Wytheville, VA Trip Report

I’ve been to Wytheville, VA many times for work. Its not a bad town, but its small; I can count the number of restaurants on my fingers. However, there are a few pretty good places to grab a bite to eat in town.

I would suggest trying the Japanese Steakhouse in the Walmart plaza. Its listed as a few different things on Trip Advisor but its the only Japanese place in town. El Puerto on Main St. is also delicious and cheap. My last recommendation is the Log House 1776. This place is a bit pricey but the food is very good and so are the beers.

Normally, I would fly into Greensboro and make the 2 hour drive to Wytheville. I’ve done this many times so I wanted to try something different while also taking in some of the beautiful vistas in this part of the country.  This time I flew into Asheville Regional Airport. The plan was to drive 230 miles from Asheville to Wytheville via the Blue Ridge Parkway. I have heard how great the scenery is along this historic route so I made that my plan.

3:15AM I woke to leave my house by 4AM. This got me to the airport in plenty of time for my 6:20AM flight out of Pearson. I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise to see the roads totally deserted at 4am on Sunday morning. I made it through the airport in record time and even had to kill some time until the Maple Leaf lounge opened at 5am. I grabbed some quick breakfast before the flight. After a quick stop in Charlotte I arrived in Ashville after possibly the shortest flight of my life. The in air time was only 18 minutes between Charlotte and Asheville. We spent more time on the runway taxing to take off then time in the air.

After I hit the road the fog started to roll in. The rain was not that much of an issue. In fact, it kept the temperature down and made the hikes quite enjoyable. I just wish the fog didn’t obstruct the views. At some parts of the drive it rolled in and I couldn’t see more then a few meters ahead. Just as fast as it rolled in, it would be gone.

The drive was enjoyable for the first 3-4 hours but I definitely underestimated the amount of driving it would take. The roads are quite curvy and make the drive a slow go. About 4 hours in I was less then half-way. I sped things up by cutting a few of the hikes out. My recommendation would be to take that distance in 2 days or expect to spend a very long day on the road. It is quite manageable in 1 day but not if you want to spend some time hiking and enjoying the scenery.

Overall, its a recommended trip with some absolutely stunning vistas.  Its one of those things people should do to cross off their list of things to see and do in America.

Feel free to post questions and comments about the route. I have posted some photos of the trip below with some descriptions of where the were taken.