Sport-Touring.Net - 2010 Nationals Option - Peaks of Otter

Peaks of Otter - Bedford, VA

Location: Right on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 86 (crossing of Rt.42), 10 miles from Bedford, VA.

Motel: Peaks of Otter Lodge - 63-room lodge, all rooms have a view of the lake.

Nightly Motel Rates: $115/night for a king bed or two double beds. No group rates, but they'll reserve a block of rooms for us up to 30 days prior to the event.

Info on Dining: Peaks of Otter Restaurant is on-site and serves outstanding breakfast, lunch and dinner—all meals have buffet options as well as al la carte. Meal prices are in the range of $15-20 for breakfast/lunch, and $15-25 for dinner. The food is outstanding and the service is excellent. There are many other restaurant/fast-food options in Buchanan, VA (5 miles away) and Bedford, VA (10 miles away).

Alcoholic beverages: There is a bar in the Peaks of Otter Lodge, and alcohol is served in the restaurant. Beer can be bought at the bar and taken to rooms (or wherever). not cheap, not crazy-expensive. Next closest source for alcohol would be in Buchanan or Bedford, VA.

Brief Summary of Benefits: This is a spectacularly beautiful setting right on a lake along the BRP and surrounded by mountains. Yes, it's more expensive...but the location and setting are worth it IMO. Note: the rooms have no TV and no phones (which is a plus in my book). It's incredibly cool to stay right on the BRP, and it's an amazingly relaxing place to hang out. The parking lots are huge, the grounds are beautifully landscaped, but it's not a high-brow atmosphere (gangs of Harley riders routinely stop on weekends to eat at the restaurant). Evenings are incredible, sitting in rocking chairs in the grass behind your room on the lake as barn swallows dart about overhead, the peeper frogs sing along the lakeshore and deer graze on the lawn right in front of you. Finally, Peaks of Otter is also ideal for non-motorcycling family & friends—there are hiking trails to waterfalls and incredible views, good fishing in the lake, and the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford—an awe-inspiring WW2 monument that's absolutely worth seeing. And did I say Peaks of Otter is right on the Blue Ridge Parkway? Lol

Also just minutes away is Lexington, Virginia—a beautiful college town, home of the Virginia Military Institute (whose faculty members include Stonewall Jackson and George C. Marshall) and Washington & Lee University, one of the oldest/most historic schools in the U.S. and Robert E. Lee's burial site (in the famous Lee Chapel).

Brief Rundown on Roads to Ride: Aside from the BRP, there are countless miles of great roads to ride...including VA40 through Woolwine, VA8 through Floyd, Indian Valley Road between Hillsville and Radford, VA311 through Paint Bank, VA/WV 39 through Goshen Pass, and multiple fantastic roads over the Blue Ridge like US60 from Buena Vista and VA56 past Crabtree Falls. Countless great routes can be put together that include sections of the BRP, great "traverse roads" over the mountains, and beautiful valley roads to the east and west.

Camping: Literally right across Rt.42 from Peaks of Otter is the Peaks of Otter Campground, run by the National Park Service. It's a rustic-but-beautiful campground with 132 tent sites and restrooms. (So it's easy to pitch your tent there and walk or ride over to the lodge to eat and hang out.)

Here are photos of Peaks of Otter...