Fun weekend getaway in VA, NC, & TN the weekend before Thanksgiving.
A short visit to Backbone Rock Tunnel
Lunch in Abingdon, VA at 128 Pecan
https://www.128pecan.com/
Then we did the VA Creeper trail. Used Sun Dog Outifitter (http://www.sundogoutfitter.com/)
The Virginia Creeper trail is a 34 mile recreational trail (formerly rail) starting in Abingdon and running through Damascus and up to Mount Rogers recreational area.
Most people seem to pick a place to rent bikes and grab a shuttle to the top of Mount Rogers to do the 17 mile downhill bike ride back to the bike shop in Damascus. I overheard someone say if you do the full 34 miles it’s called the Double Dog. For the 4 of us this was roughly ~$150 for both bike rentals + shuttle. All were adult fee since the kids are teenagers. They even have helmets you can grab to use too at no additional fee. You need a mountain bike to do this trail in my opinion. It’s fun but can be bumpy in areas. It’s an easy ride as almost the whole thing is downhill. Here’s a short glimpse of the trail in November.
On Sunday we rode the NC outdoor roller coaster in Banner Elk. It was super fun! We opted for the 3 ride pass each but you can make that decision once you arrive. You MUST make reservations well in advance of riding though to get a time slot. It is NOT required to pay when you book, which to my knowledge wasn’t stated anywhere, but is helpful to know. Another good to know tip is to book for the first ride and try to be first in line if you want to good full speed without slowing. It’s almost more like a sled that you ride in and you push levers on both sides of you forward to go and back to slow down and brake. Our first ride was all out fast and fun. The second one we were behind a father and younger child who opted to go slower which slowed us down due to automatic cart spacing on the track. This is good to know because the reality is the workers can and should help space the riders better if you want to go full speed which is what happened on our final ride. We expressed this interest and they gladly held us back with more spacing to allow this. Check out website to learn more.
https://www.wildernessrunalpinecoaster.com/simpl-e-schedule
