Happenin’
Places › Virginia › McAfee Knob
McAfee Knob, photo 1 of 3

Photo: Asaf Antman / CC BY 2.0 · source

Mountains

McAfee Knob

Catawba, VA · RoanokeFree

About

From the ledge on McAfee Knob, 3,197 feet up Catawba Mountain in Roanoke County, Virginia, the view runs 270 degrees. The hike starts across Route 311 from the lot and follows the white-blazed Appalachian Trail, with most of the climbing in the last mile and a half. The trailhead lot is small, and cars left on Route 311 or the side street get ticketed and towed. Go on a weekday if you can; otherwise a shuttle runs Friday through Sunday from March through November, from downtown Salem and the park-and-ride at I-81 Exit 140.

Highlights

270-degree view over Catawba Valley7.5 to 8 miles round tripMost climbing in the last 1.5 milesWeekend shuttle, March to NovemberSmall lot, towing enforced

Getting there

Related places

Peaks of Otter Mountains

Peaks of Otter

Bedford, VA · Virginia Blue RidgeFree

Sharp Top overlooks Abbott Lake and the Peaks of Otter Lodge, 10 miles from Bedford, Virginia. The trail to its 3,875-foot summit is 1.6 strenuous miles. A seasonal bus gets…

Shenandoah National Park Mountains

Shenandoah National Park

Front Royal, VA · Blue Ridge Mountains$

Shenandoah National Park is about 75 miles from Washington, D.C., and its one public road, Skyline Drive, runs 105 miles south from Front Royal, Virginia. End to end it takes…

Natural Bridge Attractions

Natural Bridge

Natural Bridge, VA · Shenandoah Valley$

You reach the 200-foot arch at Natural Bridge, Virginia, by a 137-step stairway, so leave the stroller in the car. Thomas Jefferson called it "the most sublime of Nature's works"…

More in Virginia

Others worth the drive in Virginia.

All of Virginia →
Luray Caverns Caves

Luray Caverns

Luray, VA · Shenandoah Valley$$

Andrew Campbell and his 13-year-old nephew Quint went down into Luray Caverns by rope in 1878, after cold air rose from a sinkhole in Luray, Virginia. Formations here grow about…

Mabry Mill Attractions

Mabry Mill

Meadows of Dan, VA · Virginia Blue RidgeFree

Ed Mabry's gristmill stands at milepost 176 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, with its overshot wheel and wooden flume doubled upside down in the still millpond. More people photograph…

Part of these collections

The Blue Ridge Mountains26 places

The Blue Ridge Mountains

Pick one end. Nobody drives the Parkway fast, so the Virginia stretch and the North Carolina mountains make two trips.