Question for you VA, NC, PENN, NY folks....?

[WiseOwl]

Hey,

I am taking an RV to upstate NY leaving tomorrow night. I am not flying home until Thursday morning so I was wondering if any of yall had any cool overlooks or spots with nice scenery or waterfalls. I did find Crabtree Falls which looks pretty cool. I am coming 77 from Charlotte to 81N then to NYC(in which I will avoid that city because I really hate it), going to Albany. I thought about driving up 77 to I-64 in WV and turning back east. I am looking for nice views and cool spots to eat that aren't too far off of the expressway.
Any advice would be very appreciated!

Wise Owl

[claymore]

You're going to see some beautiful country; too bad you cant take the Blue Ridge Parkway. In Virginia see if you can drive across the New River Gorge. Think the bridge is 900' above the New River (that will make you sink down in your seat). I always took I 75 and I 40 which is over to the west. Have a safe trip.

[miked2345]

In Upstate New York, there are several waterfalls in the Finger Lakes area, around Ithaca and Watkins Glen. Watkins Glen has a state park where you can walk thru a river gorge - Very cool! Also, Letchworth state park is in that area, which is often called the "Grand Canyon of the East." The down side is that it is west of Albany, though I'm not sure how far.... Never been to Albany.

As previously mentioned, the New River Gorge Bridge is pretty cool too, but it is in West Virginia... Or at least it was when we whitewater rafted under it 2 years ago. That bridge gave me the "hebee gebees" driving over it - My wife laughed because I didn't want to drive in the outside lane, next to the edge... Damn is it high!! There is a rest area/viewing spot on one side of it that has quite a view. You might also want to Google "Seneca Rocks" in West Virginia, that's something to see too.

But I can't believe you don't want to drive thru NYC in an RV..... It sounds like a blast! :)

[WiseOwl]

@Mike, yeah its gonna be a blast. My buddy bailed so I am going solo. And I would rather go to Beirut than NYC. Not my type of folks or city. I'd rather stick to the scenic mountain route. I am going to ride through Scranton and take a picture of the "Welcome to Scranton" sign, my wife is a huge fan of the Office and that will make her laugh.
In NY I am going to Saratoga Springs....I am thinking of coming straight up backroads parallel to the AT....but I am unsure if a 38 ft motorhome will make it....oh well, I have 4 days to try!

[monkeybird]

Claymore is right, if you can change your route to go the Blue Ridge Parkway it's worth it. My sister and I drove it last summer, breathtaking!! Probably one of the most beautiful places on earth.

[WiseOwl]

WOW!!! I am looking at it now...I am wondering if my RV can make it. That would be so awesome. I now have to find out where the gas stations are......I may have to do this and post some pics for yall!


Dang, just found out that its a 2 lane road, has some low tunnels and most people recommend driving it in a car not an RV....not enough pull offs to park and take pics....oh well....I will make my own route!

[dilli]

WO Letchworth and the finger lakes is a haul from where you are actually going. Though the area there is beautiful there.. Check out the old forge areaThe shaker heritage society is up there as well.. saratoga is beautiful too. If you head toward the FingerLakes, the wine places are quite neat and there is watkins glen .. .. If you do head into letchworth are Niagara falls is under a couple hours and the mumford museum is a short jaunt too. I am from that area and lived there over thirty years.. there is tons to do just depends on what you are really interested in

too bad ya aint going up in 2 weeks i would hitch a ride with ya lol

[miked2345]

Dang, just found out that its a 2 lane road, has some low tunnels and most people recommend driving it in a car not an RV....not enough pull offs to park and take pics....oh well....I will make my own route!

Yes, DO get out the tape measure and measure the height of the RV... :D I once saw an RV "De-Roofed" by a low train tressel on a county highway. Apparently, they don't build those RV's to hold up well when meeting a low bridge at 55mph!! It was a true "Kodak Moment" and my camera was at home... :(

[WiseOwl]

Yeah, I found out all of the low bridges are in NC so I could technically get on it at the VA/NC border but now I am headed to that New River Gorge Bridge....thanks for that one!!!! I am going to wait til the Fall and take the BRP from Cherokee to Charlottesville with the wife...and look at the purty leaves

[Yeti]

I regularly travel the I81 & I77 between Winchester, Va and Charlotte, NC.

If your into caving you have several along the route you can stop in at. Luray Caverns, Endless Caverns, Skyline Caverns, & Dixie Caverns, think there is one or two I'm missing as well. I know each of the above has Campgrounds at them as well.

Far as overlooks, I don't know too many along the Interstate itself. I would say there on I77 just North of the Va/NC border (Galax, Va) you have great views from the Interstate but don't recommend stopping as you will be trudging the right lane coming up the hill anyways.

Blue Ridge Parkway as mentioned is your scenic route, but again in an RV as was also mentioned I wouldn't highly recommend that unless you just do one of the small stints of it. I know there is a couple of places you can get on for just 10 miles of it.
You might consider Skyline Drive, you can take that from Luray, Va to Front Royal, Va. It's two lane and windy as well but I do know there are some pull over areas. There are also a couple of on off places for it.

If you want an old drive-in, there is one in Stephens City, Va just off I81 on the West side, they play fairly recent movies on the weekends.
There is an indoor water park down in Massahuten, Va. They also have a zip line adventure day thing there.

Depending how far you want to go off the Interstate would dictate a lot of other answers as well.
Lot of battlefields if your a Revolutionary/Civil War buff.

[WiseOwl]

Thanks Yeti, I appreciate it. I actually went up 77 into WV, which was cool going through the tunnels, up to 19 and then to the New River Gorge Bridge...that is something else. I cut back across backroads of WV to I-64 which is now my favorite stretch of highway. Got back on 81 and tried to get to Crabtree Falls...well, taking a 38 foot gas motorhome up into the mountains is not a good idea, but I made it....got to the falls around 6:30 to find out it was 1.7 from the parking lot, and I was the only one there. So I got to truckin it up the trail...got in .7 miles and saw a bear so I went right back to the RV. Got some video of it but its very grainy up the hill from me.
I am in New Market now and I actually have a park here, Endless Caverns, that my company owns so I am going Cavin' in the morning there and at Luray Caverns.....

This stretch of I-81 is so nice......I would love to live up here

[WiseOwl]

Here are some pics of my adventures yall....in NY now...going to the Adirondacks in the morning!!!

[Rmplstlskn]

Crabtree Falls...well, taking a 38 foot gas motorhome up into the mountains is not a good idea, but I made it....got to the falls around 6:30 to find out it was 1.7 from the parking lot, and I was the only one there. So I got to truckin it up the trail...got in .7 miles and saw a bear so I went right back to the RV.

The Skyline Drive and Shenandoah Park is in my backyard so to speak... Yes, Crabtree Falls is a bit of a hike to get to, and bears here usually run from you, but beautiful. As for RV's, as you found out, they will make it along the Parkway, albeit a bit slow on the inclines. But the speed limit is only 35mph so most people on there are in no rush anyways. I see full-size RV's in the Park all the time...

The cavern are cool too, as you have seen. I have one picked out as my "last option" if the resulting SHTF event turns out to be a thermo-nuclear fallout event that takes out DC and all of eastern Virginia...

I-81 is beautiful, but heavy with trucks and lots of accidents... Lots of deaths on that road. Be careful on it...

Rmpl

[WiseOwl]

As I was walking through those caverns I thought the same thing.....if TSHTF and I could get up here........gotta find some in GA.

[Yeti]

Well, I'm making the trek to Charolette on Saturday morning, doing a turnaround and coming back by Saturday evening.
My ex and son are going to her parents in South Ga for two weeks and since drivng isn't her fortay, I'm meeting her mom in Charolette to hand them over. Will meet up again in 2 weeks.

For those looking in on the thread, there is a Civil War reenactment going on in Manassas, Va this weekend as well. Just off I66 outside of DC.