Top 5 things to do before summer ends
STAUNTON — Summer is winding down, school will be starting back up, but we've still got over a month of warm weather and activities.
Here's a list of things to do before the summer ends.
Go swimming
Swimming seems like the obvious choice when it comes to summer activities. There are a lot of swimming options in the area including the city and county pool, swimming holes and more.
Here's a list of what to check out:
Sun Retreats Shenandoah Valley, formerly Shenandoah Acres
Swimming holes
Goshen Pass
Where: Located in Rockbridge County about 10 miles north of Lexington. It is the 3.7-mile long gorge along the Maury River on VA 39 / Maury River Road.
How to get there: From Staunton, travel VA 254 and continue as it changes to VA 42. Turn left onto VA 39.
Todd Lake
Where: Todd Lake Recreation has a trail around the lake along with a beach where visitors can swim located on Leading Ridge Road in West Augusta.
How to get there: Travel south on VA 42 passing through Bridgewater. Turn right onto VA 809/747 until you reach Mount Solon. Continue straight on Stokesville Road until you see Fire Road 95 and Fire Road 101. Turn left onto Fire Road 95 to the lake recreation area.
St. Mary's Wilderness/St. Mary's Falls
Where: Raphine
How to get there: From south I-81, take exit 213A onto south U.S. 11, turn left onto Dabney’s Road, turn left onto Cold Springs Road, then turn right onto St. Mary’s Road, the Wilderness’s access road. Trailhead parking is at the end of this road. It is an almost 2 mile hike one-way with a 300-foot elevation change.
Douthat Beach
Where: Millboro
How to get there: From I-64, take Exit 27 near Clifton Forge. Turn North onto VA 629 (highway at exit ramp). Travel north two miles to the park entrance sign and another four miles to the park office.
Wildcat Pool/Rip Rap Hollow
Where: Outside of Crimora in the Shenandoah National Park
How to get there: From the just south of the Moormons River Overlook on Skyline Drive, hike 1.7 miles west to a trail junction. Take a right onto this trail. Hike 0.9 miles on this trail until it meets a north/south running trail at a T-junction. Turn right, north and hike approximately 0.6 miles to the swimming hole.
Eat ice cream
Ice cream is the quintessential snack for summer. Luckily, the area has some great options for ice cream. Here's a list:
The Split Banana — 7 W. Beverley St. Staunton
Kline's Dairy Bar — 906 Greenville Ave. in Staunton and 1235 W. Main St. in Waynesboro
Willy's Ice Cream — 2800 W. Main St. in Waynesboro
Dairy Queen — 79 Lee Highway in Verona and 130 Greenville Road in Stuarts Draft
DAP'S Ice Cream, Burgers and Fries —3278 Stuarts Draft Highway in Stuarts Draft
Smiley's Ice Cream — 205 Don Litten Parkway in Bridgewater
See a drive-in movie
What's better than seeing a movie? Seeing it outside. Hull's Drive-In is the place to go. Offering shows and sometimes double features, the drive-in is operated by a nonprofit called Hull's Angels.
The history of the movie theater dates back to the 1950s. The theater was built by W.C. Atkins in 1950, according to the history on Hull's website. At that time it was operated as Lee Drive-In on land leased from the Hostetter family.
Sebert W. Hull purchased the business and lease in 1957, the website said. Hull and his wife ran the drive-in for decades until he died in 1998. The business was then sold to W.D. Goad and he leased the land, the site said.
In June 1999, a public meeting was held to form a nonprofit called Hull's Angels to save the theater.
The nonprofit spent the summer of 1999 building its membership and finding ways to fund the drive-in project. The nonprofit later reached an agreement with Goad to purchase the business and the theater reopened in July of 2000, the site said. By the following spring, Hull's Angels were able to purchase the business and lease the land.
For more information go to hullsdrivein.com or at 2367 N. Lee Highway in Lexington.
Go to a you-pick farm
There are several you-pick farms in the surrounding area. Here's a list of some:
Carter Mountain Orchard — 1435 Carters Mountain Trail in Charlottesville — Offers apples, nectarines, peaches and more.
Chiles Peach Orchard — 1351 Greenwood Road in Crozet — Offers apples, cherries, peaches and more.
Henley's Orchard — 2192 Holly Hill Farm in Crozet — Offers peaches, apples and more.
Critzer Family Farm — 9388 Critzer Shop Road in Afton — Offers apples, blackberries, nectarines, peaches, plums, pumpkins, strawberries and more.
Dickie Brothers Orchard — 2552 Dickie Road in Roseland — Offers apples, nectarines, peaches, plums and more.
Go hiking
The area is surrounded by a number of hiking trails — especially with Shenandoah National Park and the Blue Ridge Parks. Here's a list of some hikes you can do, from information gathered at Virginia.org:
Humpback Rocks Loop — milepost 6.0 on the Blue Ridge Parkway — 4 mile loop
Old Rag — 9.1 mile loop
From the intersection of US 211 and US 522 in Sperryville, take US 522 south for 0.8 miles to VA 231. Turn right on VA 231 and follow it 8 miles to VA 601, Peola Mills Road. Take a right on VA 601 and follow it 0.3 miles, cross the Hughes River, then veer right staying with VA 601. Stay with the blacktop as it becomes Nethers Road and leads up the Hughes River valley to the lower Old Rag parking lot at 3.3 miles. Park here.
Hawksbill Summit — 2.2 mile there-and-back
The Upper Hawksbill trailhead is on the west side of Skyline Drive at milepost 46.7. From the Thornton Gap entrance, take Skyline Drive south for 15.2 miles to reach the parking area, on your right.
Furnace Mountain — 6.8-mile there-and-back, optional 1.1-mile loop
Blackrock parking area is at milepost 84.8 on Skyline Drive, on the west side. From Rockfish Gap entrance station, it is a 19.9 mile drive to the trailhead.
Browns Gap Waterfall Loop — 7 mile loop
The hike starts at the Browns Gap parking area, milepost 83.0 on Skyline Drive. From the Rockfish Gap entrance station take Skyline Drive north for 21.6 miles to trailhead, on your left.
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Laura Peters is the trending topics reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip on local trends or businesses? Or a good feature? You can reach reporter Laura Peters (she/her) at lpeters@newsleader.com. Follow her @peterslaura. Subscribe to The News Leader at newsleader.com.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Top 5 things to do before summer ends
