This year I decided to take a drive through the mountains to see the leaves change in the NorthEast US. Day 1 and 2. Started from Washington DC, where we rented a car at DCA airport. We drove out of town to avoid the higher priced Washington hotel rates, and stopped at a McDonalds to get internet access. One of the smartest things McDonalds has done, was to put in free internet service in its stores. I use it as my "go to" for internet, when on the road traveling since a lot of my travel involves booking hotels and tours on the run. Used hotwire.com for a hotel, blind bidding and received a TravelLodge hotel in Frederick, MD. My past experience wasn't so good at TravelLodge, but this turned out to be a nice surprise. Clean and near some restaurants, it also turned out to be in a historical area, though we didn't see too much in the city, it was a great location out of Washington DC. We stayed on route 40 and 40A, which run concurrently, as an alternate to the nearby highway. The signs are easily seen and are marked as scenic byways. Route 40 and 40A will take you all the way along the scenic panhandle of Maryland, and we split the trip into 2 days. The leaves at this time of year are beautiful this time of year, yellows, orange, red, gold, vibrant colors abound. We stopped at various points along the way, in little towns and decided to camp the second night at Fort Frederick State Park. Although the park was pretty, it was not the best choice for camping. A train track is just across the lake from the campsite, and trains run about every 15 minutes, blowing the horns, all through the night. To add insult to injury, the quiet hour for the park is from 11pm to 7am. Of course, at 7am sharp, an industrial tractor with an industrial leaf blower attached, came around blowing leaves, back and forth across the camp area. It was awful and forced us to leave from being unable to sleep due to the train noise and the leaf blower. I would have found someplace else to sleep had I known about he noise. Day 2 took us across more of 40 and 40A Maryland scenic byways, and then we took a 2 hour drive on state roads, down to Virginia, where we wound up in Winchester, Virginia to start our next day tomorrow by following the Blue Ridge Parkway. I checked into the TownePlace Suites by Marriott, a great choice, breakfast is free and the rooms a quite large, with a kitchenette, that allowed me to prepare some food from the local Walmart, rather that go out to eat.
We then started our trip South from the Shenandoah Parkway, which is actually a National Park and requires admission to drive through. Check for prices before your outset. The road is one lane and gets very dark after sunset and not really safe for driving at night so plan your arrival time carefully. Many stops are listed along the way, such as scenic pull offs, and many historic points, clearly marked. Take your time to see what inspires you. The views are breathtaking. The best time, in my opinion, is the turning of the leaves, mid October. Vivid oranges, reds, yellows, golds, crimson, to name a few colors. This ends at the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We chose to use both hotwire.com and find hotels along the way, as well as stopping a couple nights in state parks for camping. Electric is for RV's only. As a matter of fact, all the campgrounds on the parkway, do not have showers, except for the Mt. Pisgah, site in North Carolina. Our trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway, starts at Waynesboro, VA and runs just over 400 miles to Bryson, NC. Entrance to the parkway is free, once you come off the Shenandoah Parkway. Our camping adventure on the Blue Ridge was at Rocky Knob, one of many State parks on the parkway. Very clean and quiet, and has a 24 hour camp host, but no showers, and no lights in the bathroom. Fire wood can be purchased nearby. Guides to campgrounds can be found in the various information sites located along the parkway. Saturday nights are campfire lecture nights, during season, which runs until late Oct. Nearby, sites include Maybry Mill, a must see functioning mill. Arrive early to avoid the huge crowds that want to take pictures of the bit of Normal Rockwell scenery. We drove for about 5-7 hours daily, and chose to take some of our stops in hotels along the way. There are various exits from the parkway, and we simply pulled into a McDonalds, sign into their free wi-fi, and went on hotwire.com to find the lowest priced hotel in the area, or simply went right for Motel6.com, which is my low cost, budget, "goto" hotel, for my road trips. I ended my trip in Franklin, spent the night at a Microtel, (never again, too much for a tiny hotel room and bad bed!) We then drove down to North Georgia and stayed the night in Black Rock Mountain State Park. They have about 6 primitive camping spots and a higher number of electric spots for RV or tents, who desire electric hook up. The park is quite nice but the primitive spots require a walk up or down hill so plan on being able to walk with your belongings up or down steep hills. The handicap site at the park is actually quite scenic and would recommend taking it if tenting and the space is open. The park was quite nice and pretty, but I better recommend Tallulah Gorge State Park, just a few miles down the road, for the most scenic waterfalls and perfect campgrounds in the area. A welcome center and small discovery center are on the property and the grounds are quiet. (See me previous blog from Nov of 2007 for more information on my previous stay in this park.) The Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Shenandoah Parkway, are some of the most beautiful drives that I have ever done, and I highly recommend them, especially in mid-October, for the fall leaves.
We ended out trip today in Atlanta, so I will go over some of the points of this trip. Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, the campgrounds that are in the park *do not* have showers, for those who are camping. The only facility with showers is in North Carolina at Mt Pisgah. Take time to take lots of pictures and make lots of space on your camera. Hotels along the exits of the Blue Ridge parkway, have a tendency to be a little higher in price, even on discount sites like hotwire.com, probably because even though the kids are back in school in Oct, you have the older, retired crowd, out on the roads, thus more disposable income (in my opinion) and they can charge higher prices for lower quality hotels. May be best to plan your trips and book hotels early to find lower cost hotels??? Sprint cell phone service is minimal if even existent along the whole parkway and even off exits, so if you have a Sprint network for your cell phone, take a map, or pick one up. This was a life saver.
Major stopping points along my route include:
Maryland Panhandle: Swallow Falls State Park
Deep Creek Lake State Park
The Cover Overlook
Grantsville
New Germany State Park
National Road
Cumberland: See Fort Cumberland Trail, there is a train ride you can take if you desire.
Sideling Hill
Fort Frederick State Park, but forget camping here, too much noise.
Hagerstown
Antietam National Battelefield
Fredrick
Looped around to the Shenandoah Parkway (Stopping points are North to South):
Luray Caverns, which is *off* Skyline Drive, is a must see. The largest and most popular caverns in the East. Ntional Geographic calls the Caverns a "fairyland in stone". A must visit stop!!!!
Shenandoah Valley Overlook
Range View Overlook
Hogback Overlook
Marys Rock Tunnel
Pinnacles Overlook
Stony Man Overlook
Skyland
Crecent Rock Overlook
Dark Hollow Falls
Big Meadows
South River Overlook
Swift Run Overlook
Big Run Overlook
Blackrok
Crimora Lake Overlook
Sawmill Run Overlook
This is a paid entrance park.
Continue to Blue Ridge Parkway, cost free:
Humpback Rock
Whetstone Ridge
Buena Vista Overlook
James River
Peaks of Otter
Roanoke Mountain
Smart View
Mabry Mill
Groundhog Mountain
Cumberland Knob
Doughton Park: This area has a little town, worth a visit and walk around. This town was built on the boating industry in the 1800 and gave way to the railroads, which bankrupted the boat industry.
Moses H. Cone Memorial Park
Linville Falls
Crabtree Meadows
Mount Mitchell State Park
Craggy Gardens
Mount Pisgah
Devils Courthouse
Richland Balsam
Waterrock Knob
Heintooga Ridge Spur Road
Once off the Blue Ridge Parkway: Stopped in at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, well worth a visit. About 1 hour to see all the sites in the visitor center, a restored farm.
Did a side tour around the Carolina Countryside:
Cherokee, a tourist trap but has some fun areas for the kids, with "indian" shows and various stops, as well as tacky tourist shops.
Bryson City
A side trip: Head northwest on Route 28 to Fontana Village, where a dam holds back Fontana Lake. Then take Route 129, ending in Topton.
Another side trip: This is a must and was the best part of this area of North Carolina. We started by heading to Cullasja River Gorge, wonderful waterfalls, to lead us into the picturesque town of Highlands. Plan on spending a full day in Highlands, enjoying shopping, dining and just general site seeing. Ladies who lunch come here and the crowd is well monied.
Heading down to Georgia, we stopped at Tallulah Falls for the breathtaking scenery, and then down to Atlanta. We stayed at the Wyndham Garden hotel off the ATL airport. A fine hotel, which I would use again if I were in the area.
We then started our trip South from the Shenandoah Parkway, which is actually a National Park and requires admission to drive through. Check for prices before your outset. The road is one lane and gets very dark after sunset and not really safe for driving at night so plan your arrival time carefully. Many stops are listed along the way, such as scenic pull offs, and many historic points, clearly marked. Take your time to see what inspires you. The views are breathtaking. The best time, in my opinion, is the turning of the leaves, mid October. Vivid oranges, reds, yellows, golds, crimson, to name a few colors. This ends at the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We chose to use both hotwire.com and find hotels along the way, as well as stopping a couple nights in state parks for camping. Electric is for RV's only. As a matter of fact, all the campgrounds on the parkway, do not have showers, except for the Mt. Pisgah, site in North Carolina. Our trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway, starts at Waynesboro, VA and runs just over 400 miles to Bryson, NC. Entrance to the parkway is free, once you come off the Shenandoah Parkway. Our camping adventure on the Blue Ridge was at Rocky Knob, one of many State parks on the parkway. Very clean and quiet, and has a 24 hour camp host, but no showers, and no lights in the bathroom. Fire wood can be purchased nearby. Guides to campgrounds can be found in the various information sites located along the parkway. Saturday nights are campfire lecture nights, during season, which runs until late Oct. Nearby, sites include Maybry Mill, a must see functioning mill. Arrive early to avoid the huge crowds that want to take pictures of the bit of Normal Rockwell scenery. We drove for about 5-7 hours daily, and chose to take some of our stops in hotels along the way. There are various exits from the parkway, and we simply pulled into a McDonalds, sign into their free wi-fi, and went on hotwire.com to find the lowest priced hotel in the area, or simply went right for Motel6.com, which is my low cost, budget, "goto" hotel, for my road trips. I ended my trip in Franklin, spent the night at a Microtel, (never again, too much for a tiny hotel room and bad bed!) We then drove down to North Georgia and stayed the night in Black Rock Mountain State Park. They have about 6 primitive camping spots and a higher number of electric spots for RV or tents, who desire electric hook up. The park is quite nice but the primitive spots require a walk up or down hill so plan on being able to walk with your belongings up or down steep hills. The handicap site at the park is actually quite scenic and would recommend taking it if tenting and the space is open. The park was quite nice and pretty, but I better recommend Tallulah Gorge State Park, just a few miles down the road, for the most scenic waterfalls and perfect campgrounds in the area. A welcome center and small discovery center are on the property and the grounds are quiet. (See me previous blog from Nov of 2007 for more information on my previous stay in this park.) The Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Shenandoah Parkway, are some of the most beautiful drives that I have ever done, and I highly recommend them, especially in mid-October, for the fall leaves.
We ended out trip today in Atlanta, so I will go over some of the points of this trip. Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, the campgrounds that are in the park *do not* have showers, for those who are camping. The only facility with showers is in North Carolina at Mt Pisgah. Take time to take lots of pictures and make lots of space on your camera. Hotels along the exits of the Blue Ridge parkway, have a tendency to be a little higher in price, even on discount sites like hotwire.com, probably because even though the kids are back in school in Oct, you have the older, retired crowd, out on the roads, thus more disposable income (in my opinion) and they can charge higher prices for lower quality hotels. May be best to plan your trips and book hotels early to find lower cost hotels??? Sprint cell phone service is minimal if even existent along the whole parkway and even off exits, so if you have a Sprint network for your cell phone, take a map, or pick one up. This was a life saver.
Major stopping points along my route include:
Maryland Panhandle: Swallow Falls State Park
Deep Creek Lake State Park
The Cover Overlook
Grantsville
New Germany State Park
National Road
Cumberland: See Fort Cumberland Trail, there is a train ride you can take if you desire.
Sideling Hill
Fort Frederick State Park, but forget camping here, too much noise.
Hagerstown
Antietam National Battelefield
Fredrick
Looped around to the Shenandoah Parkway (Stopping points are North to South):
Luray Caverns, which is *off* Skyline Drive, is a must see. The largest and most popular caverns in the East. Ntional Geographic calls the Caverns a "fairyland in stone". A must visit stop!!!!
Shenandoah Valley Overlook
Range View Overlook
Hogback Overlook
Marys Rock Tunnel
Pinnacles Overlook
Stony Man Overlook
Skyland
Crecent Rock Overlook
Dark Hollow Falls
Big Meadows
South River Overlook
Swift Run Overlook
Big Run Overlook
Blackrok
Crimora Lake Overlook
Sawmill Run Overlook
This is a paid entrance park.
Continue to Blue Ridge Parkway, cost free:
Humpback Rock
Whetstone Ridge
Buena Vista Overlook
James River
Peaks of Otter
Roanoke Mountain
Smart View
Mabry Mill
Groundhog Mountain
Cumberland Knob
Doughton Park: This area has a little town, worth a visit and walk around. This town was built on the boating industry in the 1800 and gave way to the railroads, which bankrupted the boat industry.
Moses H. Cone Memorial Park
Linville Falls
Crabtree Meadows
Mount Mitchell State Park
Craggy Gardens
Mount Pisgah
Devils Courthouse
Richland Balsam
Waterrock Knob
Heintooga Ridge Spur Road
Once off the Blue Ridge Parkway: Stopped in at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, well worth a visit. About 1 hour to see all the sites in the visitor center, a restored farm.
Did a side tour around the Carolina Countryside:
Cherokee, a tourist trap but has some fun areas for the kids, with "indian" shows and various stops, as well as tacky tourist shops.
Bryson City
A side trip: Head northwest on Route 28 to Fontana Village, where a dam holds back Fontana Lake. Then take Route 129, ending in Topton.
Another side trip: This is a must and was the best part of this area of North Carolina. We started by heading to Cullasja River Gorge, wonderful waterfalls, to lead us into the picturesque town of Highlands. Plan on spending a full day in Highlands, enjoying shopping, dining and just general site seeing. Ladies who lunch come here and the crowd is well monied.
Heading down to Georgia, we stopped at Tallulah Falls for the breathtaking scenery, and then down to Atlanta. We stayed at the Wyndham Garden hotel off the ATL airport. A fine hotel, which I would use again if I were in the area.
