Blog Post #15 – Fall in Virginia

George Washington National Forest in the Alleghany Mountain

And a surprise on Massanutten Trail

October 17-24, 2023

Down the Trails to Virginia

The first evening in Virginia, we pulled into a dispersed campground in the George Washington National Forest near Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Quiet and serene, nestled on a creek, no one else was around.

The area is popular with hunters, and we could hear the gunshots until dusk. This does not bother us. We settled in and spent a quiet night.

The following day, we were disappointed.

Walking around the campsite, we saw trash strewn around from previous campers.

This is uncommon for Virginia, a very clean and environmentally conscious state.

Mike has some grabbers, and he habitually picks up trash around the campgrounds to show our appreciation for using and enjoying the public lands.

Undoubtedly, others who used this area were not so grateful. Mike picked up two huge plastic bags of trash.

Drink a beer, soda, and seltzer water if you choose, but bring your cans to a recycling bin.

And that wasn’t enough. A previous camper brought a ‘potty bucket’ lined with bags, used it, and then, instead of packing it out when they left, threw the bags in the trees, and left the bucket.

I’ll spare your senses from showing you the bags of poop.

And, of course, graffiti….

I didn’t feel comfortable staying there any longer, so we left.

On to Better Places

Near Woodstock, VA, and up the mountain from Fort Valley, VA, is the Little Fort Recreation Area.

It was popular with ATV and OHV (All-Terrain Vehicles and Off-Highway Vehicles) riders and had a clean campground. ATVs and OHVs were not allowed around the campsites, so it was quiet.

We chose a spot that was a bit of a challenge to park our camper. I hope no one heard the exchange of conversation as we were parking.

It was in the middle of a loop and a little elevated. We were solitary but could see around the campground.

We didn’t have cell service in this campground, but we found a nearby spot to drive to and connect.

This area has many hiking trails, scenic views, and quaint little towns. We visited the city of Woodstock.

Woodstock, VA

It’s not so large of a city that it is a challenge to motivate around. But it is large enough to have familiar stores to purchase supplies and repair parts. Many parts jiggle loose when your home travels up and down the highways and across rough terrains.

As our practice, we stopped in at the Visitor Center and got lots of information about things to do in the area.

Three Trails

The first three trails we explored were near the campground. ATVs and OHVs use the trail, but they must enter at a point outside of the campground.

**The first trail was across the campground road from our campsite.**

**Lined with colorful trees, interesting rock formations, and various ferns and grasses, the path was a tranquil trail.**

Only a couple of motorbikes passed us, and they were very courteous.

**Near our campground is Woodstock Trail, a lovely Fall walk.**

It is a short, easy walking trail, but it does have a bit of an elevation.

**As we walked, we saw another path below and wondered what it was. Why is that bench there?** (see blue arrow)

**Then you arrive at a steel stairway with many steps leading up to Woodstock Tower.**

We stuffed our height phobias in our stomachs and started climbing. It was worth the fear!

**Looking down from the top of the tower, it shows a serpentine waterway around the town of Woodstock.**

**and quaint farms, yellow and gold trees, green meadows,**

Massanutten Trail

A bit farther down the road is Massanutten Trail. I read a blog post from Opting Out of Normal. She said this hidden gem was one of the most beautiful trails she had ever experienced. And she was right.

**This was the path we saw as we walked along the Woodstock Trail. The best part is at the first .33 mile of the four-mile trail. But you can see the view clearer.**

At this point, you arrive at a grassy hill with a bench.

We sat on the bench for a while.

**overlooks the same view you see from the tower.**

**We could see a waterway with levels meandering through the land.**

**We continued down the mountain road into the city of Woodstock.**

**We found out that the meandering waterway seen from the overlook is a reservoir with several dams.**

A Surprise on Massanutten Trail

Our last pictures from Massanutten Trail seemed gloomy. The next day, the sun was shining. We returned to Massanutten Trail to get better photos.

These pictures are along the drive to Woodstock Tower and Massanutten Trail.

**When we arrived at the overlook, a group of people were gathered. Two men were helping a third to hang glide off the hill. We sat on the bench to watch.**

**The hill is a far drop to the valley below. And the wind was strong.**

**Everyone has their version of what is fun and exciting. Hang gliding is their fun.**
**Ours is** **watching**.

After a while, we continued to walk up the trail. It goes all the way to Seven Bends State Park.

Saturday at two Farmer’s Markets

It isn’t Fall without visiting a farmer’s market with pumpkins and gourds. Woodbine Farmers Market in Strasburg is famous for its baked goods. People were lined up at the counter displaying delicious pies, cookies, cakes, breads, and biscuits. The man before me ordered two of each kind of cookie on display. Mike and I drooled over the pies. We ordered half of a blueberry crumble pie.

Believe it or not, we didn’t take pictures of that farmer’s market or the pie. I think our brain was saturated with thoughts of eating the pie. And it was the best-tasting pie we’ve ever had!

The next farmer’s market was the Jon Henry General Store in New Market. They also had a wide variety of pumpkins, gourds, and apples. Inside their store, I found a set of the old-fashioned game “Pick Up Sticks.” I’ve been looking for this game for years. It was one of my childhood favorites. I can’t wait to play it with my grandsons.

Seven Bends State Park

No, we did not hike to Seven Bends State Park that day. We planned to take our bikes for a ride around the park on another day.

The State Park is outside of Woodstock. It’s a pretty, well-maintained park along the reservoir we saw from the Woodstock Tower and Massanutten overlook. It includes a discovery area for children that shows and explains the area’s animals, vegetation, and geography.

We planned to ride our bikes along the Reservoir Trail (the trail in white on the map). There are two entrances into Seven Bends to park your vehicle and explore the trails.

Hollingsworth Entrance to Seven Bends – We chose the first entrance at Hollingsworth Road (purple arrow).

The route to Reservoir Trail included traveling on two other trails to get there. The first one was fine. However, the second was too steep and rocky for our bikes.

So, we decided to try the Lupton Road entrance (red arrow), but we had the same problem. We could have managed one obstacle with our bikes – rocky OR steep, but not both.

Instead, we biked around the park. It would have been a good hiking trail; however, the afternoon turned into evening, and the park was about to close.

Scenes from Seven Bends State Park

As We Leave

The Fall colors in the mountains of Washington National Forest put on quite a show for us this year. We want to share one more exciting photo with all of you.

As we rode up the mountain, people parked their vehicles next to this little water pipe and filled their bottles with clear mountain spring water.

We headed back to West Virginia and the New River Gorge National Park.