Outdoors

Virginia Educators Turn to Nature to Enhance Learning

Take a midday spring stroll through Virginia Beach’s First Landing State Park and you might happen upon a heartwarming sight: A group of about a dozen children aged 3 to 6 snoozing in a motley array of sleeping bags and hammocks beneath a canopy of live oaks, dripping with Spanish moss. The Lost–Boys–esque tableau repeats […]

by Eric J. Wallace

Mom Hiked the Appalachian Trail with 13 Kids in Tow

Nikki Bettis stood on the jagged summit outcrop of Shenandoah National Park’s 4,011-foot Stony Man, awed by westward panoramic views. Her heart swelled with emotion as she turned to watch her 13 kids shoulder their loaded backpacks and fall into a clamorous single-file line heading back to the Appalachian Trail (AT). “We were in an […]

by Eric J. Wallace

Breaks Interstate Park Brings Bugles From The Past

A repurposed school bus turns onto a gated gravel road deep in the far Southwest Virginia mountains. It climbs for 10 minutes through dense thickets and woods into a long, grassy meadow with soaring, 360-degree views of the surrounding Allegheny Mountains. We climb higher and higher until the starboard hillside drops away in a stupendous […]

by Eric J. Wallace

Up Close with a Raptor

Virginia offers several places to see birds of prey in flight and even interact with them. Read on for details on three: BOAR’S HEAD RESORT, Charlottesville: Interact with a variety of captive-bred, trained birds, including owls, falcons, and hawks. Falconry at the Boar’s Head includes both beginner and introductory levels where participants learn about the […]

by Larry Bleiberg

About the Virginia Falconers’ Association

The statewide organization works closely with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources to train falconers and regulate the sport. The group holds three annual public events. Two hunting outings include a winter meet typically held in Harrisonburg, and a New River Valley Field Meet, usually held in March near Blacksburg. Each has educational activities and […]

by Larry Bleiberg

Sport of Kings

Falconry has a long and noble history, stretching back more than 4,000 years. The practice is believed to have begun in the Arabian Desert, where hunters learned how to work with birds to catch prey. Merchants, traders, and Crusaders brought the practice to Asia and Europe, and, over time, it became popular with nobility, giving […]

by Larry Bleiberg

Outdoor Adventures in Tazewell

Experience the heart of the Appalachians firsthand. Appalachian Trail: For amazing views, check out the section of the AT along the south rim of Burke’s Garden. However, the access road is steep and rutted, requiringa four-wheel drive vehicle. Cavitt’s Creek Park: This 300-acre park with a 54-acre lake has lots of opportunity for recreation, equipment […]

by Amy Brecount White

Take a Moonlit Trip Into a Wild Shenandoah Valley Cave

Moonlight falls bright and dappled through the cedars as we shimmy into a narrow passage beneath the overhang of a hillside boulder that, in the shaky glow of my 13-year-old daughter Zoë’s headlamp, looks like the probable home of a rogue mountain lion. “Don’t worry, I’ve been in here a thousand times and can assure […]

by Eric J. Wallace

The Natural Wonder of The Channels Natural Area

The tough, three-mile hike winds through stands of maturing oaks, hickories, and near-magical rhododendron thickets. It opens abruptly onto a boulder-strewn, 4,200-foot outcrop and a startling panorama of forested Appalachian peaks and valleys that hill unremittingly into Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia. There is the indifferent clamor of wind in leaves as sunlight daggers through […]

by Eric J. Wallace

Virginia Falconers Preserve an Ancient Sport

On a chilly January morning, Jacob Roberts steps into the woods off a country road outside Harrisonburg and begins hitting brush with a long stick. “Ho, ho, ho,” he yells, and a moment later he gets a response. A squirrel jumps from the growth and darts into the snow-covered forest. Athena, Roberts’ red-tailed hawk perched […]

by Larry Bleiberg

Ten Best Virginia Hikes

These Virginia views are worth the hike. The stunning natural beauty of Virginia was one of the great charms to the early settlers, so much so that places like Natural Bridge were seen as New World wonders. To photographer and hiker John Henley, they still are. Henley, a commercial photographer with studios […]

by Staff

The Shenandoah Valley has some of the state’s best hikes

The 140-mile-long Shenandoah Valley lies between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains and is home to an abundance of public lands—including the 200,000-acre Shenandoah National Park. This trio of great hikes will introduce you to some of the Valley’s most coveted summits. Hawksbill Mountain, Shenandoah National Park—Access the park’s highest peak from Skyline Drive milepost […]

by Staff

Headwaters Down Productions navigates the James

If you know Richmond, you know river people. People who spend every free moment on the James, lounging on rocks at Belle Isle or paddling through whitewater rapids. In 2020, UVA grads Will Gemma, Justin Black, and Dietrich Teschner weren’t your average river people. Gemma was a writer in California, Black a touring musician, and […]

by Hope Cartwright

Surf’s up in Virginia Beach

We all know Virginia Beach for its oceanside offerings: the sand, sunshine, and its white caps and crashing waves—beach is literally in its name, after all. And from Aug. 18–25, it’s time to put that wave energy to good use on a surfboard. As the longest, continually running surfing contest in the world (62 years […]

by Hope Cartwright

Loudoun County’s equine community finds sanctuary

Loudoun County is prime horse country. Middleburg especially is teeming with equines and their riding companions. Foxrock Stables and the Salamander Resort’s Equestrian Center draw horse lovers of all experience levels from both near and far, while the annual Middleburg Spring Races are a premier destination for witnessing thoroughbred athletics. With all these horses and […]

by Staff

Take a tubing trip on the world’s second oldest river

Did you know the 320-mile New River is the oldest on the planet next to the Nile? While the waterway is famed for its eponymous West Virginia gorge whitewater, Galax’s New River Outdoor Adventures makes it easy to kick back, relax, and enjoy some of the New’s most scenic, paddle-friendly stretches in Virginia. The […]

by Staff

Explore Virginia’s top city for outdoor recreation

One of Roanoke’s best outdoor outfitters is located in a renovated historic downtown warehouse that’s home to a sprawling indoor rock-climbing gym and sits less than 100 yards from the Roanoke River and its namesake 400-mile network of Greenway bike trails. Roanoke Mountain Adventures offers a full scope of experiences ranging from e-bike and cruiser […]

by Staff

Treetop tour brings incredible views in exhilarating adventures

Imagine soaring 65 feet in the air through the high Alleghany Mountain treetops at speeds up to 35 mph, catching 3,000-plus-foot panoramic views of the Warm Springs Valley and distant Blue Ridge Mountains. A pair of zip line canopy tours at Bath County’s Omni Homestead Resort do just that. The 30-minute Red Tail Racer tour […]

by Staff

Captain John Smith

“Heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a place for man’s habitation.”

by Staff

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Events

May 6, 2025

Art of the James River Park System All-Media Show – Call For Entries

Crossroads Art Center

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2025 VCUarts MFA Thesis Exhibition Opening (Ongoing)

Institute for Contemporary Art

May 6, 2025

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Carlyle House Historic Park

A New Experience at the Virginia Scenic Railway

Virginia Scenic Railway Adds Dome Car for Spectacular Valley Views The popular Virginia Scenic Railway just upped its game with a vintage dome car offering breathtaking 360° views of the Shenandoah Valley. The “Shenandoah”—built in 1948 as the “Silver Palace” for the California Zephyr—now gives passengers an unmatched vantage point on three-hour excursions from Staunton. […]

by Gabriela de Camargo Gonçalves

Mom Hiked the Appalachian Trail with 13 Kids in Tow

by Eric J. Wallace

Williamsburg Archaeologists Uncover Secret Garden

In Colonial America, a grand garden was the ultimate status symbol—the 18th century equivalent of a Lamborghini. So when archaeologists at Colonial Williamsburg uncovered John Custis IV’s property, they struck horticultural gold: the remains of a football field-sized garden alongside his Jacobean manor house. Custis, a tobacco magnate and Martha Washington’s first father-in-law, went all […]

by Madeline Mayhood

Outdoors

Virginia Educators Turn to Nature to Enhance Learning

Current Issue

Events

Art of the James River Park System All-Media Show – Call For Entries

2025 VCUarts MFA Thesis Exhibition Opening (Ongoing)

Yoga on the Magnolia Terrace

Most Popular

A New Experience at the Virginia Scenic Railway

Mom Hiked the Appalachian Trail with 13 Kids in Tow

Williamsburg Archaeologists Uncover Secret Garden

Outdoors

Virginia Educators Turn to Nature to Enhance Learning

Current Issue

Events

Art of the James River Park System All-Media Show – Call For Entries

2025 VCUarts MFA Thesis Exhibition Opening (Ongoing)

Yoga on the Magnolia Terrace

Get our most popularweekly newsletter: VL Today

Most Popular

A New Experience at the Virginia Scenic Railway

Mom Hiked the Appalachian Trail with 13 Kids in Tow

Williamsburg Archaeologists Uncover Secret Garden

Get our most popularweekly newsletter: VL Today

Get our most popular
weekly newsletter: VL Today

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