New Market
Ah, Virginia in the fall. The changing leaves and the history of America in one beautiful place. In the land of the Appalachians, there is a ton of family-friendly activities for everyone to enjoy.
Our Favorite Things We Did with Kids in New Market, Virginia:
Shenandoah National Park - visiting here in the fall is just perfection. We did several hikes in this national park, but even just driving the scenic 105-mile Skyline Drive from the park’s northern to southern points is spectacular. There are so many hiking trails in this expansive national park that it feels like we barely scratched the surface, but our favorite hikes that the whole family could enjoy were:
Dark Hollow Falls: this is a moderate hike with some steep areas that took about 2 hours round trip for us with a 4-year old and one-year old in the hiking backpack. The waterfall is worth the hike, but be sure to wear good hiking shoes as some of the steep rocky areas can be slippery!
Stony Man: this 1.6-mile hike was mostly easy with an awesome panoramic view of the Shenandoah Valley at the end that is definitely worth the hike!
Hawksbill Summit via Upper Hawksbill Trailhead: a great 2-mile hike that takes you to the highest peak in Shenandoah and a beautiful view of the Blue Ridge Mountains!
Story of the Forest: an easy and enjoyable 1.8-mile round trip hike through the woods
Apple picking at Showalter’s Orchard - as Texans, picking apples at a real orchard was one of the top things I wanted to do in Virginia and Showalter’s did not disappoint! You choose from 3 different sized bags and then can stuff it as full as you can with apples! After picking you apples, be sure to head up to the greenhouse and get some yummy apple cider and the most delicious apple cider donuts from the Orchard Roots Cafe food truck - these were both a huge hit with the kiddos! Also on site is the adorable Old Hill Cider tasting room where you can sample a variety of hard cider!
Endless Caverns Tour - exploring the caverns with a guided tour was so fun! It was just over an hour long with so many interesting and expansive cave formations. Truly fun for the whole family.
Day trip to Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. Although just over a 2 hour drive from New Market, Virginia, we knew that we wouldn’t be this close to Gettysburg again for a while, so we went ahead and made the day trip and we were glad that we did. Gettysburg is an amazing and sobering experience. The grounds are so expansive that it’s impossible to walk the whole area, but we opted to walk the main trail from the visitor center as well as to the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. There are also guided bus tours available for purchase or you can drive yourself with a map that is provided of the major battle points and other important sights. So much history is present, so we used this as another homeschool history day, using the Junior Ranger program as our guide! *all of the walking trails at Gettysburg were stroller friendly
Where we stayed: Endless Caverns RV Resort. My gosh, we loved this RV resort! When you think of camping nestled in nature with a campfire among the stars but still having the convenience of full hook-ups, this is it. The grounds were beautiful, the playground for kids was fun and there was even a game/event room, catch and release pond, and gem mine. Not to mention, there are actual caverns on the property that you can take a guided tour of for a small fee - talk about the coolest campground! There is also a camp store on site.
Brewery Spotlight: As always, we are on a quest to bring you recommendations for great local craft beer and/or food in cities all across America that also have a kid-friendly spaces. Elkton Brewing Company in Elkton, Virginia was SO. DANG. GOOD. A cool space and even better beers. Their “Campin’ Curly” is my new favorite beer! We didn’t eat there, but the food truck on site looked like delicious pizzas. There isn’t really a place for kids to run around here since their outdoor area isn’t very big, but the beers are some of the best we’ve ever had, so it’s still definitely worth a stop in if you are in the area!