#274 Warren County fairgrounds in Front Royal VA

We were to ready get off Highway 220 which had been a nice cat path and switched to some bigger interstate type roads and headed south towards Front Royal. We went to the Warren County fairgrounds where I had arranged with the manager. He told me how to get in and who to pay and all that so we would stay at the fairgrounds for three nights. Between this fair ground and then the next campground we were able to see quite a bit of the Skyline Drive. This is where I assumed the highlight of the colors would be the best. At Bolar Mountain, they were kind of neutral. The Skyline drives were okay but nothing spectacular.

We took a ride one afternoon over to a place called Elizabeth furnace we thought that was pretty dang nice. It was federal with no hookups but pretty and water available. We thought it might be a nice place in years to come. Mostly we just rode around looking at potential campsites for the future. We made notes of which ones would work and went on a nice hike in the woods.

We went to the Skyline Drive one afternoon on the Northern end and spend half a day doing that after that.

The fairgrounds was an interesting experience because it wasn't like it was on the Internet or advertised. I just saw that they existed and knew there was not much else available in the Front Royal area. It was about 25 a night and we had the whole place to ourselves. On the weekends there was the flea market below us. To the right, there was a giant Food Lion Distribution Center.

We ended up on a hill above where they did tractor pulls. Bert didn't know exactly where to go so I had to walk him around towards the cool things. For instance, there was a nice set of bleachers and I walked him over towards so he could play. Underneath there was a bunch of tall grass to hide in the likes tall grass. I guess it gives him cover so he can ambush little creatures like mice.

Notes about Elizabeth Furnace, for future possibilities. No signal Dry camping right on the river nice sites but to get into some you need to go the wrong way on one-way loop George Washington National Forest Fort Valley Road Fort Valley, VA 22652 540-984-4101 540-265-5100 GPS: 38.925, -78.331