This campground was conveniently located to other parts of Virginia that we wanted to visit on Road Trip 2017. We arrived on Friday, July 7 and departed July 12, 2017.
Shenandoah Hills Campground was on the smaller side, with 64 sites. There were lots and lots of trees, which is something we thought we liked – as part of the camping experience – but this was probably the first place where we decided that there can be too much of a good thing. In fact, we think Dean got bitten by a spider here and it took quite a while for the bite to heal.
Nonetheless, this place was the most camp-like site (and largest site) to date. Not a lot of folks here, so it was nice and quiet. On the other hand, this is the first campground at which we met another couple with whom we are still friends!
Butterflies abound. There are statues of Snow White and the dwarves a few sites away. It’s a bit surreal…
Montpelier
One of the locations we visited while there was James Madison’s Montpelier. James Madison bears the title of Father of our Constitution, among other titles, but that’s my favorite for him
Wine Tasting
While in the area, we visited 11 of the 29 vineyards on the Monticello Wine Trail. We have been Intrigued by experiencing both new types of grapes as well as familiar grapes in different ways. Petit Verdot is big here and not something I normally see on its own. But I like it a lot! Norton (a red) was a completely new discovery.
One place we really liked was Reynard Florence Vineyard.
Burnley Vineyards is apparently one of the oldest vineyards in the area.
In the distance, you can see a portion of the very large vineyard at Early Mountain. This wound up being our favorite place of the day.
Shenandoah National Park
We also did some hiking.
All the way to Lewis Falls (but.. ahem.. we got “lost” on the hike out, missing a turn so we hiked much farther back to our truck than originally planned!).
And we saw a bear in the national park! This is just about as close as we want to get!
Our next two destinations are Harvest Host locations, one in Virginia and then one in West Virginia. From there we move on to Huntington/Fox Fire KOA Holiday in West Virginia.
