Sky Meadows State Park (10.13.2025)

 Sky Meadows State Park

Today we visited Sky Meadows State Park. 11012 Edmonds Ln., Delaplane, VA 20144; Phone: 540-592-3556; Email: SkyMeadows@dcr.virginia.gov  We arrived at the park at noon and went straight to the Visitor Center and talked with Ranger Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn was very helpful in helping us pick out a trail to hike and with general information about the park.

Right next to the Visitor Center is the Mount Bleak House and we came in on the end of a tour being given by Ranger Mike. The house we were able to tour is the original home of the owners and is built from stone. There is an addition that was added in later years built with lumber and siding, this is used as office space. 

Ranger Mike was very knowledgeable about the house, it history and was kind enough to take us on a short tour. A lot of the furniture was similar to some that my grandparents used to have.

We were fascinated with the hidden drawers under each window. They built these to hide valuables from invading soldiers during the Civil War. 

 

 

 

 

Here are some more pictures of the inside of the house.

Our Hike

After a lunch, we started on our hike. We took the Boston Mill Road to the North Ridge Trail. This was an uphill hike to the top of the overlook. We had to stop a few times, but we made it up the incline. 

I don't know if you can tell how steep this is from the picture, but for two hikers that are out of practice, it was tough. At the top we took the Piedmont Overlook Trail to the Upper Overlook and below are some pictures, but they cannot do the view justice.

A Panoramic View

Looks like the sky and meadows just go on forever. We back tracked to the North Ridge Trail and kept on it until we came to Gap Run Trail. We followed it down the hill and through the woods. 

 

 

We kept seeing these shrubs with the red berries on them and wondered what they were. They are Japanese Barberry and is an invasive shrub.

 

These green pods on the ground was something else we wondered about. They are Osage Orange Tree Seeds. The mushrooms were all over this side of the tree pictured above.

We enjoyed our hike and it was 2.47 miles and for our first hike of the week, a good one.

Notes about the Park 

Time

This is a day park with no RV sites for camping. Please visit website for updated times.

Camping

Only primitive camping is allowed and it is a 1 hour hike to the campsite from the parking lot. You must hike in your equipment, you cannot drive in.

Trails

There are 22 miles of trails and we just saw 10% of that. The Appalachian Trail is accessible from the park. 10.5 miles of bridle trails and 9 miles of bike trails.

Places of Interest

If you are going to Sky Meadows, chances are you will pass the Apple House. I would be remiss if I did not encourage you to stop and shop but be sure to pick up some of their Apple Butter Cinnamon Donuts. These are delicious beyond words.

KOA Lynchburg/Blue Ridge Parkway 8/29-9/1

 We spent the weekend at our favorite KOA in the Lynchburg area. This is a Holiday KOA and is not very large in size but they make up for that in atmosphere. 

Upon arriving at the campground, we were met by Tony, wearing his kilt and riding his golf cart. We went in the camp store to register with Sara and then on to our site. We had stopped along the way to pick up our granddaughter and she spent Friday and Saturday with us. 

We had chicken tenders, French fries, and macaroni salad for supper. 

We built a nice fire and enjoyed talking, and eating around the fire.

Of course we had to have some smores before bedtime.

We even took several walks around the "camp circle". We all turned in late and went to sleep.

Saturday, August 30th, 2025

That morning we had bacon and pancakes for breakfast. Our granddaughter wanted to help, so we let her shake the bottle with the batter in it.

Mimi and our granddaughter spent most of the morning at the playground and riding bikes.

Before we left for the afternoon, we stopped by the pavilion and our granddaughter was able to paint a bag she can use to carry stuff when she goes places. We took her home after lunch and spent some time with my daughter and her family.

Upon returning to the campground, we just relaxed most of the evening. Here is Mimi reading her magazines. She collects them until we go off on our trips and then she has time to read them.

I painted on my memory ornament, worked a crossword and just relaxed with Mimi.

For dinner, we decided to do something we do not normally do, we roasted hot dogs over the fire. 

We added them to a bowl with some chili and had potato salad on the side. May have not been the healthiest of meals, but it was good.

Instead of smore's for dessert, we had apple pie from Woodruffs Pie & Cafe with some chocolate ice cream.

Sunday, August 31, 2025

For breakfast this morning, we had a egg scramble bowl. This consist of two scrambled eggs, chopped bacon and ham, sweet potato tots and a little sauce. We also had some Blueberry Muffins made with almond flour. 

EGG SCRAMBLE BOWL

Ingredients

2-scrambled eggs

1-slice of cooked bacon, crumbled

1-cooked sausage patty, crumbled or 1-2oz of ham, cut in small pieces

6 -cooked sweet potato tots

1-teaspoon of G Hughes Sugar Free Cluckin' Dipping Sauce

Directions

1. Put tots in air fryer and cook according to directions

2. Start pre-heating frying pan

3. Chop up meats into small pieces and heat in microwave or pan just long enough to heat up

4. Cook eggs in frying pan

5. Combine in bowl and add sauce. 

6. Mix well and enjoy.

We worshipped this morning with the folks at New Hope Baptist Church, Pastor Don Rice. He preached a message on "Bring Me A Penny" and it has stuck with me. We did not know it at the time, but this was the last sermon we would hear him preach. Pastor Rice passed away about a week later; he will be missed.

On the way back to the campground, we stopped by the Visitor Center on the James River at the Blue Ridge Parkway. We were not appropriately dressed for a hike but we did take a short walk on the bridge. 

 

Here are a few more pictures from the bridge. There are a few trails from the Visitor Center that make for a great day trip.

Back at camp, we fixed a light lunch with salmon bites, cole slaw and blueberry muffins.

We spent the afternoon sitting around the picnic table doing different things. I decided to color in my Christmas coloring book and Amy was reading another magazine.

I also worked on our memory ornament.

And I won a game of checkers. What was really interesting this afternoon is how many people stopped and talked to us. We put our candy canes at the road and several people stopped to talk We met a nice Air Force Family and really enjoyed our conversation. I really hope the 5 J's will stop by next time that we are in the same campground.

For supper, we had our weekly Sunday Sandwich. Tonight it was sliced chicken and cheese with sweet potato chips.

Monday, September 1, 2025

For breakfast this morning, we had scrambled eggs, spam, fried apples and sweet potato tots. I cooked outside but we ate inside. I had been out early getting up our decor and making things ready to pack and had a lot of it on the picnic table. 

This was one of our most relaxing trips and even though it was travel day, we were both happy and just glad to be enjoying the blessings of the Father. 

Some Pictures of our Campsite B21

The front of our camper with the memory tree on the corner. Each ornament is a camping trip and dated with a picture of something to remind us of our trip.

We are a member of the Virginia Campers Facebook group and proud to display their flag.

This is our flag we ordered from Amazon and we really like it.

We have a swag on the door and a small table we use out front.

At night we light up our site. There is a lot of debate about lights while camping, but I believe if you are courteous to your neighbors, its okay. I will say we turn off our flag around 9pm so that it will not bother anyone enjoying the night sky.