Leaving Charlottesville we wound our way by small roads over the Shenandoah to Warm Springs. One of the prettiest stretches was along the Rockfish River Valley: it looked a lot like Switzerland in the sense that everything along the road was tidy and well organized – even the garages!
Then the route west over the mountains took us through Raphine to Warm Springs and Hot Springs, via some lovely creeks and rivers and hollows, with fall color in full,sun-soaked display.
The view east towards the Blue Ridge Mountains:
The small secondary roads in this area are a treat to drive at this time of year – there is so little traffic that you can often just stop in the middle of the road to take a photo and have no cars at all come along for minutes on end, if at all.
We stayed in a little place right across the road from the Jefferson Pools, some of the best hot springs either of us has ever seen, or used. Body temperature water, high flow rates, crystal clear water, and some ancient, quaint and seriously decrepit octagonal wood structures enclosing two pools: one for women and one for men; family days (bathing suit required) every so often during the week; otherwise it is suits-optional during segregated hours.
The pools are owned by The Homestead, one of the most excessively grandiose places we’ve ever laid eyes one, right up there with the mansions in Newport or Northeast Harbor. There are extensive fancy homes all around The Homestead, and it looked as if a good half of them were for sale, which likely means many more were as well but not mentioning it publicly. Not our style of neighborhood….
We went in the pools that afternoon and had delightful soaks in completely empty pools, an experience not to be missed.
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