Guidebook
Sixteen years of guests have asked us the same questions: where should we hike, where's the good wine, where do you actually eat? This is the honest answer as best we can- please let us know if you find a hidden gem that we can add to!
You're at the doorstep of Shenandoah National Park. Start on our land, then work your way up the ridge — these four cover almost everything a guest could want.
On the farm
58 acres of woods, pasture edges and old logging roads, with a map handed to you at booking. We sit right at the base of the Pocosin Mountain fire road, so you can walk out the door and keep climbing as long as your legs hold out.
25 minutes
The closest way onto Skyline Drive and the Appalachian Trail. Perfect for an easy afternoon: park at the gap, walk a stretch of the AT, then drive the ridge for overlooks without committing to a big day.
50 minutes
A run of waterfalls and swimming holes stacked one after another. Start from the lower parking lot; it's a steadier, quieter climb and you can turn around at whichever cascade wins you over.
50 minutes
The best views in this part of the Blue Ridge, earned by a rock scramble near the summit. A day-use ticket reservation through Shenandoah National Park is required — book ahead. Get there early; weekends fill up and the parking lot is the first thing to go.
Beer, wine, whiskey and cider, all within an easy drive. Pick one category per day — trust us, trying to do all four in a weekend is a rookie move.
Most of the local breweries sit on the Blue Ridge Brew Trail, an easy loop of taprooms between here and Charlottesville. If you only make one stop, make it Bald Top — it's our favorite and the closest to the farm.
Blue Ridge Brew Trail
1830 Thrift Rd, Madison, VA
20 minutes
Our family's favorite and the closest to the farm. A hilltop farm brewery in Madison with big lawn views, food trucks on weekends, and plenty of room for kids and dogs to run.
We sit inside the Monticello Wine Trail, one of the best-regarded wine regions on the East Coast. These are the ones we send guests to most often.
Monticello Wine Trail17655 Winery Rd, Barboursville, VA 22923
35 minutes
The historic one — ruins of a Jefferson-designed mansion on the grounds, and Palladio restaurant on site if you want to make an evening of it.
6109 Wolftown-Hood Rd, Madison, VA 22727
20 minutes
Beautiful, comfortable tasting room with a fireplace and long views. Very good food, and one of the easiest places to spend a slow afternoon.
5898 Free Union Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22901
40 minutes
A tropical glass conservatory attached to the tasting room, plus their own chocolates. Charming and a little unexpected.
1849 Simmons Gap Rd, Nortonsville, VA 22935
15 minutes
Modern stone-and-glass tasting room perched on a ridge. Quiet, grown-up, and the closest thing to a view-first winery near the farm.
1376 Wyatt Mountain Rd, Dyke, VA 22935
20 minutes
The highest of the bunch, up a winding gravel road at 1,700 feet. Worth the drive on a clear day.
9374 Rockfish Valley Hwy, Afton, VA
55 minutes
Family-run, best known for their rye. Friendly tasting bar.
13490 Cedar Run Rd, Culpeper, VA
45 minutes
Copper-pot corn whiskey made on a working farm — Virginia moonshine done the old way.
715 Henry Ave, Charlottesville, VA
45 minutes
Rum-forward city distillery with a proper cocktail lounge. Good stop before dinner in town.
1015 Old Lynchburg Rd, Charlottesville, VA
45 minutes
Straight bourbon from grain grown on their own farm. Tastings on a hilltop with cattle in the field below.
2545 Rural Ridge Ln, North Garden, VA
50 minutes
Heirloom Virginia apple varieties, dry ciders, and an orchard you can walk.
1020 Rockfish Valley Hwy, Nellysford, VA
60 minutes
The big, lively one — huge deck over the creek. Easy with a group or kids.
6065 Turkey Sag Rd, Keswick, VA
40 minutes
Elegant estate setting; their Levity is fermented in clay kvevri buried in the ground.
1581 Rockfish River Rd, Nellysford, VA
60 minutes
Small-batch, wild-fermented, and seriously dry. For the cider nerd in the group.
1350 Startsville Rd, Free Union, VA
35 minutes
A restored chapel turned cider house. Wood-fired pizza and a great lawn.
Three presidents lived within an hour of this farm. The houses are still standing, and the fuller, harder stories of the people who built them are finally being told well.
931 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy, Charlottesville, VA 22902
40 minutes
(434) 984-9800
Thomas Jefferson's mountaintop home and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Give yourself half a day — the house tour, the gardens, and the Mulberry Row tours on the lives of the enslaved people who built and ran the plantation are all worth the time.
2050 James Monroe Pkwy, Charlottesville, VA 22902
40 minutes
(434) 293-8000
Our fifth president's farm, right next door to Monticello. Smaller and quieter, with ongoing archaeology that keeps rewriting what's known about the property.
683 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy, Charlottesville, VA 22902
40 minutes
(434) 977-1234
A 1784 tavern serving midday fried chicken and southern sides by the plate, in costume, on pewter. Touristy in the best way, and just down the hill from Monticello.
11350 Constitution Hwy, Montpelier Station, VA 22957
40 minutes
(540) 672-2728
Madison's estate, with an outstanding exhibition on slavery and the Constitution, plus miles of walking trails and an old-growth forest.
360 Main St, Stanardsville, VA 22973
10 minutes
(434) 985-1834
Our own county's story, kept by neighbors, in the middle of Stanardsville. Small, free, and a lovely stop if you want to know where you're actually staying.
Stanardsville, Ruckersville, Madison and Gordonsville, roughly nearest to farthest. Prices are a rough guide: $ is a casual bite, $$$ is a night out. Call ahead in the country — hours move with the season.
Ruckersville
15 minutes
Salvadoran pupusas that we drive out of our way for. Order the revuelta, add the curtido, don't overthink it.
Gordonsville
35 minutes
Some of the best barbecue in Virginia. Get there before the pork belly corn bread sells out — it does.
Ruckersville
15 minutes
Wood-fired, seasonal, and the closest thing to a real destination restaurant near the farm. Reserve on weekends.
Ruckersville
15 minutes
The dependable local standby — big menu, live music some nights, and everyone in Greene County ends up here eventually.
Stanardsville
10 minutes
Historic inn on Main Street with a proper dinner menu. The nicest night out you can have without driving to Charlottesville.
Stanardsville
10 minutes
Coffee, breakfast sandwiches and pastries in town. Good first stop on a hiking morning.
Ruckersville
15 minutes
Fast, cheerful Tex-Mex. Reliable when nobody can agree on dinner.
Madison
20 minutes
Mennonite market with a deli counter, bulk goods and a bakery case. Pack a hiking lunch here.
Madison
20 minutes
Roadside burgers and hot dogs done right. Picnic tables, no fuss.
Locust Dale
35 minutes
Special-occasion dining in a colonial inn. Call ahead — seatings are limited.
Madison
20 minutes
Genuinely good food, not just winery food. Lunch on the terrace is hard to beat.
Madison
20 minutes
Country store and grill in the middle of nowhere. Biscuits in the morning, burgers at noon.
Charlottesville
40 minutes
Forty minutes south, a pedestrian mall packed with restaurants. When you want options instead of a recommendation, go here.
Charlottesville
40 minutes
Farm-driven market and kitchen. As a farm family, we appreciate what they're doing with local meat.
Kumud teaches Indian cooking classes and yoga classes right here in our corner of Greene County, and this isn't a listing we copied off a tourism site — our own family takes her classes. The cooking sessions are hands-on and end with everyone eating together, which is exactly our kind of evening.
Classes are small and scheduled in advance rather than run on a fixed calendar. Ask us during your stay and we'll happily put you in touch.
A small Virginia pottery shop making the kind of mugs and bowls you'll actually reach for every morning once you get them home. Handmade, wonderfully un-precious, and a far better souvenir than anything with a mountain printed on it.
There's plenty happening within the fence line too — goats to feed, mushroom logs to inspect, and a farm tour if you want the full walk-through.
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