Mabry Mill and the Blue Ridge Parkway – Virginia

Last weekend Big Bear and I packed the pups into the car and drove up to the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the gorgeous red and orange leaves of Autumn and to visit Mabry Mill! Did you know that it’s been said that Mabry Mill is one of the MOST photographed places on the Blue Ridge Parkway?! Pretty cool 🙂 I took a similar photo (like the one I took above) of the mill back a few years ago and my dad actually had it framed and it hangs in his office now.

We were greeted with the most perfect weather and the beauty of Fall was everywhere! I love it when the leaves start to change colors but I love it even MORE when we get to travel up into the mountains and see these colors really burst out around us!

Everywhere we looked there were “postcard perfect” moments. I have tons of memories of my Dad driving us all to the parkway when I was little. He loves the parkway and Mabry Mill is one of his favorite spots!! I didn’t appreciate the parkway back then but now that I’m older, I tend to find myself completely in love with it too!

Mabry Mill is located at milepost 176.2 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Floyd County, Virginia. It’s literally like 2 minutes from the exit we take to get onto the Parkway.  I’ve seen the grounds of Mabry Mill more times than I can count but I still walk to every building and read the signs and information boards at every stop! I love history and of course when you’re walking around a site that’s been there since about 1903 there is going to be a bit of history to be found!  

There is an old Whiskey Still here.

As well as an old Appalachian House. This log cabin was the home of Samuel and Elizabeth Matthews of Galax, Virginia, and it was built in 1869! It was donated to the park in 1956!

As many times as I’ve been there this was the first time that I’ve actually been inside of the Matthew’s cabin! It was so very tiny! I’m 5’2 and I still had to bend down a little to go through the door!

It was pretty much one small room and I do believe that I read that there was 1 room up stairs as well. I couldn’t imagine living in such a small space; I’d feel way too claustrophobic!

Just outside of the cabin one of the Rangers was busy making brooms!

During the busy summer and autumn months there are demonstrators out and about at Mabry Mill! They’re making brooms or spinning wool into yarn! Some are making soap in huge old cast iron pots and there is even a blacksmith working away in the Blacksmith’s shop!

She was talking about what kind of materials they used to make the brooms and was saying that “Witches, of course, used WitchHazel for their riding brooms” hahaha 😉

It’s so neat to see how things were done back then! Could you  imagine having to make almost everything that you used?

I mean could you imagine having to even make your own brooms?! I admire the people of the past so much!

After we walked around for a bit we made our way over to the Mill.

You can actually go inside and see everything working just as it did all those years ago!

So after a quick trip inside we just had to take a selfie haha 😉

Oh and of course I had to pick up a bag of the grits that they were selling inside of the mill! I think we’ll be having lots of grit based meals soon haha.

We were going to have lunch there as Mabry Mill does has a gift shop and restaurant but since we had the dogs with us and since it was crazy busy we decided to skip it for this trip.

Next we made our way over to Rocky Knob to take in the view for a bit! 

This place is the PERFECT stop for a picnic. Heck, I’d just lay out on the side of the mountain and nap my afternoon away if I could! There is a huge grassy area and there are lots of trails just below the viewing area!

The pups were having a blast!

PS. if you ever want tons of attention be sure to take your dogs with you! haha Every 5 seconds someone was stopping up to either pet them or ask about them. Good thing we weren’t trying to be invisible that day! lol

The rest of the day was filled with a few more small stops to view the leaves and mainly lots of driving as we casually cruised the parkway with our windows down and our music up (well some music and some race news as NASCAR was down the road in Martinsville and BigBear wanted to listen to it some haha)

Isn’t that the cutest little cabin! I’d love to wake up to that view every morning!

Have you been to Mabry Mill and the Blue Ridge Parkway? If not, you have got to take a trip there! I recommend the 2nd or 3rd week of October 🙂 Everything is just beautiful around that time!