William King Museum

Only two galleries were open during our visit and while there's no admission fee, the museum may not warrant a special trip even when fully open. The changing exhibit galleries featured Salvador Dali etchings, mixed media pieces by Beka Addison-Browder, and functional stoneware and decorative pottery. 

The museum is accessible but due to the ongoing construction the entrance that we used on the left side of the building may not be the accessible entrance when the construction is finished.  

Parking was also disrupted by the construction. We parked in front of the building and had a very steep hill to climb to the accessible entrance.  Museum  36.70911, -81.98689

 

Museum of the Middle Appalachians

 Animals and people have been visiting Saltville, Virginia for over 14,000 years starting with mastodons, woolly mammoths, giant sloths, and musk oxen. Before that all kinds of creatures lived in the sea that covered the entire valley basin. When the sea dried up it left vast salt deposits which were mostly buried under sediment but the accessible salt was a big draw for animals, Native Americans, European explorers and settlers, and finally huge chemical factories who all came for the salt. 

 The small museum gives an overall history of the area with exhibits of mastodon bones, Native American artifacts, 1850s salt works, Civil War battles, and the rise of a company town. The company town is portrayed as idyllic but in the 1970s the chemical plants shut down for various reasons including pollution concerns and cheaper production in the western states. Salt is stilled mined for food and industrial use.  

The museum is accessible. 

Parking spaces in front of the museum are angled but there's a parking lot across the street where RVs will fit if parked across the spaces. There are also accessible spaces parallel to the sidewalk in front of the library. The curb cuts do not match up so rolling in the street may be necessary. Museum   36.88012, -81.76416

 

Bull Creek Pedestrian and Bike Trail

The trail runs along the former railbed  of a Norfolk Southern coal train. After climbing a short steep hill it levels out with views of the forest and the communities in the valley below. We went about 1 mile on the 1.5 mile trail before turning around. 

The fall colors along the trail were faded but we had passed some beautiful hillsides on the drive to the trailhead. 

The trail is hard packed dirt and small gravel. It's fairly easy to roll along but wheelchair users may need assistance on the hill. 

The parking area on the opposite side of the street is large enough for any vehicle.  

 

Shannandoah National Park

Driving along Skyline Drive is the way many visitors experience the park. The drive follows the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains with numerous overlooks on both sides of the road for expansive views of the mountain ranges, valleys, farmland, and towns far below. It follows the same path as the Appalachian Trail, in fact the trail was in existence before the road and had to be rerouted, so there are plenty of opportunities to hike a portion of the trail. Over 400 miles of addition trails wind along the mountain hills and valleys. 

    

We visited in late October, spent three days driving along the 105 miles, stayed at three of the campgrounds, stopped at the two visitor centers and almost all of the overlooks. The fall colors were a little past peak but some spots were still glowing with backlight leaves as we drove south. The terrain means the park is largely inaccessible but the drive is beautiful and there are things to see and do so don't skip it. Most of the views from the overlooks can be seen without leaving your vehicle. Some overlooks have accessible spaces that are near the interpretive signs.

Here's what we encountered as we drove south from Front Royal, VA to Rockfish Gap, VA.

The Dickey Ridge Visitor Center has a small exhibit area with a topographical relief map of the park and a theater with continuous videos. A short paved trail leads downhill to an overlook. The center is accessible and the view can be seen from the visitor center porch. 

 

Matthew Arms Campground - reservations were not necessary so late in the season so we chose to go with first come/ first serve. We were given one of the two accessible sites (also first come/first serve) which was fairly level with a paved parking pad, high fire ring, and a table with an extended top. Most of the other sites look usable.

 

Massanutten Lodge - the lodge is not accessible and was not supposed to be open when we visited but we tried the door, it opened, we went it. An alarm sounded but nobody can so we checked out  the exhibits. The lodge was part of a private resort that predated the park. It's a little hard to find. Take the road to Skyland then follow the signs to the Conference Hall. Park across from the Hall and walk/roll through the parking lots to get a view of the back of the lodge. The front entrance is up a steep hill. 

Limberlost Trail - this is the only trail designated as accessible. It's a 1.3 mile loop and surfaced with finely crushed stone. It passes through evergreen forests, mountain laurel shrubs, a small wetland, and an area where huge hemlock trees were killed by an invasive insect. The trail goes downhill and back up for the return trip. The grades are 9% and 10% so most wheelchair users will need assistance.   

Byrd Visitor Center  - the park was authorized in May 1926 by Congress and President Calvin Coolidge but due to a lack of money and the need to relocate hundreds of people who owned and lived on the land, construction was not started until December 1935. The visitor center has great exhibits about the founding and construction of the park by the young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps plus the stories of the families forced to move from their homes and the racial segregation of the facilities that didn't end until 1950. The center is accessible.

Big Meadows Campground - the sites in this campground are by reservation only. The five accessible sites were all taken so I chose a site by looking through the information and photographs on the Recreation.gov website to hopefully get one that was fairly level. C-138

More pretty views as we meandered along to Loft Mountain Campground. Again we did not need to make a reservation and were given an accessible site - G 187.

 

This site was made accessible by adding a narrow strip of asphalt along the edge. It's close to the restroom and has a table with an extended top. We walked/rolled along the campground roads and found many of the roads steep and the sites very unlevel. Loops A and B seem to be the best loops. 

And out of the park the next morning.

While the park road is opened all year - as long as it's passable - the campgrounds, visitor centers, stores, and lodges close in late fall. The speed limit is 35 MPH. and the roads are twisty. Large RVs can be driven along the road but the overlooks may be too crowded to pull in. There's a gas station about halfway along and two places to exit the road at about 1/3 and 2/3 from the north end. Phone access is spotty. Park  38.90627, -78.19976

Burke Lake Campground

 Of the 44 sites in the campground only five are RV/tent sites and there's a 25' limit. None have hookups but there is a dump station. Other amenities include grills, picnic tables, fire ring, and restrooms with showers. 

The reason we camped here was to use the dump station so we didn't explore the park on this visit. In 2018 we walked/rolled on the lake loop - a very nice trail. We were in site 5 which is small but fairly level. Except for the few empty RV/tent sites the campground was packed. There isn't a place to check in and the loops are not marked. Check the website for the campground map and note your space before going to avoid driving around on the narrow roads to search for your site.

Site 5 is not designated as accessible but it is usable. Site 8 is the best one - roomy and level. Campground 38.76917, -77.30155 

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

 Many of our nation's community parks are ours to enjoy because of donations by generous citizens. Such is the case here - in 1980 Caroline Ware and Gardiner Means gave their 74-acre farm to NOVA Parks to develop it for public use. Over the years several miles of trails, three ponds, twelve garden areas, a visitor center, an atrium, and a Korean bell pavilion have been added to the farmland transforming it into a pretty spot to spend a few hours. 

Almost all flowers were long gone when we visited but the pleasant fall weather and changing leaves were perfect. Half of the park was being prepared for a holiday light show and the other half was decorated for a kid's Halloween scavenger hunt. 

The park grounds slope steeply downhill from the atrium. The trail to the right has a switchback and is the best way to go with a wheelchair although most wheelchair users will need assistance on the return trip. The trails at the bottom of the hill have gentler slopes. The paved trails are accessible but the unpaved ones are not. The visitor center (admission desk and gift shop) and atrium are accessible. 

 The parking lot is large enough RVs. Gardens  38.93774, -77.28032