Just back from a short camping trip to wild and wonderful West Virginia.
The camper has been sitting in the garage for over a year now, camouflaged by little bits of stuff – things that don’t have a proper place – plopped on top or propped up against it, all pulled in by its gravity. It’s the first time we used the camper since 2023. We tried to take it out twice last year: once in the late summer, when we planned to camp and visit Assateague National Seashore, but we cancelled the day before when we realized dogs weren’t allowed on the beach. The second attempt was a trip to visit Marcus in Blacksburg, but it was right after the storms that wrecked western North Carolina, and our go-to campground was under 10 feet of New River floodwater. So we booked an Airbnb instead.
Well we finally did it: planned a trip to see Seneca Rocks, made reservations and headed out.
This was the first time pulling the trailer with the Highlander. It’s a smaller car than our old Honda Pilot and it’s a hybrid but the vehicle tow ratings all exceed the weight of the camper so we rolled with it. Definitely impacted the fuel economy and we hit some high RPMs over some of the mountains but it was fine. Stopped for gas and snacks on the way at The Apple House next to Front Royal. We discovered this place this winter – it’s famous for its homemade apple cinnamon donuts.
We stayed at a quiet RV park about 30 minutes north of the “Rocks”, tucked away an hour west of Strasburg, Virginia and I-81. The campground sits behind a stretch of farmland and a small trailer park, right on the banks of the South Branch of the Potomac River. From there, the river winds its way north through the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, eventually joining the North Branch to form the main stem of the Potomac as it traces the southern border of Maryland for nearly 400 miles, all the way to the Chesapeake Bay.
The park was fairly large with a lot of RVs – most of them looked like permanent setups, with porches, carports and lawn furniture. But they were also mostly empty, which made for a quiet stay and gave us full run of the bathhouse. We got the impression this park is more of an escape for folks to fish, hike, or just relax by the river.
The campground also had a nice view of some smaller Tuscarora quartzite “fins”. This line of stone was pushed upward by geologic forces millions of years ago along with a bunch of softer materials. Over the years, the softer rock eroded leaving behind the sharp”fins” of stone that make Seneca Rocks famous.
The hike up to Seneca Rocks on Sunday was pretty hard. It’s a short hike – only 3.8 miles out and back – but it’s basically straight up: Strava measured it at 1,084 feet of steep, shady switchbacks. We took our time and got to the top in a little under an hour. There is an observation deck right near the top and a warning sign for those brave enough to go up on to the fins themselves. The views were pretty amazing and we had perfect weather. (Zooming in with the camera we could see our car in the parking lot below.) I decided to clamber up onto the fins and got about 10-20 feet up when I noticed my 30+ year old hiking boots were literally falling apart and decided I should probably stay closer to the trail.
We capped the trip with a stop at Yokum’s camp store and grill for some West Virginia Slaw Dogs, packed the camper and headed home.
Wow, very nice trip and description.
Love Apple House! They have an absurd hot sauce selection in the shop.
I had a similar shoe dissolution in a Trader Joe’s once. My kids still kill me about it.