This is a sweet and relaxing little park near to Monticello. It is 89 acres and comes complete with…read morea nice hiking trail complex, a pond, some great paved and wooden walkways, an arboretum, a woodland theater, and even a "secluded farm." Walk off all the fried chicken at Michie's Tavern by coming here. It will totally make your visit to Charlottesville greener, healthier, and more refreshing. Also, you will meet lots of locals, their kids, and their dogs. This place has a lot to offer those who just need to stretch their legs, fill up the memory cards on their cameras, or really pound out the miles on the trails. Highly recommended to tourists and longer-term residents alike!

Park here and walk multiple trails up the mountain for lookouts or over a boardwalk to Monticello…read more(you can reach the new visitors center / gift shop and restrooms without an admission ticket). Beautiful area. Nice for running, although it was absolutely freezing the day we went. Monticello stop was a nice warm up before heading back to Kemper.

Sorry for the 1-star (you may change my "review" to 5-star when this is fixed). Often referred to…read moreas "Afton Mountain," Rockfish Gap is not in Bedford, VA. This is the intersection of the Appalachian Trail (abt mp 863.5), Blue Ridge Parkway, Skyline Drive, I-64 exit 99 (I think), and US Rt 250. To the west is Waynesboro, Stuarts Draft, and Staunton. To the east is Afton, Crozet, and Charlottesville. How do I know? The gap is about 2 miles out my back window. Not much commerce at rhe gap itself, except the wonderful old-time "King's Gourmet Popcorn" stand which has much more than popcorn. There is a motel and a couple of B&Bs a mile or so West on Rt. 250 near the Western edit of the famous Blue Ridge Tunnel (check it out on YouTube), which then pops you out in the village of Afton on the east side of the Blue Ridge. A longer walk back to the Gap, but adequate parking is at either terminus. Afton is in an area rich with wineries, distilleries, and breweries. Blee BleesRockfishRetreat.com

I've been hiking the AT, section by section, for the past 20 years. I'm currently in the process of…read moremoving Stuarts Draft, just 20 minutes form Rockfish Gap. A great section with The Priest not far south of this road crossing

I've lived in Charlottesville my whole life and had never rafted down the Rivanna river until…read moretoday. In the beginning it was truly peaceful floating down but near the end got extremely rocky. Our floats got stuck multiple times due several underwater rocks, and one of us had to get out to get us moving again. I feel like kayaking would be a lot more fun on this river as it's easier avoid obstacles. Once you reach the end it is brutal getting out, there are several sharp and slippery rocks that caused two of us to fall and get hurt. But you cannot change nature, it does what it wants. If you want to go I'd probably wait until it rains so the water is deeper and you can have less problems with rocks in the water, otherwise go kayaking instead.

I wanted to go kayaking and explore what Cville had to offer on the riverfront. I launched from…read moreDarden Park and went down the river all the way to I64. The water level was low (as I expected. We are on a drought warning). Made the rocky river a little more interesting. Got down to the bend just north of Riverview park and I was thinking...no problem getting back up the river on my kayak, I am gonna keep going. Then I turned the corner and went down the biggest section of rocky water drop and got wedged in between to rocks. My fault. Got loose and continued on thinking well I can carry my kayak around that coming back. Well the water runs a little harder in the south direction after that. (of not: my kayak is an inflatable). Some beautiful views along the river and some old smokestacks made for an interesting trip down to I64. This is where things got tricky and scarey for me: I should have embanked at Riverview park and walked back from there. Instead I kept going and had no where to get out and having no knowledge of what lied further on and the sun beginning to set I went and wedged myself next to a down tree and an area that would have normally been under water and then climbed up the embankment-it was a comical endeavor with me trying to get my dog and kayak up, as well as, me in flip flops. Walking the Rivanna Trail and then the Old west trail back to my car was very nice! Would be a great trail for some mountain biking and trail runs. Marked with mile markers and well kept.

This is a substantial preserve that is free to enter. Some facilities without running water are…read moreavailable at the entrance. The topography varies, and the meadow near the parking lot is markedly distinct from the valley in which the actual creek lies. One suspension bridge crosses the creek and it was in quite good condition, but it could also be crossed on foot, or on hoof as this is a horse area. There were several miles of trails and I was worn out enough that I did only a fraction of them, but they were quite pleasant. Various signage suggested this parking lot was a spot for thieves despite the rural location; I suppose it is a highbrow crowd that would be parking here. It also suggests that anytime your shoe leaves a mark the trail is too wet to walk, which if taken literally is kind of ridiculous. Fortunately, if you lock your car and make your own decisions about mud, you can have a good experiences.

This is a great park we happen to find in the area. After spending the previous day at the winery,…read morewe needed to do a small hike. Unfortunately, it was extremely cold and windy and we didn't have bug spray, so we didn't get didn't get too adventurous. For these reasons, we tried the easiest trail--the Meadow Loop Trail. It was an easy loop around a grassy area, took maybe less than 10 minutes. There was a very detailed map at the entrance of the trails. This included all the available trails, the level of difficulty for each trail, basic etiquette, friendly reminders, etc. There was also a reminder that everyone needs to watch out for each other --hikers, bikers and horse riders. We didn't see any horses, but we did try to dodge the "presents" they left behind. We did see some bikers returning from the trail. There was a large parking lot, which most likely fills up when the weather is nicer. Cameras are watching the parking lot, but it's always best to lock cars and hide valuables :). There were bathrooms available, but not the type with running water....if you get what I mean! Would I return? Can't say for sure since it's pretty far.

Such a beautiful and scenic ride along the stunning mountains!…read more Def coordinating this into all my drives down South!

The Blue Ridge Parkway begins where Skyline Drive ends in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. It…read moreruns 217 miles from Anton to the border with North Carolina near Roanoke, before continuing farther to the southwest into the Smoky Mountains in far western Carolina; 469 miles in all. It is very similar to Skyline Drive, but offers somewhat higher peaks and and more astounding long vistas of blue tinged valleys from overlooks along the route. Still, if you love this part of the Appalachians, you really owed it to yourself to continue the excursion at least partially down the twisting crest hugging blacktop for as long as you wish. We were able to do more rock scrambling there than farther north, and the adventure quotient was that much more challenging. Too, we had a decent map of the secondary roads, and turned off the Parkway to return via unpaved single lane gravel tracks that took us deeper into the vales and hollows where the locals live and work the land. I imaged hearing banjo and bluegrass as we passed crystal flowing streams and cascading boulder diverted waterfalls. Perfect soundtrack to our personal travelogue. Those fifty miles were the most exciting. At first a little nervous being somewhere we might not be found, we gradually found some confidence as our car trekked the forest road well, and the one pickup we met along the way courteously pulled out of our way to let us pass, with a smile and wave. Pennsylvania has the Allegheny Mountains, the northern continuation of the Blue Ridge. They are rugged and beautiful in their own right, but lack the focus demanded from a challenging drive on mountain roads dedicated to letting travelers discover their intense magnetism. Spend enough time under their spell and you will swear you underwent a near religious experience.

Disappointing nature trail. We made it barely over a mile before we had to turnaround due to downed…read moretree, and there were several downed trees along the trail that made the trail difficult to navigate. Didn't find it well maintained either way.

Very big, clean park! My husband and I were in town with our dogs to go hiking and stopped in here…read moreone morning after grabbing coffee to walk the nature trail.

On our way out we saw scenic overlooks while heading westbound, we made a mental note of these…read moreareas and decided to make a stop on our way back east. After making our stop for facilities and food, we started out again. We were keeping an eye out for the signs to make the pull off. We got to the first one and found a spot to park. This is not to be confused with the other scenic overlook a few miles ahead. This one is purely for the overlook, with a small bit of history. When you look out over the valley, you get to see in the distance a few peaks. Humpback Mountain will be to your west and Heard Mountain will be to your east. Then you just have the sweeping view of the valley. And for clarity, this is the overlook from the Interstate, not the road that is just below the highway. While here, be sure to check out the historic markers as well. One explaining the Rockfish Gap Meeting. This one pertaining to the commission for the start of the University of Virginia. The second is Flight of Richard C DuPont. Setting the US record for sail planing. This flight took him from near this spot to Frederick, MD. The third, Greenwood-Alton Rural Historic District. A significant passage through this area, being that it is the lowest point in some distance through the Blue Ridge Mountains. If you are looking for a place to stretch your legs during a long haul drive, this is possibly one of the best places to do so.

When you time the stop just right it's a 5 star experience. So today was perfect Fall foliage with…read moreblue skies and large puffy clouds which was ideal for viewing and photography. Help out a new friend and offer to take photos too! There are trash cans use them!

Great Historical Site! We went back in 2017,…read moreSo it's been a minute. We loved it. Ask questions to the guides as they are very knowledgeable!

Monticello is probably the most famous of all the President houses (Mt Vernon may have it beat)…read more As a self-proclaimed Presidential history nerd, I have been to several presidential homes, libraries, museums, gravesites, monuments, etc. Monticello's history is the most interesting because of many factors including Jefferson's architectural obsession, the atrocities with slavery that occurred with building and maintaining it, and the innovations and experimentation Jefferson used while living here. Monticello is a huge operation. You should definitely get a reservation. You park at the bottom of the hill (or maybe middle of it) then you go through metal detectors and are now in the cafe/gift shop/bathroom area. From there you can take the 1/2 mile walk up hill to the home or take the bus. Once you are up top, you will be put into different huddles depending on your tour time. Oh, there are several different style tours, we just did the general admission tour. Anyway, you can walk around the grounds while you wait. The whole thing is very well organized. Our tour guide took us through various rooms in the house, pointed out various artifacts from Jefferson's past, told stories and was very knowledgeable when asked questions. The group I was in was probably 20 people. The whole tour took 45 mins. Then we walked the grounds independent of the tour including looking at Jefferson's family cemetery plot. My only issue is that I went on July 1st, 2026, so the whole back (or front) had a huge tent set up for the America 250 celebration. Not a big deal just didn't get the complete feel or pics.