, outdoor setting. I appreciated the ample-sized refrigerator with a little freezer and microwave, but there was no table, chair, or even beside table in the room, so we had to eat at the picnic table (with a fire pit next to it), situated on the steep hill. It is a beautiful woods-surrounded setting, but hard to balance perched on the hill, pretty buggy, and would have not worked well if it had been raining. We enjoyed viewing the sunset and mountains in the distance while sitting in the rocking chairs on the front porch, sipping green tea and hot chocolate provided by the motel. It was quite warm during the June day, but in the evening, it got quite chilly. The A/C worked well as did the heater at night, so we were comfortable. The queen bed was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. My son said the futon was pretty comfy, but we had to bring our own bedding for it, or we would have had to pay extra. The biggest negative about this motel are the extremely thin walls--thankfully the people next door settled down about the same time we did because it sounded like we had roommates with only thin walls and locked connecting door separating us, and i felt bad every time the floor loudly creaked when I got up in the night and early morning. Also, we were looking forward to walking the wooded trails around the campground, but they were not well-maintained and overgrown, so our walk was pretty short. We did enjoy a short walk through their apple orchard.

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!!

Beautiful park, well kept and quiet. And just across the street from the New River Trail State…read morePark. Creek views in the campground with deer everywhere. New River and Dam views across the street. Awesome.

Great RV park. We had site 16 - easy to get in and out. Very well cared for and it was very wooded…read more We were maybe a 1/2 mile from the New River Trail and road it several times. There is a nice little creek running next to some of the sites. It is a short walk to the New River. We saw several people enjoying the river just wading in and some fishing. WI-FI was great- best we have had in a park yet. The owner Tom was great helping people in and out of their spots if they needed it. If I had to pick a negative- no camp fires - but it was worth not having one to stay in this beautiful place with great scenery. We didn't do it but they have river rafting and kayak rentals down the road. Saw lots of people enjoy that.

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).

My new favorite place! Next time we'll have to plan a…read morelonger stay. Management was very friendly and helpful.

Gorgeous campground, extremely friendly staff, Carolynne and Tommy make you feel right at home!…read moreThey have small events that they do at the campground to keep things entertainment. Beautiful views. I would recommend to anyone looking for a campground!

Great RV park to stay in. Very nice staff, easy access into spots,very clean multiple clean dog…read moreruns.

Lovely and quiet RV campground! Nice size sites, mostly back-in but several pull-thru. The staff…read moreis very helpful. There is not a lot of shade in the area I was in, but there were sites with a nice amount of shade. There is a pool and playground area for kids and two dog parks, one of the small ones and the other for the large dogs.

I stayed at this campground recently with my husband and kids in our pop up camper and can only say…read moregreat things about it! They had apartments, cabins, tent sites, and RV sites for rent with electricity and water hookups! They have a playground for kids, picnic tables, a clean bathhouse with warm showers, and a fully stocked camp store! Each site had a picnic table & fire pit and river view! We had so much fun! Best part of all, they have a canoe/kayak trip! We did the 5 mile canoe trip, and it was a blast! Definitely made the trip : )

We were there in early August. The river was pretty low. The office staff was extremely helpful…read morein making suggestions (whether to canoe or kayak) for us and our grandchildren. The person assigned to haul the watercraft and folks to the entry point was pleasant and offered suggestions about navigating the river. We did the "short" route. Next year hope for more water, but definitely plan to return.

My husband and I like to hike so on our recent visit to Roanoke we started exploring options. We…read morelearned that McAfees Knob is the most photographed spot on Appalachian trail. We were a bit nervous about an 8 mile hike, but decided we were going to take it on. That hike was no joke, it kicked my butt. However, I did it and I am not someone in amazing shape by any means. There were some very steep/uphill parts and some stretches that were mostly flat. Trail was well marked. I was happy for the variation and we stopped as needed. It is doable, its just long. They say it takes you about 4 hours, which was accurate for us as we arrived around 10am, finished about 2pm. We did the AT trial up and decided to go for the fire road (runs basically parallel but isn't as strenuous) back as we were already tried. I highly recommend this if you not a serious hiker. Most everything I read kept saying you need to get their early as it gets so busy. That wasn't our experience, but it was an unseasonably colder, windy day so that probably deterred people. We also went on a Thursday to help reduce crowd as recommended. Note there are no bathrooms near parking. We found an outhouse near one of the camping sites about 2/3 way up, which we were grateful for. I am not sure it is being maintained regularly, so bring your own TP and hand sanitizer. Now, the view once you get to the top is absolutely beautiful. You can see out so far while you sit/stand on the rocky overlook. I even slowly inched my way out to the very tip of the rock to get the full 360 view. Breathtaking! We brought some snacks to eat up there to replenish (do this) and enjoy the views. We didn't stay up there as long as I would have liked as it was quite cold with the wind when we no longer had the tree cover. Dress appropriately! After we finished the hike, we took a long nap at our Airb&B. I am not sure I would choose to do it again, but I feel very accomplished that we completed this trail and enjoyed the views and our picutres very much.

What an awesome hike. Our new Thanksgiving tradition has been to go on a hike and this was our pick…read morethis year. We got there around 10am since it's a 3 hour drive from Charlotte. I thought it would be empty on Thanksgiving, but it was pretty crowded. We got a parking spot just fine, but the lot was fairly full. The hike is rated as strenuous, but I thought it was moderate. It's about 4 miles to Mcafee Knob from the parking lot making it 8 miles round trip. We took the Appalachian Trail on the way there and the fire road on the way back. The fire road is flatter and wider--an easier hike overall. Parts of the AT were covered in leaves making it a bit hard to hike. Everyone says the last mile is hard. It's uphill but I didn't find it to be too steep. The views at the end are gorgeous. Luckily it wasn't too crowded and we didn't have to wait to get our picture. We didn't stay at the top long because it was incredibly windy which made it pretty cold even though the rest of the hike was comfortable. The whole hike with stops took us just under 4 hours. With views and difficulty combined, we thought it was a great hike!