If you are like me and love exploring nature, but don’t have time to go on a really long trip, this is for you!
I’ve known about Natural Bridge State Park for years and had just never gotten around to visiting, until last summer.
I wanted to pack as many fun things into this quick trip as I could, so I planned multiple things to do. I recommend going in mid-August, which is when I went and had gorgeous weather and it wasn’t really busy.
Before I continue on I would like to make a quick comment- if you can, you should travel through Lynchburg to get to Natural Bridge. I purposefully went through Lynchburg and stopped by Nothing Bundt Cakes for some yummy treats for later at the hotel, which I highly recommend, and played some mini golf at Tiny Town Golf.
However, if you can’t go through Lynchburg no worries, there are still plenty of fun things to do! The first activity my family and I went to was Hull’s Drive In for a double feature. If that sounds fun to you, make sure to check when they are open, because that is dependent on the month you are traveling in. A really cool thing about this drive-in is that it is a non-profit and is community owned.
We stayed at the Natural Bridge Hotel, which I highly recommend staying at. It is historic, comfortable, and gorgeous. Another huge plus is that they have an underground tunnel that connects the hotel to the actual state park, making it only a short easy walk to get there.
Now for the highlight of the trip, Natural Bridge State Park! I will warn that there is a hike to get to the bottom, but it is very easy and unathletic people (me!) should not have a problem with it. There are a couple of flights of stairs on the path, so make sure to take that into account. The park offers hikes that range from .6 to 3 miles, so you can pick what works best for you!
Natural Bridge was absolutely gorgeous, exactly how it looks in the pictures! Here are some of my favorite pictures I took.
Once we were satisfied we had a picture from every angle we left to find breakfast. We ended up eating at the Pink Cadillac Diner, which was a fantastic choice! They exhibit every aspect you think of when you picture a diner, checkered floors, old-timey milkshake glasses, delicious pancakes, and they even have a pink Cadillac outside.
After we ate we went to the Virginia Safari Park. This is a drive through zoo where you buy buckets of food and you get to feed all of the wandering animals and is the only one in Virginia. I was really impressed with how many animals they had and how friendly they were! They also have a walk through option with close-up animal encounters.
Then I headed home with a happy heart and a head full of amazing memories from this quick mini trip! Comment if you found any other fun activities to do or if you enjoyed any of the ones I recommended!!