Nearby

In late July, some 10,000 souls converge on Floydfest, a music festival set on acreage near the Blue Ridge Parkway that transforms the area into a weekend scene of post-Woodstock peacefulness, modern-day jam bands and other musical and visual delights. Though most festival-goers camp out, local lodgings book up fully for this and other annual events.

The Inn at Hope Springs, which is also an alpaca farm, is a local stand-out for luxury seekers; other options range from simple log cabins to old houses and mountain-view campgrounds. [Note: The Inn at Hope Springs is now closed.] One of the newest lodgings aims for an ecotourism crowd. Miracle Farm Bed and Breakfast Spa and Resort is run by former Californians Karen and Ed Osborne. It is possibly the only inn in Virginia where guests are encouraged to compost their own table scraps and recycle their trash, the kind of rustic hideaway that reflects the back-to-the-earth movement that brought many pioneers to Floyd in the first place. Breakfasts are vegetarian, organic three-course affairs; diversions are walking trails, Pilates instruction or hot-stone massages; accommodations are small, riverside cabins set within an animal sanctuary and surrounded by fields and woods.

At the heart of Floyd’s appeal are its unspoiled, litter-free countryside and the inky night sky exploding with stars. Music and art are the driving forces for daily life, along with hiking, gardening and the daily work of survival. “People here live simpler lives at a slower pace,” says John, a guy we met in the coffee shop. “They don’t expect a whole lot. They try to enjoy what they do have and what they’re doing. People find their peace here.”

But don’t mistake this place as backwoods, no matter how simplified the living. Folks here have taken to websites and blogs with considerable zeal, and the poetic daily musings of writers like Fred First (Fragments from Floyd), Scott Perry (Ohpapa Blues Blog), Colleen Redman (Loose Leaf Notes), David St. Lawrence (Making Ripples) and Doug Thompson (Blue Ridge Muse) give voice to the small moments and the grander connections that draw virtual and physical communities even closer. No marketing strategy could do so much to capture Floyd’s real magic.

—Originally published June 2007