Doughton Park Campground

Nestled in a landscape of mountains, open meadows and pioneer cabins, Doughton Park Campground is surrounded by 30 miles of hiking trails offering opportunities to view wildlife as well as get a feel for the lives of those who lived here long ago. Originally known as "The Bluffs," the area came by its present name in honor of Congressman Robert L. Doughton, a long-time advocate and supporter of the Parkway. The trails vary from strenuous to easy; bicycles and motorized vehicles are prohibited on them, and elevations can change more than 2,000 feet as trails descend into the Basin Cove Creek area from the parkway. Mileages given are one way. Bluff Mountain Trail (7.5 miles) offers many scenic vistas across relatively flat terrain, runs near the parkway and is accessible from many locations between Brinegar Cabin and Basin Cove Overlook. Cedar Ridge Trail (4.4 miles) descends a forested ridgeline to Grassy Gap Fire Road from a trailhead at the Brinegar Cabin. Grassy Gap Fire Road (6.1 miles) is wide enough for hikers and horseback riders to travel side by side, starting at Milepost 243.9 and ambling down the mountainside past the primitive campground to Longbottom Road; horseback riders must enter and exit at Longbottom Road. Flat Rock Ridge Trail (5.0 miles) begins on the mountain-top meadow of Basin Cove Overlook and ends on the damp, cool banks of Basin Cove Creek, with the NC Thurmond Game Lands and bear sanctuary bordering its south side. Basin Cove Creek Trail (3.2 miles) is accessible only from the Grassy Gap Fire Road at Longbottom Road, a 1.7-mile hike in; it winds past cascading waterfalls to the century-old Caudill Cabin and requires over 26 creek crossings. Bluff Ridge Primitive Trail (2.7 miles) is the shortest but steepest route into Basin Cove, from the Bluffs Picnic Area. Fodder Stack Trail (1.4 miles round trip), from Wildcat Rocks Overlook, is the easiest hike, through a mixture of pine and hardwood forest after a short, steep beginning, and shows off a delicate display of wildflowers in the spring. The Brinegar Cabin dates from about 1885 and was the home of Martin Brinegar, a cobbler as well as a farmer; it is open Memorial Day weekend through October, and hand-loom weaving and other craft demonstrations are often given during the summer months. The one-room Caudill Cabin, former home of the Martin Caudill family and one of the few structures of the once-thriving Basin Cove community to withstand the devastating 1916 flood, can be viewed from the scenic Wildcat Rocks at milepost 240.6. A historic cemetery near milepost 245.5 contains some three dozen graves dating from the 1880s to more recent times. The streams of the Basin Cove Creek complex, off the Parkway on Longbottom Road, are stocked with rainbow and brook trout; anyone with a valid Virginia or North Carolina fishing license is welcome, but check with the visitor center for special regulations. Doughton Park has a picnic area at milepost 241, a campground at milepost 239, comfort stations, drinking water and access to 30 miles of trail over bluegrass bluffs. The historic Bluffs restaurant at milepost 241 has reopened. Campsites are shaded under an umbrella of thick trees and provide tables, lantern posts, campfire rings and grills, along with flush toilets, drinking water and a dump station. Alongside 33 sites available for advance reservation and three group sites, there are 70 first-come, first-served campsites, booked in person at the campground kiosk. A permit is required for backcountry camping at Basin Cove. Rolling ridgetop meadows and steep mountainsides characterize the 7,000-acre Doughton Park, at a cool 3,688 feet. It is one of the best places along the motor road to view white-tailed deer, raccoons, red and gray foxes, and bobcats, with spectacular shows of flame azalea and rhododendron in the late spring and fields of dense blazing stars in mid to late July. The nearby Bluffs picnic area features open areas for night sky viewing with limited light pollution. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a scenic byway that follows the high crests of the central and southern Appalachians for 469 miles from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. The New River National Wild and Scenic River, with multiple access points and several local outfitters within a 30-minute drive, offers excellent tubing, canoeing, kayaking and fishing, and Mount Airy, North Carolina — Andy Griffith's hometown and the inspiration for Mayberry — is 12 miles south of Fancy Gap, Virginia. Other nearby destinations include Sparta and Allegheny County, West Jefferson, Jefferson, Lansing and Todd, Wilkes County, and the Yadkin Valley, North Carolina's wine country.