We visited Paris as part of Big Trip #5 in August 2026. 

And we’re off! First stop on our fall trip, previously known as the Ontario loop and now as Big Trip #5, was wee Paris, VA. The primary reason we chose Paris was to dine at a specific restaurant, but we were happy with the nearby state park hiking, and it was a great stop overall in beautiful farm/horse/wine country of northern Virginia.

Paris is a tiny, charming village featuring pretty old houses, cows, a random vintage Ferrari, and the acclaimed Ashby Inn. It’s home to a lovely little state park, and the Appalachian Trail passes nearby. All over town we saw “Protect Paris Mountain” signs warning of the potential construction of a mountaintop resort, which would definitely change the character of the area. We’d love to return, and we’re glad we got to experience Paris before any major construction.

A bit larger than Paris but also incredibly quaint, Marshall is a fifteen minute-drive away through rolling wine country. That’s where our target restaurant is, on pretty, commercial Main Street, and I wish we’d had time to explore Marshall a bit more.

Campground

The only campground in the area as of this writing is Mountain Lake Campground. It’s a small loop of mostly full-time residents and despite being the only temporary campers, we felt welcome. Our neighbors were friendly and the night was quiet. The sites are power and water only, and there are no standard campground amenities, even a bathroom as far as we could tell. Starlink worked well enough for J to have a meeting, but only after we put the receiver on the truck roof!

Hiking

Sky Meadows State Park is adjacent to “downtown” Paris, and just a few minutes’ drive from the campground. It’s a gem of a park, 1800+ acres of woods, open fields, and trails, including the AT. In addition to hiking, there’s fishing, a children’s center, historic tours, tent camping, and astronomy: Sky Meadows is an International Dark Sky Park.

We hiked a five-mile loop, cobbling together trails to hit both Piedmont Overlook and Whitehouse Overlook. We went counterclockwise, but I think it might be better to do the loop clockwise so you’re staring into the big vistas as you descend. The hike was gorgeous and peaceful and we had a lovely time. The park charges a $10 entrance fee if you don’t have a state parks pass.

Eating and drinking

To break up the 20 minute drive to dinner, we stopped at Barrel Oak Winery & Brewery just down the road in Delaplane. The tasting room is huge and pretty with nice outdoor seating, and the surrounding countryside is beautiful. J liked his hazy IPA, but my sour beer was meh. I-66 passes below, and J summed up our experience: “It’s like a winery in Albemarle County, but with road noise.”

Dinner at Field & Main is the reason we mapped out this stop. It’s an award-winning, farm-to-table, locally- and seasonally-focused restaurant in an old farmhouse in sweet little downtown Marshall. The food was phenomenal.

Finally, after hiking in the state park, we stopped by Mountain Gap Market just down the hill from our campground. It’s an adorable upscale general store with local produce and prepared foods, and freshly made sandwiches and pastries, including donuts fried in beef tallow. The food looked and smelled delicious, and J talked for days about regretting not trying a beef tallow donut.

Next we headed north to Pennsylvania! Rickett’s Glen State Park is a four-hour drive from Paris,