A few days before celebrating my first Halloween in the United States, I went on a weekend getaway to Virginia with three other friends. We spent that couple of days enjoying walks in the middle of nature in Shenandoah National Park, cozying up in our wooden cabin and soaking up all things autumn including pumpkins and colorful leaves.
If you’re planning on doing a fall trip to Shenandoah National Park, here is some inspiration of what you can do in the area based on our weekend itinerary.
Shenandoah National Park
Just 75 miles from the bustle of Washington DC, Shenandoah National Park is a land bursting with cascading waterfalls, spectacular vistas, fields of wildflowers, and quiet wooded hollows.
With over 200,000 acres of protected lands that are haven to deer, songbirds, and black bear, this National Park has so much to explore!
During the fall season, this is a great spot to admire the autumn foliage if you don’t want to head further North. We walked in the forest, we barbequed and we were blown away by the orange, red and yellow fall colors from various viewpoints throughout the park.
In case you just feel like driving around the park, you can choose between the North or the South Skyline Drive.
Pumpkin patch in Valley Star Farm
Nothing says Halloween like pumpkins, that’s for sure.
So, to honor that fact, we visited a pumpkin patch in Valley Star Farm on our way back from Shenandoah National Park.
I even bought a pumpkin that I brought home. Needless to say, I discovered pumpkins were really hard to carve when I was in the midst of it. However, I managed to do a decent work and place a candle inside of it. Booooh!
Skyline Caverns in Front Royal
Our last stop of this weekend getaway was in Front Royal to visit the Skyline Caverns. The closest natural wonder to the Nation’s Capital, this is one of the few places in the world hosting anthodite formations and it was discovered by geologist Walter S. Amos in 1937. See by yourself!
Trip details
- Transportation: we rented a car for the 2h-drive from Washington DC to Luray in Virginia.
- Accommodation: we spent a couple of nights at Brookside Cabins in Luray.
This is a wrap! How did you like this pre-Halloween weekend getaway? Feel free to leave a comment below and/or read some of my posts to other destinations in Virginia:
- 9 things to see and do in Alexandria (Virginia)
- Quick visit to Alexandria & Baltimore
- What to visit on a road trip to Virginia in 3 days
- Arlington National Cemetery & Iwo Jima Memorial
- Rediscovering DC & Alexandria
Should you want to read about other destinations in the country, you can refer to my USA destination page.
