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Meticulous Journeys

The Details:

  • Trip Length: 3 Days (2- ½ days & 1 Full Day)
  • Main Stops: Shenandoah National Park & Luray Caverns
  • Home Base: Bayse, VA (VRBO Rental)
  • # of People: 2 adults, 2 kids, and 1 Dog
  • Dates: October 21-23, 2022
  • Transportation:  Car
  • Activities: Hiking, Cavern Tour
  • Cost of Trip: $480 + food and gas

What influenced this trip?

Gaddy family in front of Shenandoah National Park sign

As an athletic trainer, my days are dictated by sports schedules, which often means we do not have time to get away during the school year except for some select dates. One of those times is our football “bye-week”. This is a week during the football season when we do not have games on Thursday and Friday. Our family tries to get away from some quality time on the Friday to Sunday of that week since family time is very limited during the season.

This particular bye-week, my husband decided to surprise me with a trip he “planned”. The extent of his planning was picking a general area for us to go to and a place to stay. Knowing that visiting all of the National Parks is on my bucket list, he picked Shenandoah National Park since it was within driving distance of our home. He did tell me about activities we might do and the temperature for our location so I could pack for everyone. On the way, he did reveal the location. However, when I asked him what we would be doing he replied: “I don’t know. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” That meant I pulled out my phone and started researching.

October is “peak” time for fall foliage and seeing all of the gorgeous fall colors as temperatures start to drop. This also increases the number of visitors to the park, but it is worth it, especially if you are from an area that does not see a lot of leaves changing colors.

The Cozy Bear Cave that David picked, was perfect for the 4 of us. It had 2 bedrooms, was pet-friendly, and even had a jacuzzi and sauna. To be totally honest, the accommodations were a bit out of the way from Shenandoah if that is your only point of interest. I would have picked something a bit closer, but we made it work. However, there are plenty of activities around Bayse to make it a great home base for a longer stay. If the Cozy Bear Cave does not work for you, try out these other accommodations near Bayse.

Things to do around Bayse, VA:

Day 1: Home to Basye,VA

David and Emily sitting at the top of Bearfence Mountain Train in Shenandoah National Park
View from the top of Bearfence Mountain Trail

We headed out early on Friday toward our destination. On the way, my husband revealed we were headed to Shenandoah National Park. But he also had not planned much more than that other than where we were staying. It is about 4 hours from our house to Shenandoah, so I picked out some activities on the drive up.

Woman and 2 boys hiking Bear

Our first stop was Bearfence Mountain Trail. This trail is a moderate 1-mile loop and it took us about an hour to complete because we stopped for lunch at the top. This trail does not allow dogs and we soon found out why. Around the halfway point there is a rock scramble. This scramble is doable for anyone who is moderately active. Our 5 and 7-year-olds needed some help because of their height, but they completed it and loved it. The views from the top are beautiful and well worth the trek.

Once we were done with our hike, we headed to our VRBO an hour and 20 minutes away. Once there, we prepared a home chef meal we brought with us for dinner and then kicked back and watched a movie together.

Other trails we considered:

Day 2: Luray Caverns

  • Total Drive Time: 1.5 hours 
  • Activities: Luray Caverns (We did the Regular Tour)
  • Food:
  • Need to know: The caverns are a constant 54 degrees with very high humidity which makes it feel more like 65 degrees.

On Saturday, we slept in a little bit, then grabbed breakfast from Freed’s Breakfast Company. After breakfast, we headed to Luray Caverns. Luray has two different ticket options, the Regular Tour ($32 adult / $16 child) and the Special Discovery Tour ($60 adult / $30 child). You can buy tickets online ahead of time or at the door. Right now there is only one time slot for the Special Discovery Tour. 

Luray Caverns is the largest cavern in Eastern North America. The cavern is as tall as 10 stories in some areas, contains 1.5 miles of lit and paved walkways, and has columns, mud flows, stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, and mirrored pools. Luray Caverns also contains the world’s only Stalacpipe Organ. The instrument is a type of lithophone, a musical instrument consisting of a rock or pieces of rock that are struck to produce musical notes. In the case of the Great Stalacpipe Organ, it makes sound by using rubber mallets to tap stalactites that produce the notes and then the sounds are electronically magnified. This musical system covers 3.5 acres, which also makes it the world’s largest instrument according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The tour can be completed in about an hour, or longer if you choose.

Included with your ticket is access to The Car & Carriage Caravan Museum, Shenandoah Heritage Village, and Toy Town Junction. After eating lunch at The Stalactite Cafe, we headed to these other attractions. My husband loved viewing the vintage cars at the Car & Carriage Museum. While I am not a car person, I did enjoy learning the history. Toy Town Junction contains toys of the past. I am not sure how I feel about seeing some toys I had at the very end of the museum’s timeline. At the Shenandoah Heritage Village, you can explore a seven-acre re-creation of a small 19th-century farming community made up of restored historic buildings, cottage-style gardens, and a small vineyard. Our boys loved the gem Mining Sluice.

Luray Caverns has two additional attractions that you can pay extra to enjoy, the Garden Maze ($10 adult / $6 child) and the Rope Adventure Course ($12 for 48”+/ $7 for children less than 48”). We decided to do the Garden Maze since we have similar ropes courses near home. The maze is on 1 acre and covers about .5 miles of walking. Maze-goers will navigate their way through twists and turns while searching for hidden goals on a mission to discover the secret of the maze. We split up into 2 teams of 1 adult and 1 child to see who could solve the mystery and exit the maze the quickest.

After finishing at Luray Caverns, we headed back to our VRBO for dinner and a family game night.

Other Activities:

Day 3: Heading Home

We again grabbed breakfast from Freed’s Breakfast Company and then headed towards home. On the way, we completed a couple more trails and stopped by the Harry F. Byrd Visitor Center for Junior Ranger books. We chose  Blackrock Trail and Hawksbill Summit Trail since they were dog-friendly. Blackrock Trail is a short and easy half-mile trail with good views. There is plenty of space at the top to walk around and explore. Our boys really enjoyed scrambling over the large rocks. At the top, we also took the time to complete their Junior Ranger activities. Hawksbill Summit is a moderate 1.6-mile hike that takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete. After this hike, we headed back towards home.

Two young boys scrambling over the rocks at Blackrock Trail
Scrambling over the rocks at Blackrock Trail
Woman and dog sitting on rock at Blackrock Trail overlooking fall trees
The view from the top of Blackrock Trail
Two young boys swearing in as Shenandoah National Park Junior Rangers
Swearing in as Shenandoah Junior Rangers
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