Weekend Itinerary: Roanoke

Get a two-day itinerary for a getaway to Roanoke!

Description: Hiking at McAffe's Knob: https://www.visitroanokeva.com/things-to-do/outdoor-adventure/appalachian-trail/mcafee-knob/

Hiking at Dragon's Tooth: https://www.hikingupward.com/JNF/DragonsTooth/

Breakfast at Scratch Biscuit Co.: http://www.scratchbiscuit.com/

Dinner at Montano's: http://www.montanos.net/

Air BnB stay: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/11082164

My husband and I have vowed that Lynchburg is as far south from the Mason-Dixon line as we will ever go. We are all about sweet tea and cheap gas, but our Yankee hearts just want to shovel some snow every now and then. Knowing that our time is most likely limited in South, we are trying to experience the surrounding areas while we can. We decided to take a weekend trip to Roanoke to start checking places off our list.

We began our trip by heading to McAffes’ Knob, the featured hike of the Blue Ridge Mountains and part of the “Triple Crown.” It was amazing and probably ranks as my favorite Virginia hike. It took us about 4 hours in total, including an ample rest stop at the top. The hike is really family friendly as there are actually two routes to ascend the mountain–an easy fire road trail and a more strenuous main trail. Reluctantly, we chose the more difficult trail, but even that route wasn’t too tough. It was just steep enough to count for cardio but mild enough to allow a conversation between you and your hiking buddy.

The view at McAffe’s is incredible. For all the hikes we have done in the area, this particular view seems to be the most expansive and unobstructed. There are also plenty of little alcoves on the summit so you can enjoy the scenery in peace.

How beautiful is this?! View from McAffe's Knob

Online, the hike was purported to be severely crowded. However, we did the hike on a Friday afternoon and had plenty of trail and vistas to ourselves. (And when this introvert soul says it was quiet enough, it is!)

After we finished the hike, we took the short car trip to downtown Roanoke to find our Air BnB. We found a gem of a place right on the main strip of the city that was immaculately clean, roomy and nicely furnished hosted by superhost Seth (see link above). At about 100 dollars a night, this place was a steal.

There are tons of places to eat in downtown Roanoke, so it was a little overwhelming deciding where to go. Thankfully, downtown is super walkable, so you can just meander until something catches your eye. We ate at Fortunato’s to carb-load on pasta (because the BEST part of hiking is that you can eat WHATEVER you want!). We both thought that dinner was average, but that was just probably because the small portion-sizes didn’t accommodate our massive appetites.

We decided to venture outside of downtown to carb-load some more via chocolate cake. We found this fun restaurant called Montano's, and once we walked in, we both wish we did dinner here! The atmosphere certainly isn’t romantic or intimate, but there is such energy in the room from all of the patrons. This would be a great place to take a family as well, as the menu is extremely expansive and relatively inexpensive. We will be back!

We went back to Seth’s Air BnB and plopped in front of the ginormous TV. For students who still watch movies on a 14 inch laptop, a mounted flat screen quickly became a trip highlight. For those of you reading that only use your laptop for like, computer stuff, please don’t take your luxury for granted :)

The next morning, we found a little breakfast place called Scratch Biscuit Company. Best random online find EVER! Scratch Biscuit Co. actually makes their own biscuits (….from scratch…) and then stuffs them with anything and everything–pork with spicy hollandaise, or fruity jam, or eggs and ham, or anything you ask them to! My hungry husband tried to order three biscuits before being chastised by the cashier who assured him that even one biscuit is meal-worthy. She was right.

We demolished our biscuits and then had a whole bunch of regret as we started our next hike. Would I ever recommend hiking on a full stomach of butter and bread? No. Would I do it again for Scratch? Yes.

We trudged up Dragon’s Tooth, another mountain in the Blue Ridge Triple Crown. This hike felt a lot more strenuous than McAffe’s Knob, though that could have been because we did a hike the previous day/still recovering from our biscuit intoxication.

The beginning of Dragons’ Tooth is pretty tame, but the last part gets rough. You basically have to do a rock scramble for the last mile or so, which has its fun and I-freaking-hate-this moments. The summit can also be a little sketchy because to actually take in the entire 360 degree vista, you have to scamper up a treacherous monolith (the “Dragon’s Tooth”). I would NOT suggest taking children up the structure; in fact, we didn’t even climb the whole thing. But you can still catch a good view of the mountain range without climbing the Tooth.

View from Dragon's Tooth. You can see the monolith you have to climb to see the 360 panorama on the right.

I personally wish that we had done Dragon’s Tooth before McAffe’s Knob, just because Dragon’s Tooth felt a little less climactic than McAffe’s. But the climb up the Tooth is much more technical, which gives the ascent more excitement. And for those of you type A, must-cross-it-off-my-list readers, the last hike of the Triple Crown is Tinker Cliffs. Another fantastic hike, though the views are similar to McAffe's and Dragon's Tooth.

All in all, our weekend in Roanoke was great. It was the perfect blend of “staycation” and “weekend getaway.” Go experience it for yourself!