We’re heading to Massanutten - “your backyard mountain resort” and one of the best places in Virginia to dive into mountain biking. For Morgan Mowbry and Charles Sexton, it’s more than a destination, it’s home turf for adventure. As dedicated trail builders and volunteers, they’ve helped shape the riding experience on Massanutten’s Western Slope, where passion for both riding and community come together on the trails.
We explore how Massanutten Resort works collaboratively with the local community to create access to an incredible network of trails for every skill level - from smooth beginner and family- friendly trails to technical, expert-level singletrack. Morgan and Charles break down what makes Massanutten an ideal place to get started in mountain biking, including group rides and events for locals and visitors alike. Beyond the trails, Massanutten offers a full lineup of four-season activities, from skiing and snow tubing to waterparks, ziplining, hiking, and more, making it a true all-around adventure destination. And with Shenandoah National Park and the George Washington National Forest just minutes away, there are endless opportunities to expand your adventure.
We also dive into everything waiting nearby in downtown Harrisonburg, including local outfitters who can help you gear up, small businesses shaped by the region’s outdoor culture, and the restaurants Morgan and Charles recommend for refueling after a day on the bike. It’s a celebration of mountain biking, community collaboration, and the vibrant outdoor scene that makes the Shenandoah Valley a hub for riders and adventurers of all levels. Let’s Go!
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Episode Transcript
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Unknown (00:01):
From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay,
Virginia is a mecca for outdoortravel and adventure. Virginia
outdoor adventures Podcast isyour local guide for hiking,
camping, kayaking, travel and somuch more. Get the information
and the inspiration to plan yourown adventure right here in
(00:21):
Virginia. I'm your host, JessicaBowser,
we're heading to massanutton,your backyard Mountain Resort,
and one of the best places inVirginia to dive into mountain
biking for Morgan Mowbray andCharles Sexton, it's more than a
destination. It's home turf foradventure as dedicated trail
(00:42):
builders and volunteers, they'vehelped shape the riding
experience on massanutten'swestern slope, where a passion
for both riding and communitycome together on the trails, we
explore how Massanutten resortworks collaboratively with the
local community to create accessto an incredible network of
trails for every skill level,from smooth, beginner and family
(01:03):
friendly trails to technicalexpert level. Single track
Morgan and Charles break down.
What makes massanutton an idealplace to get started in mountain
biking, including group ridesand events for locals and
visitors alike. Beyond thetrails, Massanutten offers a
full lineup of four seasonactivities, from skiing and snow
tubing to water parks, ziplining hiking and more, making
(01:24):
it a true all around adventuredestination. And with Shenandoah
National Park and the GeorgeWashington National Forest just
minutes away, there are endlessopportunities to expand your
adventure. We also dive intoeverything waiting nearby in
downtown Harrisonburg, includinglocal outfitters who can help
you gear up, small businessesshaped by the region's outdoor
(01:47):
culture and the restaurantsMorgan and Charles recommend for
refueling after a day on thebike. It's a celebration of
mountain biking communitycollaboration and the vibrant
outdoor scene that makes theShenandoah Valley a hub for
riders and adventurers of alllevels. Let's go.
(02:07):
This is part two of a two partepisode.
What other outdoor activitiesdoes massanutton offer
throughout the year? It's morethan just mountain biking
trails. They are a Four SeasonsResort. So beyond mountain
biking, they have skiing andsnowboarding and winter tubing
(02:28):
that always sells out. They havean indoor outdoor water park,
which I just took my daughter tofor the first time the other
weekend, and she keeps asking,When are we going back? They
have got golf and they have thefamily adventure park, I believe
their new mountain coaster justopened. I might be wrong, but I
know it's the newest thing theyhave to offer. And then hiking,
(02:50):
of course, they have a spa ifyou're not really into
everything outdoors, or youcould be into both. So it just
depends. Yeah, every once in awhile, even for us locals, to
take a break from mountainbikes. It's really nice, too.
When you have family visiting,like this weekend, my parents,
who are in their 70s, are comingup to visit, and you can point
at the resort and find somethingactive to do with them as well.
(03:14):
We're going to do the leafpeeping chair rides this
weekend, and that's really coolfor them, as old ski bums, to
take the lift up and look at thelook at the leaves for the fall.
But the hiking is really great.
I think we should mentionthere's a ton of people that
come to master nothing and don'tknow that the western slopes
exist for hiking. And I thinkmaybe we haven't mentioned that
(03:35):
clearly, but they are multi usetrails. They get jogged on, and
trail ran on, and dog walked on.
And you can access those rightfrom the top of Del Webb Road,
which is in the resort. Andthere's a there's a ton of
hiking to do as well. And Ithink that's really cool for
(03:55):
families. But yeah, there's aton to do. We have some great
rivers around. Obviously, theShenandoah is pretty close. So
whether you're like, a realpurist of outdoor activities
type of person, or whetheryou're like, hey, I want to hang
out at the resort and experienceall of these things like tubing
or steel coaster. I think theyhave a golf simulator over
(04:16):
there. There's tons to get into,so you won't be bored if you
stay at Massanutten, that's forsure. Yeah, I had a hard time
picking what activities I wasgoing to do, and I'll be honest,
I have never really spent a lotof time at Massanutten before
this last visit with you two, soI was really unfamiliar with it.
And when I was presented withthe options, I was like, Oh my
(04:39):
gosh. Like, I only have a coupleof days here. How am I going to
choose between, like, a guidedpaddle tour and rappelling and
zip lining and hiking and all ofthe things? It was just, it was
a lot, but also it was, it wasawesome, like, the selection was
amazing, and I was super excitedto sort of dive right in one of
my favorite the.
(05:00):
Things that I did was taking thechairlift to the Massanutten
peak trail. I was told there wasa hiking trail at the top of the
mountain, and the only way toget up there was to take the
chair lift. And it just makesthe hiking experience so much
more unique when you have totake a chair lift to it right
and it was beautiful. The viewson the way up were epic, and
(05:20):
they just kept getting betterand better. And then once I got
up there, it was a very easy,leisurely hike to a couple of
different overlooks withstunning vistas that were really
beautiful. And then, of course,taking the chair lift back down
is just as fun. Yeah, that's areally fun trail. And I will say
there, there is trail to accessthat from the bottom, from Del
(05:41):
Webb two or three differentways, but it is not easy hiking.
It's a lot of rock scrambling.
Probably would take you two orthree hours. For those
adventurous folks that want togo, you want to be a purist and
get your butt kicked on somerock. You can do that at
Massanutten, or you can takethat lift up and get there in
about 10 minutes. Well, what'scrazy is, I get my butt kicked
every Monday during our groupride. And some of those same
(06:04):
women also trail run in aseparate group, just for trail
running on the western slope onWednesdays. And I'm like, one,
how are you fitting both ofthose activities in the same
week without dying? And two, Ididn't even know you did this,
like you are a triathlete atthis point. So it's just cool.
What it what it offers forpeople? Yeah, it's cool. And I
think some of the populartrails, other than that,
(06:27):
massanutt and peak trail I justmentioned, but like Kaylor knob
trail and peak Ridge Trail, Isaw a lot of people on those
two, and I think it's becausethey're so easily accessible
from the overlook that lots ofpeople like to enjoy. Yes, I'm
laughing. Because, again, youknow kind of drawing that reach
from like, Oh, I'm just gonnastay at master nothing for a
(06:47):
weekend. Well, there is a 100mile Ridge ride or run that
leaves from the top of Del Webbthat you can access, that people
will go do it goes theMassanutten Ridge is extremely
unique. It's almost 50 mileslong, pushing up to like Front
Royal and all of that area. Andit's some of the most Rocky
(07:10):
Ridge terrain, super old school,Appalachian style Ridge,
technical trail that looks likea goat made it, you know, or
that the Civil War guys were inthere, you know, hiking through,
and they were, which is evenmore insane, but you can leave
the resort and hike for 50 milesnorth, like on a trail. It's
(07:30):
there. Go for it. There's ashelter down there, you know,
there's a great swimming lake. Ithink that's really cool. It
really is like you can stickaround the resort and do some of
those basic things, like playinggolf or hanging out and having a
very nice chill weekend, or useit as a base camp to really do
some insane stuff. Yes,absolutely you've got the
(07:52):
options, which is great, becausemost people don't travel alone.
They travel with friends orfamily. So you have to make
everybody happy to have theoptions of doing all those
different things is fantasticfor groups of people, or even
just like two people, becausenot every couple is going to be
interested in the same thing. SoI think that's awesome. There's
no shortage of trails like youmentioned, and there is easy
(08:15):
access to the George Washingtonforest and Shenandoah National
Park are nearby. And honestly,like, how could you possibly run
out of trails when you haveaccess to all those things? And
then for me personally, I Youmentioned the spa Morgan, and I
had to laugh, because I foundmyself in the spa like there was
one day that there werethunderstorms predicted, and so
(08:35):
I knew I wasn't going to be upon the ridge. And after like,
all of the hiking, the mountainbiking and everything else we
had done, I was like, it's goingto be thunderstorming. Yeah, I'm
going to the spa. So I wentthere and had a massage, and
then I had some kind of saunathing that they set me up in. I
forget what the heck it was.
(08:56):
Apparently it's supposed to begood for you to sit in really
hot temperatures.
I don't know, I don't know whatthe science is behind those
things, but I was like, Okay,I'm doing it. And that was
perfect. I mean, let's behonest. Like, after a hard day
on the trails, like, what'sbetter than relaxation and
recovering from that, and then Ihad that much more energy the
next day, so I highly recommendthe spa as well. I can't tell
(09:20):
you how many parents, I wouldsay, either a dad or a mom, the
water park saves their day,right? I The locals kind of
cringe at the site of a waterpark, right? But I come from
Virginia Beach, the land ofwater parks and the Massanutten
Water Park, which is indoor,outdoors, actually really
awesome, taking my family overthere a couple times, but it
(09:42):
also it's enabler to parentsthat need to, like, switch out
while one's doing an adventure.
You know, that day that thefamily's down chilling at the
water park, or either they havea big day and they wear the kids
out and everybody's grumpy andit's like kids just hike this
trail. Tomorrow we're going tothe water park.
Average, you see a lot of thosefolks on trail. It's just great
(10:03):
to have variety. There's not alot of places where it's all in
one spot. So it's kind of cool.
Yeah, the indoor water park alsohas a whole floor for arcade
games. Not only do they have,you know, swimming and slides,
but if you want to stay dry,there's a whole floor dedicated
to that. There's so much forkids to do. It's wild. I mean,
you cannot be bored atMassanutten. You just can't like
(10:24):
if you are something's wrong.
You're not paying attention towhat's around you. There's so
much to do. Are you implyingthat you have to be a kid to
enjoy the water park?
I have a feeling, Charles, thatyou would absolutely fit right
in with all the kids there. Hitit hard true for visitors coming
to Massanutten, why should theyalso check out downtown
(10:47):
Harrisonburg? So they shouldcheck out downtown Harrisonburg
because there's a lot of greatlocal restaurants and things
that have to do with arts andculture, you know. Or if you
want to get a drink, we have afew cool bars to check out and
things for kids as well. So ifyou have the whole family at the
(11:07):
resort, you can still take themoutside of the resort, go
downtown and find something todo for everyone in your group.
And we are called the friendlycity. So I will add that I don't
think you'll meet someone on thestreet who is not willing to
give you, you know, advice ordirections or anything like
that. Yeah, downtown is prettycool. It's all new for us. We
(11:30):
kind of move here for that smalltown vibe and and you get it in
Harrisonburg, cute littledowntown. We have three really
great bike shops. I want to makesure that folks know where to
go, since this is an outdoor andwe also have a great outfitter
downtown as well. So there'splenty of you know, even if just
outdoors is your your thing,check out the various bike
(11:50):
shops. There's a lot of historythere. Shenandoah SBC has pulp
inside of it. They serve upgreat food too. But shout out
Billy jacks and Jack Brown'sdowntown, if you need after ride
grub. That's usually my go tofor greasy burgers. And they're
pretty amazing. And fried Oreos.
Don't leave without those. Oh mygosh, they have fried Oreos.
(12:12):
Yeah, you got to go for thefried Oreos. Yeah. How did I not
know about this? I feel like youtwo held out on me, if you would
have told me.
Sometimes we make the transferover from other restaurants just
to get the fried Oreos. Butdon't tell anybody. There's a
there's a reason I ride an Ebike. Sometimes it's the fried
(12:33):
Oreoand the Greg Brady. That's my
favorite burger over there.
Yeah, I was just going to ask ifyou two had favorite restaurants
or locations downtown. I havealways loved downtown
Harrisonburg. I think it'sfantastic. There is no shortage
of great restaurants and foodoptions, and everything is super
walkable. It's easy to parknearby and to walk to almost
(12:56):
anything you want to get to. Andthen, of course, there's like so
many great Outfitters. Youmentioned Shenandoah bicycle
company, but there are otherstoo. Do you want to mention some
of the other Outfitters? SoRocktown bicycles is another
great supporter of thecommunity, Ken and Adam and the
team over there. Really, reallystand up. And then we also, at
the end of town, have bluestonebike and run. And each bike shop
(13:18):
kind of has its own character. Iwould say I've never been to a
place where three bike shopsthat technically compete against
each other all ride together.
It's kind of kind of wild howeverybody gets along. They all
know each other strength andweaknesses, and we see them out
on the mountain and at eventsall the time. Charlie and the
folks down at bluestone reallyspecialize also in in shoes and
(13:41):
trail running as well. So thinkthey're the only one that really
has trail running shoes, and sothey kind of keep things unique
down there. These are the samefolks that are leading group
rides from their shops eachweek. I mean, we didn't really
talk about at all the great roadand gravel riding that is
legendary out of Harrisonburg.
(14:02):
Some people literally move herejust for gravel riding, and you
can do it right from downtown,which is amazing. So that's not
to be forgotten, either. Sowhatever type of bike you want
to ride, you can get into but wedo have three really great
bicycle shops here. Yeah, wehave walkabout outfitters
downtown that can outfit you forany adventure you want to go on.
(14:24):
And they have a really largevariety of things to choose
from. They're a pretty largestore when you go in there for
the first time. And then you canwalk up the street if you want,
or drive to mossy Creek, flyfishing, if you're into that
kind of thing. They'll hook youup with everything you need. And
if you're a first timer, theyoffer tours out on the river,
(14:46):
and they'll guide you to catchyour first fish. So that's
pretty neat. They've been aroundforever since I can remember, so
it's pretty cool to see themdowntown now, as part of the
downtown community, for sure, I.
Love that both of thoseoutfitters are family owned, and
I think there's something uniqueand special about walking into a
family owned outfitter, and youget immediate attention and
(15:10):
service, and everybody's sofriendly, and they're very
plugged into the community. So,you know, unlike large
retailers, they don'tnecessarily know much about the
area outside. They're just thereto work and go home. But like in
family owned places, they'rereally plugged in, and they're
very invested in making surethat you have what you need and
that you have a great experiencewhile you're visiting. So I love
(15:33):
both of those shops, any morerestaurants that you'd like to
mention, or maybe even breweriestoo, two of my favorites, Cuban
burger. Amazing burgers, Cubanfare. And Steve, that owns it,
is a mountain biker that alwaysmakes it a little easier to go
there and spend money. Not thatall of our stuff, mostly
downtown, isn't owned locally.
Steve was at the community eventthis weekend with us, and he
(15:54):
brought his family out rodebikes, and just a really good
dude. And then I spend a lot oftime at restless moons, which is
kind of off the beaten path fora brewery. I'm not a drinker, so
they always have a really goodkombucha and a on tap for me.
But they also are probably thebiggest spot for the music scene
downtown. So if you want to seemusic, I play bluegrass there
(16:16):
twice a week, where they justopen the place up for us to have
community jams for hours andhours at a time, which is
really, really cool communityvibes. If you want to meet
locals and have some goodbeverages, I would mention
restless for sure, good spot togo. If I'm going for like a
casual bite, I really like palefire or which is a brewing
(16:39):
company, or Billy Jack's for theGreg Brady. And if you're
looking for something that's alittle nicer, like sit down, or
you're taking out, like a firstdate or something, you could
check out Bella Luna. They havewood fired pizza that's always a
go to for me if I want pizza.
And then, I mean, there's not arestaurant in downtown that I
(17:03):
don't like, and like Imentioned, you can go for casual
sit down or a nice dinner withwhatever you want. They offer
it. And then I can't not mentionKlein's, which has, in my
opinion, the best ice creamaround here, even though there's
others that also have ice cream.
Clients has a different flavorevery week, and I always check
(17:24):
it on their website to to seewhich which time I need to go
take my lunch break to get icecream. So that's always a good
time. I think that would be me,too, if I lived in the area,
because doesn't clients have twolocations in Harrisonburg.
There's two in Harrisonburg, onefrom the bottom of the mountain
at Massanutten, it's like rightdown the road. And then there's
(17:46):
a few other locations in thevalley. So they, they keep
growing, because they're good.
Did we mention sagebird Ciderworks? Sageburg Cider works, if
you like cider is also downtown.
And they have, they have, like,other weekly events, I believe,
in the evenings, and they alsotypically have their garage
doors open. So like, they're avery inviting place to be, even
(18:06):
if you don't want to drink andjust want to go meet some local
people. Yeah, I like sage birdbecause of the vibe. Like it's a
very cute little place. And theyhad a food truck outside when I
was there, so I was able to getfood, and I just enjoyed it
because of the scenery, like itwas real chill, and everybody
was just sort of hanging. Andit's cute. It's very cute. And
(18:29):
Bella Luna is one of myfavorites, because you can get
Italian food there, and forpeople who are vegetarian,
there's lots of options. SoBella Luna is often one of my go
to places. The food's amazing.
In fact, I ran into one of mylisteners last time I was there.
Like, I sat down at the bar withmy friend and I heard, are you?
Jessica Bowser, look over andlike, there's somebody that I
(18:52):
have been talking to online fora while, but hadn't met in
person yet. It was awesome tomeet him and his wife, but they
were making food recommendationsfor me because they go there a
lot. They're from the area, andthey're like, Yeah, you need to
try this and this. And I was andhe was not wrong, like, the food
was so good, and then the threeof us ate there. So I was super
happy to go back. I'm like, Yes,please. Let's go back to Bella
(19:13):
Luna, because it was awesome.
Oh, magnolias taco and tequilabar is also one of my favorites,
because I love Mexican, like, somuch, so I love going there, and
then clementines was also reallygood, and they're, like, right
on Main Street. So there's somany great options. And I just,
I feel like Harrisonburgdowntown vibe is always so full
of energy. And maybe it's thecollege students from JMU, or
(19:36):
maybe it's the locals, but itjust feels like there's always
something going on inHarrisonburg. Yeah, I work at
the local university. Thestudents definitely add another
layer of vibe and welcomingatmosphere downtown, and they
certainly keep it running. Buteven when they're away during
the summertime, it's still areally great place to be. And
(19:57):
like you mentioned, there isalways.
Something going on there. Theyhave huge events down there
every year, and one of the bestChristmas parades. Yep, there's
always something to do downthere. For sure. I feel like we
could just turn this into a foodpodcast,
I know, and that's what makes itso amazing. But the visit
(20:17):
Harrisonburg website lists allof the downtown shops and
restaurants, and I will linkthat in the show notes so we
don't have to list all of them,because people can find them by
clicking on the link in theirshow notes.
The holidays are nearly here,and I've got the perfect gifts
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Shop now by clicking on Virginiaoutdoor adventures merch store
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Massanutton is a unique resort.
They were recently recognized asVirginia green travels
attraction of the year. I'mcurious for you two as locals,
(21:23):
what does that mean to you asoutdoor enthusiasts? The fact
that they invest a lot of timeand money, of course, in making
the mountain sustainable isimportant just in this time and
age when everything's moving sofast and there's less and less
land to enjoy goes far. And Ithink that the fact that they
(21:44):
were Virginia green travelsattraction of the year just
points out how important it isfor them. And, you know, myself
being a local, just the thingsthat they do, like the solar
panel installations on theirbuildings, and then, you know,
updating their snow guns to youknow, use less power and water
is cool as well. It'sinteresting in the outdoor
(22:06):
space, how much we focus onsustainability and textiles.
Patagonia and those guys andother various entities that are
producing textiles are vastlyinvolved in sustainability and
recycling, and you could look atmountain bike frames and carbon
carbon footprints and all thatstuff, and then the places that
we go and enjoy, such as aresort, we as families, never
(22:30):
really think about it. So it'skind of nice that even though I
don't think most of us arenecessarily keying in on this
just yet, that Massanutten seemsto be a little bit ahead of the
curve in their focus, which iskind of a feel good thing, and
they're actually taking somephysical steps. And when I
(22:50):
thought about it, I think theonly thing that blows my mind is
the snow making capabilitiesthat we've had to focus on as
winners have gotten a little bittougher and Massanutten can
throw down feet of snow. Most ofthe average visitors that come
once or twice a year don'trealize, just because they're in
for a short amount of time, thatall that water is designed
through geography to flow backthrough the creeks and down into
(23:14):
ponds over and over throughoutthe course of the year, like
we're not just pumping water outof the Harrisonburg or
Rockingham County system ontothe ski slopes. Like I don't I
don't know how many averageusers think, Where did all this
snow come from? But it comes outof those ponds. And then
sometimes the ponds are empty.
If you show up and you see theponds empty, that's a good sign,
(23:36):
because we've had cold weatherand it's all on the mountain.
And then if we have two weeks ofwarm weather, it melts, and it's
all draining and raging down thecreeks back into those retaining
ponds, and then they just blowit back onto the mountain again
the next two weeks. And sothey're constantly using water
in a pretty efficient way forour size. We have that dialed
(23:57):
through, like a sustainabilityaspect, and it's really cool to
watch it week after week, how ithow it operates. And I'm kind of
a nerd, and I love it. I'm kindof a nerd about this too, which
is why I even bring this up.
Virginia green travels is afantastic organization here in
Virginia that promotessustainable tourism, and I was
at their annual conference fewmonths ago, when Massanutten won
(24:20):
this award for attraction of theyear, and I was so impressed
with some of the differentprojects, just the fact that
there's a staff person like theyemploy somebody specifically to
focus on sustainability effortsat the resort. And I think that
really speaks volumes to theirdedication to sustainability. I
got to meet her when I wasvisiting, and she was telling me
(24:41):
about invasive species removalprograms that they have, and
highway trash cleanups. And soit's not even just in and at the
resort, but it's in thecommunity as well. So they
extend beyond the resort and dosome of these projects in the
community. They have solarpanels like if you go to
Massanutten and you.
Check in, then you're going tosee, as soon as you pull up,
(25:02):
that there's solar panels allover the tops of the buildings.
And then, of course, like therecycled water that you
mentioned, but they also use it,not just for snow making, but
they use it on their golf coursefor irrigation. And I just
thought this was reallyfantastic, because Charles, like
you said, I don't know how manypeople are really thinking about
this. But as we move into thefuture where we have to start
(25:24):
thinking about these things, itseemed to me, from what I can
tell, that Massanutten is wayahead of the game on this, and I
just wanted to bring it topeople's attentions, because we
do need to start thinking aboutthese things, and and
Massanutten appears to beleading the way and on
sustainability efforts, I 100%agree. I think ski seasons are
getting shorter. The communityinvolvement piece that you just
(25:46):
mentioned, I was just eventhinking, I know that they have
a farmers market up there mostweeks, and that's really cool. I
mean, I know that we didn'tmention that, but we have a
great one down in Harrisonburgeach week too. But a resort that
has farmers market for the localag system that is actually
what's all around us here toshow up and offer goods is
(26:06):
really cool for guests as well.
Yeah, and I would point out Iremember when I was little,
growing up around here, my dadtaught me how to ski, so
Massanutten has always beenaround for me, but winter
seasons would start like lateNovember, sometimes mid
November, if we got a snow earlyenough. And now, I think East
Coast resorts are struggling toopen up just by the beginning of
(26:31):
December and stay open throughmid March. It's just really
challenging, so they have tothink outside of the box on how
to make snow when they need it,but also how to make that
sustainable. And theyMassanutten and the, you know,
other resorts around us, Ithink, do a great job at that to
the best of their ability withwhat we have to work with around
(26:53):
here. What advice would you giveto someone visiting Massanutten
for the first time? My advicefor new folks at Massanutten
would be to just ask questions.
I know not everybody's like,super outgoing all the time, but
there's a lot going on, and Ithink the staff at Massanutten
is really great. And whether youvisit the bike shop or the
(27:15):
adventure park or the waterpark, planning your kind of
weekend here is really easy. Andeven if you show up to town and
you need to figure it out,there's a lot of people that you
can just ask. It might be thelifeguard or the guy wrenching
on your mountain bike or fittingyou for a session, or everybody
here is just super nice, and Iwouldn't be afraid to ask those
(27:37):
questions of people to help dialyour trip in once you get here,
but also the community is justreally cool and visiting, taking
into some of the stuff thatwe've talked about, visiting a
local bike shop, and trying tofigure out outside of the
resort, what you can do isreally great as well, and just
plan for more than you probablyexpected,
(27:58):
and add an extra day to Yourtrip. You know, it's like,
people pop in for that, like,two or three days, and you're
like, that's probably notenough, once you get here and
realize what, what's actuallyavailable. So adding some time
in is probably really greatadvice. Yeah, and I would say,
don't be afraid to try newthings. If it's your first time
visiting, it's a great mountainto learn things like, of course,
(28:23):
mountain biking or skiing or theflow rider at the water park.
There's just so many things youcan try where people are willing
to help you, or you can, youknow, pay for a lesson. I think
it's well worth your time andmoney. How can people get
involved with Shenandoah ValleyBicycle Coalition or other
community trail projects. It'spretty easy to get involved with
(28:44):
svbc. The website is probablythe main focal point for ways to
do that. There's ways that youcan engage in the community
events or community rides.
There's ways that you can signup to volunteer. You can donate
through the web page. You know,a lot of people are short on
time, and at the end of theyear, they want to offer up some
funding for time and effortsthat they just can't put in. So
(29:06):
I think the website's often aplace to go, and I think social
media is a great way to connectwith sbbc. They stay pretty
active on engaging thecommunity, on what's going on
around which, again, they'rethey're encompassing a lot of
different things. These days,you've got to kind of focus. If
western slopes is your focus, wehave a team for that, and we can
(29:27):
get engaged with you. Morganmade the point earlier. It's as
little or as much as you want tobe engaged at this point, we
always need volunteers and time.
Everybody's tight for time andtime is that one commodity that
is just the hardest thing tocome by. So volunteerism, I
think, across the board, for alot of organizations, has just
(29:50):
gone down a little bit as thingshave tightened up. And so time
and energy is is really where Ifeel like at least at Mass and
nothing on the western slopeside, we need people's help.
But it's easy to do. Many of uscan engage and help get people
involved. What do you hopelisteners take away about
Massanutten as your backyardmountain resorts? I think we've
(30:10):
covered a lot in that there'salways something new to try. You
can never be bored there. Butfor me personally, I would add
that it's so easy to get lost inour screens these days, or lost
in your work when I realized,you know, how close I am to mass
nothing, and how easy it is forme to get away and just enjoy
(30:32):
the outdoors and not worry aboutthe to do list, I think that's
important and that people shouldtake advantage of you know, no
matter where they're at theirclosest park or their closest
resort, just always rememberthat there's things more
important than what you have todo. You also have to go enjoy
your life, and there's no betterplace to do that than the great
(30:56):
outdoors. Yeah, it'sinteresting. You took the 30,000
foot view, because I thinkthat's where I was headed to is,
I hope people just understandthat, you know, this area in
general, to me, is just one ofthe best locations in all of
Virginia for outdoors. Andagain, it goes back to what I
said at the beginning of ourchat about, if you stay anywhere
(31:19):
close to massanutton and arewilling to make a 30 minute
drive to go do your favoritething. The world is endless. You
could spend I'm in year three ofliving here, and it's still a
honeymoon. The only problem inmy life is figuring out how to
find more time to do cool stuff,and Massanutten just happens to
(31:41):
bea tremendous base camp for that.
For a lot of people, we don'thave a lot of campgrounds around
here, so there's really nonowhere to stay. But I would
just encourage people to bookthe trip anywhere near here and
utilize what we have on theground. It's amazing, and all
the seasons, right? So come backonce or twice and experience it.
Right now, we're in the fallseason, which is probably the
(32:03):
busiest, but man, it's beautifulout right now. The leaves are
changing, and then, of course,when spring hits, we have
blooming Laurel and all theother beautiful things. Every
every piece of the year has itsown experience and group of
activities that are available.
So yeah, it's a good spot to be.
And I forgot to add that one ofmy favorite things about the
(32:25):
western slope side of themountain is there's no cell
phone service. So I can I canunplug, and nobody can reach me,
and it's the best feeling in theworld. So you should at least
tell someone where you're goingand when you know you're
expected back. But that's just,that's just incredible to me,
just to get away from it all andnot look at your phone. Yeah,
(32:49):
that's, that's life hack. 101,right there you can, you can
pull into the parking lot andjust feel the barometer check of
anxiety and day's activity justdropping. It's amazing. How can
listeners connect with you? Itypically post a lot of my rides
and mountain bike content on myInstagram. I usually spend the
(33:09):
most time there as far as socialmedia accounts go. Yeah, so
stories are a great place tofind information about, you
know, where I'm riding rightnow, and even volunteer
information for sbbc. I do a lotof posts with that as well, and
Charles already mentioned it,but we do have, you know, that
small discount code for formountain bike passes and even
(33:31):
winter activities as well. Yeah,it's pretty easy. I think one
thing we didn't mention isStrava seems to be the new way
for a lot of outdoorsenthusiasts to connect and
locating us on Strava. It's agreat way to watch locally. Is
the folks here out doingactivities, and you can see
where we're riding and whatwe're riding. That's always a
(33:52):
unique way to connect withpeople outdoors that doesn't get
chatted about too much, but Ithink it's evolving. And then
social media the necessary evilof the day. It feels like I,
along with a couple of folks,run a independent Instagram
page. Here, we can link to it. Iam not a social media expert.
It's not my my day job by anyaspect, but good, just view of
(34:14):
what's going on on the mountain.
So first ride checks in thewinter, first lift up, you know,
kind of vibes, what's going onon the mountain? What's it look
like? When are we blowing snow?
What are the trail conditionslike? When are we doing trail
work? And I'm engaging with bothmass and nothing, and svbc is
kind of an intermediate playerbetween those two zones to I'll
(34:34):
call it the independent look atwhat's happening at Mass and
nothing these days, and I canstir the pot a little bit from
time to time too. So, but thoseare easy ways to connect with
us. You'll find that most of thecommunity here is engaging. Show
up, ask questions and and findus online, and we're glad to
help. There's also a few threadsJessica on mtbr project and.
(35:00):
Some other places out there formassanutton as well, where folks
can ask questions about trailconditions and stuff, and we're
actively engaged in those aswell. I will drop those links in
the show notes. I'll also addlinks to svbc, the Shenandoah
Valley Bicycle Coalition,Massanutten resort, of course,
downtown Harrisonburg, all theinfo that people are looking for
(35:22):
that we have discussed in thisepisode will be there. So Morgan
and Charles, thank you so muchfor being guests on Virginia
outdoor adventures. Thank youfor taking me out on the western
slope. We had an amazing daythat ended in downtown
Harrisonburg with fantasticfood, and it was a blast. So I
appreciate your passion, yourenthusiasm, giving back to your
(35:44):
community, and for all that youhave done for the community in
and around Harrisonburg, yeah,it definitely was a pleasure to
have you out. I'm glad you madethe time. We appreciated that,
and look forward to seeing youagain soon out here doing
something fun. Yeah, thanks forhaving us. It's been a blast.
Yeah, absolutely hope to see youon the trails adventure on
(36:05):
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(36:26):
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time. Adventure on you.
From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay,
Virginia is a mecca for outdoortravel and adventure. Virginia
outdoor adventures Podcast isyour local guide for hiking,
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and the inspiration to plan yourown adventure right here in
(00:21):
Virginia. I'm your host, JessicaBowser,
we're heading to massanutton,your backyard Mountain Resort,
and one of the best places inVirginia to dive into mountain
biking for Morgan Mowbray andCharles Sexton, it's more than a
destination. It's home turf foradventure as dedicated trail
(00:42):
builders and volunteers, they'vehelped shape the riding
experience on massanutten'swestern slope, where a passion
for both riding and communitycome together on the trails, we
explore how Massanutten resortworks collaboratively with the
local community to create accessto an incredible network of
trails for every skill level,from smooth, beginner and family
(01:03):
friendly trails to technicalexpert level. Single track
Morgan and Charles break down.
What makes massanutton an idealplace to get started in mountain
biking, including group ridesand events for locals and
visitors alike. Beyond thetrails, Massanutten offers a
full lineup of four seasonactivities, from skiing and snow
tubing to water parks, ziplining hiking and more, making
(01:24):
it a true all around adventuredestination. And with Shenandoah
National Park and the GeorgeWashington National Forest just
minutes away, there are endlessopportunities to expand your
adventure. We also dive intoeverything waiting nearby in
downtown Harrisonburg, includinglocal outfitters who can help
you gear up, small businessesshaped by the region's outdoor
(01:47):
culture and the restaurantsMorgan and Charles recommend for
refueling after a day on thebike. It's a celebration of
mountain biking communitycollaboration and the vibrant
outdoor scene that makes theShenandoah Valley a hub for
riders and adventurers of alllevels. Let's go.
(02:07):
This is part two of a two partepisode.
What other outdoor activitiesdoes massanutton offer
throughout the year? It's morethan just mountain biking
trails. They are a Four SeasonsResort. So beyond mountain
biking, they have skiing andsnowboarding and winter tubing
(02:28):
that always sells out. They havean indoor outdoor water park,
which I just took my daughter tofor the first time the other
weekend, and she keeps asking,When are we going back? They
have got golf and they have thefamily adventure park, I believe
their new mountain coaster justopened. I might be wrong, but I
know it's the newest thing theyhave to offer. And then hiking,
(02:50):
of course, they have a spa ifyou're not really into
everything outdoors, or youcould be into both. So it just
depends. Yeah, every once in awhile, even for us locals, to
take a break from mountainbikes. It's really nice, too.
When you have family visiting,like this weekend, my parents,
who are in their 70s, are comingup to visit, and you can point
at the resort and find somethingactive to do with them as well.
(03:14):
We're going to do the leafpeeping chair rides this
weekend, and that's really coolfor them, as old ski bums, to
take the lift up and look at thelook at the leaves for the fall.
But the hiking is really great.
I think we should mentionthere's a ton of people that
come to master nothing and don'tknow that the western slopes
exist for hiking. And I thinkmaybe we haven't mentioned that
(03:35):
clearly, but they are multi usetrails. They get jogged on, and
trail ran on, and dog walked on.
And you can access those rightfrom the top of Del Webb Road,
which is in the resort. Andthere's a there's a ton of
hiking to do as well. And Ithink that's really cool for
(03:55):
families. But yeah, there's aton to do. We have some great
rivers around. Obviously, theShenandoah is pretty close. So
whether you're like, a realpurist of outdoor activities
type of person, or whetheryou're like, hey, I want to hang
out at the resort and experienceall of these things like tubing
or steel coaster. I think theyhave a golf simulator over
(04:16):
there. There's tons to get into,so you won't be bored if you
stay at Massanutten, that's forsure. Yeah, I had a hard time
picking what activities I wasgoing to do, and I'll be honest,
I have never really spent a lotof time at Massanutten before
this last visit with you two, soI was really unfamiliar with it.
And when I was presented withthe options, I was like, Oh my
(04:39):
gosh. Like, I only have a coupleof days here. How am I going to
choose between, like, a guidedpaddle tour and rappelling and
zip lining and hiking and all ofthe things? It was just, it was
a lot, but also it was, it wasawesome, like, the selection was
amazing, and I was super excitedto sort of dive right in one of
my favorite the.
(05:00):
Things that I did was taking thechairlift to the Massanutten
peak trail. I was told there wasa hiking trail at the top of the
mountain, and the only way toget up there was to take the
chair lift. And it just makesthe hiking experience so much
more unique when you have totake a chair lift to it right
and it was beautiful. The viewson the way up were epic, and
(05:20):
they just kept getting betterand better. And then once I got
up there, it was a very easy,leisurely hike to a couple of
different overlooks withstunning vistas that were really
beautiful. And then, of course,taking the chair lift back down
is just as fun. Yeah, that's areally fun trail. And I will say
there, there is trail to accessthat from the bottom, from Del
(05:41):
Webb two or three differentways, but it is not easy hiking.
It's a lot of rock scrambling.
Probably would take you two orthree hours. For those
adventurous folks that want togo, you want to be a purist and
get your butt kicked on somerock. You can do that at
Massanutten, or you can takethat lift up and get there in
about 10 minutes. Well, what'scrazy is, I get my butt kicked
every Monday during our groupride. And some of those same
(06:04):
women also trail run in aseparate group, just for trail
running on the western slope onWednesdays. And I'm like, one,
how are you fitting both ofthose activities in the same
week without dying? And two, Ididn't even know you did this,
like you are a triathlete atthis point. So it's just cool.
What it what it offers forpeople? Yeah, it's cool. And I
think some of the populartrails, other than that,
(06:27):
massanutt and peak trail I justmentioned, but like Kaylor knob
trail and peak Ridge Trail, Isaw a lot of people on those
two, and I think it's becausethey're so easily accessible
from the overlook that lots ofpeople like to enjoy. Yes, I'm
laughing. Because, again, youknow kind of drawing that reach
from like, Oh, I'm just gonnastay at master nothing for a
(06:47):
weekend. Well, there is a 100mile Ridge ride or run that
leaves from the top of Del Webbthat you can access, that people
will go do it goes theMassanutten Ridge is extremely
unique. It's almost 50 mileslong, pushing up to like Front
Royal and all of that area. Andit's some of the most Rocky
(07:10):
Ridge terrain, super old school,Appalachian style Ridge,
technical trail that looks likea goat made it, you know, or
that the Civil War guys were inthere, you know, hiking through,
and they were, which is evenmore insane, but you can leave
the resort and hike for 50 milesnorth, like on a trail. It's
(07:30):
there. Go for it. There's ashelter down there, you know,
there's a great swimming lake. Ithink that's really cool. It
really is like you can stickaround the resort and do some of
those basic things, like playinggolf or hanging out and having a
very nice chill weekend, or useit as a base camp to really do
some insane stuff. Yes,absolutely you've got the
(07:52):
options, which is great, becausemost people don't travel alone.
They travel with friends orfamily. So you have to make
everybody happy to have theoptions of doing all those
different things is fantasticfor groups of people, or even
just like two people, becausenot every couple is going to be
interested in the same thing. SoI think that's awesome. There's
no shortage of trails like youmentioned, and there is easy
(08:15):
access to the George Washingtonforest and Shenandoah National
Park are nearby. And honestly,like, how could you possibly run
out of trails when you haveaccess to all those things? And
then for me personally, I Youmentioned the spa Morgan, and I
had to laugh, because I foundmyself in the spa like there was
one day that there werethunderstorms predicted, and so
(08:35):
I knew I wasn't going to be upon the ridge. And after like,
all of the hiking, the mountainbiking and everything else we
had done, I was like, it's goingto be thunderstorming. Yeah, I'm
going to the spa. So I wentthere and had a massage, and
then I had some kind of saunathing that they set me up in. I
forget what the heck it was.
(08:56):
Apparently it's supposed to begood for you to sit in really
hot temperatures.
I don't know, I don't know whatthe science is behind those
things, but I was like, Okay,I'm doing it. And that was
perfect. I mean, let's behonest. Like, after a hard day
on the trails, like, what'sbetter than relaxation and
recovering from that, and then Ihad that much more energy the
next day, so I highly recommendthe spa as well. I can't tell
(09:20):
you how many parents, I wouldsay, either a dad or a mom, the
water park saves their day,right? I The locals kind of
cringe at the site of a waterpark, right? But I come from
Virginia Beach, the land ofwater parks and the Massanutten
Water Park, which is indoor,outdoors, actually really
awesome, taking my family overthere a couple times, but it
(09:42):
also it's enabler to parentsthat need to, like, switch out
while one's doing an adventure.
You know, that day that thefamily's down chilling at the
water park, or either they havea big day and they wear the kids
out and everybody's grumpy andit's like kids just hike this
trail. Tomorrow we're going tothe water park.
Average, you see a lot of thosefolks on trail. It's just great
(10:03):
to have variety. There's not alot of places where it's all in
one spot. So it's kind of cool.
Yeah, the indoor water park alsohas a whole floor for arcade
games. Not only do they have,you know, swimming and slides,
but if you want to stay dry,there's a whole floor dedicated
to that. There's so much forkids to do. It's wild. I mean,
you cannot be bored atMassanutten. You just can't like
(10:24):
if you are something's wrong.
You're not paying attention towhat's around you. There's so
much to do. Are you implyingthat you have to be a kid to
enjoy the water park?
I have a feeling, Charles, thatyou would absolutely fit right
in with all the kids there. Hitit hard true for visitors coming
to Massanutten, why should theyalso check out downtown
(10:47):
Harrisonburg? So they shouldcheck out downtown Harrisonburg
because there's a lot of greatlocal restaurants and things
that have to do with arts andculture, you know. Or if you
want to get a drink, we have afew cool bars to check out and
things for kids as well. So ifyou have the whole family at the
(11:07):
resort, you can still take themoutside of the resort, go
downtown and find something todo for everyone in your group.
And we are called the friendlycity. So I will add that I don't
think you'll meet someone on thestreet who is not willing to
give you, you know, advice ordirections or anything like
that. Yeah, downtown is prettycool. It's all new for us. We
(11:30):
kind of move here for that smalltown vibe and and you get it in
Harrisonburg, cute littledowntown. We have three really
great bike shops. I want to makesure that folks know where to
go, since this is an outdoor andwe also have a great outfitter
downtown as well. So there'splenty of you know, even if just
outdoors is your your thing,check out the various bike
(11:50):
shops. There's a lot of historythere. Shenandoah SBC has pulp
inside of it. They serve upgreat food too. But shout out
Billy jacks and Jack Brown'sdowntown, if you need after ride
grub. That's usually my go tofor greasy burgers. And they're
pretty amazing. And fried Oreos.
Don't leave without those. Oh mygosh, they have fried Oreos.
(12:12):
Yeah, you got to go for thefried Oreos. Yeah. How did I not
know about this? I feel like youtwo held out on me, if you would
have told me.
Sometimes we make the transferover from other restaurants just
to get the fried Oreos. Butdon't tell anybody. There's a
there's a reason I ride an Ebike. Sometimes it's the fried
(12:33):
Oreoand the Greg Brady. That's my
favorite burger over there.
Yeah, I was just going to ask ifyou two had favorite restaurants
or locations downtown. I havealways loved downtown
Harrisonburg. I think it'sfantastic. There is no shortage
of great restaurants and foodoptions, and everything is super
walkable. It's easy to parknearby and to walk to almost
(12:56):
anything you want to get to. Andthen, of course, there's like so
many great Outfitters. Youmentioned Shenandoah bicycle
company, but there are otherstoo. Do you want to mention some
of the other Outfitters? SoRocktown bicycles is another
great supporter of thecommunity, Ken and Adam and the
team over there. Really, reallystand up. And then we also, at
the end of town, have bluestonebike and run. And each bike shop
(13:18):
kind of has its own character. Iwould say I've never been to a
place where three bike shopsthat technically compete against
each other all ride together.
It's kind of kind of wild howeverybody gets along. They all
know each other strength andweaknesses, and we see them out
on the mountain and at eventsall the time. Charlie and the
folks down at bluestone reallyspecialize also in in shoes and
(13:41):
trail running as well. So thinkthey're the only one that really
has trail running shoes, and sothey kind of keep things unique
down there. These are the samefolks that are leading group
rides from their shops eachweek. I mean, we didn't really
talk about at all the great roadand gravel riding that is
legendary out of Harrisonburg.
(14:02):
Some people literally move herejust for gravel riding, and you
can do it right from downtown,which is amazing. So that's not
to be forgotten, either. Sowhatever type of bike you want
to ride, you can get into but wedo have three really great
bicycle shops here. Yeah, wehave walkabout outfitters
downtown that can outfit you forany adventure you want to go on.
(14:24):
And they have a really largevariety of things to choose
from. They're a pretty largestore when you go in there for
the first time. And then you canwalk up the street if you want,
or drive to mossy Creek, flyfishing, if you're into that
kind of thing. They'll hook youup with everything you need. And
if you're a first timer, theyoffer tours out on the river,
(14:46):
and they'll guide you to catchyour first fish. So that's
pretty neat. They've been aroundforever since I can remember, so
it's pretty cool to see themdowntown now, as part of the
downtown community, for sure, I.
Love that both of thoseoutfitters are family owned, and
I think there's something uniqueand special about walking into a
family owned outfitter, and youget immediate attention and
(15:10):
service, and everybody's sofriendly, and they're very
plugged into the community. So,you know, unlike large
retailers, they don'tnecessarily know much about the
area outside. They're just thereto work and go home. But like in
family owned places, they'rereally plugged in, and they're
very invested in making surethat you have what you need and
that you have a great experiencewhile you're visiting. So I love
(15:33):
both of those shops, any morerestaurants that you'd like to
mention, or maybe even breweriestoo, two of my favorites, Cuban
burger. Amazing burgers, Cubanfare. And Steve, that owns it,
is a mountain biker that alwaysmakes it a little easier to go
there and spend money. Not thatall of our stuff, mostly
downtown, isn't owned locally.
Steve was at the community eventthis weekend with us, and he
(15:54):
brought his family out rodebikes, and just a really good
dude. And then I spend a lot oftime at restless moons, which is
kind of off the beaten path fora brewery. I'm not a drinker, so
they always have a really goodkombucha and a on tap for me.
But they also are probably thebiggest spot for the music scene
downtown. So if you want to seemusic, I play bluegrass there
(16:16):
twice a week, where they justopen the place up for us to have
community jams for hours andhours at a time, which is
really, really cool communityvibes. If you want to meet
locals and have some goodbeverages, I would mention
restless for sure, good spot togo. If I'm going for like a
casual bite, I really like palefire or which is a brewing
(16:39):
company, or Billy Jack's for theGreg Brady. And if you're
looking for something that's alittle nicer, like sit down, or
you're taking out, like a firstdate or something, you could
check out Bella Luna. They havewood fired pizza that's always a
go to for me if I want pizza.
And then, I mean, there's not arestaurant in downtown that I
(17:03):
don't like, and like Imentioned, you can go for casual
sit down or a nice dinner withwhatever you want. They offer
it. And then I can't not mentionKlein's, which has, in my
opinion, the best ice creamaround here, even though there's
others that also have ice cream.
Clients has a different flavorevery week, and I always check
(17:24):
it on their website to to seewhich which time I need to go
take my lunch break to get icecream. So that's always a good
time. I think that would be me,too, if I lived in the area,
because doesn't clients have twolocations in Harrisonburg.
There's two in Harrisonburg, onefrom the bottom of the mountain
at Massanutten, it's like rightdown the road. And then there's
(17:46):
a few other locations in thevalley. So they, they keep
growing, because they're good.
Did we mention sagebird Ciderworks? Sageburg Cider works, if
you like cider is also downtown.
And they have, they have, like,other weekly events, I believe,
in the evenings, and they alsotypically have their garage
doors open. So like, they're avery inviting place to be, even
(18:06):
if you don't want to drink andjust want to go meet some local
people. Yeah, I like sage birdbecause of the vibe. Like it's a
very cute little place. And theyhad a food truck outside when I
was there, so I was able to getfood, and I just enjoyed it
because of the scenery, like itwas real chill, and everybody
was just sort of hanging. Andit's cute. It's very cute. And
(18:29):
Bella Luna is one of myfavorites, because you can get
Italian food there, and forpeople who are vegetarian,
there's lots of options. SoBella Luna is often one of my go
to places. The food's amazing.
In fact, I ran into one of mylisteners last time I was there.
Like, I sat down at the bar withmy friend and I heard, are you?
Jessica Bowser, look over andlike, there's somebody that I
(18:52):
have been talking to online fora while, but hadn't met in
person yet. It was awesome tomeet him and his wife, but they
were making food recommendationsfor me because they go there a
lot. They're from the area, andthey're like, Yeah, you need to
try this and this. And I was andhe was not wrong, like, the food
was so good, and then the threeof us ate there. So I was super
happy to go back. I'm like, Yes,please. Let's go back to Bella
(19:13):
Luna, because it was awesome.
Oh, magnolias taco and tequilabar is also one of my favorites,
because I love Mexican, like, somuch, so I love going there, and
then clementines was also reallygood, and they're, like, right
on Main Street. So there's somany great options. And I just,
I feel like Harrisonburgdowntown vibe is always so full
of energy. And maybe it's thecollege students from JMU, or
(19:36):
maybe it's the locals, but itjust feels like there's always
something going on inHarrisonburg. Yeah, I work at
the local university. Thestudents definitely add another
layer of vibe and welcomingatmosphere downtown, and they
certainly keep it running. Buteven when they're away during
the summertime, it's still areally great place to be. And
(19:57):
like you mentioned, there isalways.
Something going on there. Theyhave huge events down there
every year, and one of the bestChristmas parades. Yep, there's
always something to do downthere. For sure. I feel like we
could just turn this into a foodpodcast,
I know, and that's what makes itso amazing. But the visit
(20:17):
Harrisonburg website lists allof the downtown shops and
restaurants, and I will linkthat in the show notes so we
don't have to list all of them,because people can find them by
clicking on the link in theirshow notes.
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Massanutton is a unique resort.
They were recently recognized asVirginia green travels
attraction of the year. I'mcurious for you two as locals,
(21:23):
what does that mean to you asoutdoor enthusiasts? The fact
that they invest a lot of timeand money, of course, in making
the mountain sustainable isimportant just in this time and
age when everything's moving sofast and there's less and less
land to enjoy goes far. And Ithink that the fact that they
(21:44):
were Virginia green travelsattraction of the year just
points out how important it isfor them. And, you know, myself
being a local, just the thingsthat they do, like the solar
panel installations on theirbuildings, and then, you know,
updating their snow guns to youknow, use less power and water
is cool as well. It'sinteresting in the outdoor
(22:06):
space, how much we focus onsustainability and textiles.
Patagonia and those guys andother various entities that are
producing textiles are vastlyinvolved in sustainability and
recycling, and you could look atmountain bike frames and carbon
carbon footprints and all thatstuff, and then the places that
we go and enjoy, such as aresort, we as families, never
(22:30):
really think about it. So it'skind of nice that even though I
don't think most of us arenecessarily keying in on this
just yet, that Massanutten seemsto be a little bit ahead of the
curve in their focus, which iskind of a feel good thing, and
they're actually taking somephysical steps. And when I
(22:50):
thought about it, I think theonly thing that blows my mind is
the snow making capabilitiesthat we've had to focus on as
winners have gotten a little bittougher and Massanutten can
throw down feet of snow. Most ofthe average visitors that come
once or twice a year don'trealize, just because they're in
for a short amount of time, thatall that water is designed
through geography to flow backthrough the creeks and down into
(23:14):
ponds over and over throughoutthe course of the year, like
we're not just pumping water outof the Harrisonburg or
Rockingham County system ontothe ski slopes. Like I don't I
don't know how many averageusers think, Where did all this
snow come from? But it comes outof those ponds. And then
sometimes the ponds are empty.
If you show up and you see theponds empty, that's a good sign,
(23:36):
because we've had cold weatherand it's all on the mountain.
And then if we have two weeks ofwarm weather, it melts, and it's
all draining and raging down thecreeks back into those retaining
ponds, and then they just blowit back onto the mountain again
the next two weeks. And sothey're constantly using water
in a pretty efficient way forour size. We have that dialed
(23:57):
through, like a sustainabilityaspect, and it's really cool to
watch it week after week, how ithow it operates. And I'm kind of
a nerd, and I love it. I'm kindof a nerd about this too, which
is why I even bring this up.
Virginia green travels is afantastic organization here in
Virginia that promotessustainable tourism, and I was
at their annual conference fewmonths ago, when Massanutten won
(24:20):
this award for attraction of theyear, and I was so impressed
with some of the differentprojects, just the fact that
there's a staff person like theyemploy somebody specifically to
focus on sustainability effortsat the resort. And I think that
really speaks volumes to theirdedication to sustainability. I
got to meet her when I wasvisiting, and she was telling me
(24:41):
about invasive species removalprograms that they have, and
highway trash cleanups. And soit's not even just in and at the
resort, but it's in thecommunity as well. So they
extend beyond the resort and dosome of these projects in the
community. They have solarpanels like if you go to
Massanutten and you.
Check in, then you're going tosee, as soon as you pull up,
(25:02):
that there's solar panels allover the tops of the buildings.
And then, of course, like therecycled water that you
mentioned, but they also use it,not just for snow making, but
they use it on their golf coursefor irrigation. And I just
thought this was reallyfantastic, because Charles, like
you said, I don't know how manypeople are really thinking about
this. But as we move into thefuture where we have to start
(25:24):
thinking about these things, itseemed to me, from what I can
tell, that Massanutten is wayahead of the game on this, and I
just wanted to bring it topeople's attentions, because we
do need to start thinking aboutthese things, and and
Massanutten appears to beleading the way and on
sustainability efforts, I 100%agree. I think ski seasons are
getting shorter. The communityinvolvement piece that you just
(25:46):
mentioned, I was just eventhinking, I know that they have
a farmers market up there mostweeks, and that's really cool. I
mean, I know that we didn'tmention that, but we have a
great one down in Harrisonburgeach week too. But a resort that
has farmers market for the localag system that is actually
what's all around us here toshow up and offer goods is
(26:06):
really cool for guests as well.
Yeah, and I would point out Iremember when I was little,
growing up around here, my dadtaught me how to ski, so
Massanutten has always beenaround for me, but winter
seasons would start like lateNovember, sometimes mid
November, if we got a snow earlyenough. And now, I think East
Coast resorts are struggling toopen up just by the beginning of
(26:31):
December and stay open throughmid March. It's just really
challenging, so they have tothink outside of the box on how
to make snow when they need it,but also how to make that
sustainable. And theyMassanutten and the, you know,
other resorts around us, Ithink, do a great job at that to
the best of their ability withwhat we have to work with around
(26:53):
here. What advice would you giveto someone visiting Massanutten
for the first time? My advicefor new folks at Massanutten
would be to just ask questions.
I know not everybody's like,super outgoing all the time, but
there's a lot going on, and Ithink the staff at Massanutten
is really great. And whether youvisit the bike shop or the
(27:15):
adventure park or the waterpark, planning your kind of
weekend here is really easy. Andeven if you show up to town and
you need to figure it out,there's a lot of people that you
can just ask. It might be thelifeguard or the guy wrenching
on your mountain bike or fittingyou for a session, or everybody
here is just super nice, and Iwouldn't be afraid to ask those
(27:37):
questions of people to help dialyour trip in once you get here,
but also the community is justreally cool and visiting, taking
into some of the stuff thatwe've talked about, visiting a
local bike shop, and trying tofigure out outside of the
resort, what you can do isreally great as well, and just
plan for more than you probablyexpected,
(27:58):
and add an extra day to Yourtrip. You know, it's like,
people pop in for that, like,two or three days, and you're
like, that's probably notenough, once you get here and
realize what, what's actuallyavailable. So adding some time
in is probably really greatadvice. Yeah, and I would say,
don't be afraid to try newthings. If it's your first time
visiting, it's a great mountainto learn things like, of course,
(28:23):
mountain biking or skiing or theflow rider at the water park.
There's just so many things youcan try where people are willing
to help you, or you can, youknow, pay for a lesson. I think
it's well worth your time andmoney. How can people get
involved with Shenandoah ValleyBicycle Coalition or other
community trail projects. It'spretty easy to get involved with
(28:44):
svbc. The website is probablythe main focal point for ways to
do that. There's ways that youcan engage in the community
events or community rides.
There's ways that you can signup to volunteer. You can donate
through the web page. You know,a lot of people are short on
time, and at the end of theyear, they want to offer up some
funding for time and effortsthat they just can't put in. So
(29:06):
I think the website's often aplace to go, and I think social
media is a great way to connectwith sbbc. They stay pretty
active on engaging thecommunity, on what's going on
around which, again, they'rethey're encompassing a lot of
different things. These days,you've got to kind of focus. If
western slopes is your focus, wehave a team for that, and we can
(29:27):
get engaged with you. Morganmade the point earlier. It's as
little or as much as you want tobe engaged at this point, we
always need volunteers and time.
Everybody's tight for time andtime is that one commodity that
is just the hardest thing tocome by. So volunteerism, I
think, across the board, for alot of organizations, has just
(29:50):
gone down a little bit as thingshave tightened up. And so time
and energy is is really where Ifeel like at least at Mass and
nothing on the western slopeside, we need people's help.
But it's easy to do. Many of uscan engage and help get people
involved. What do you hopelisteners take away about
Massanutten as your backyardmountain resorts? I think we've
(30:10):
covered a lot in that there'salways something new to try. You
can never be bored there. Butfor me personally, I would add
that it's so easy to get lost inour screens these days, or lost
in your work when I realized,you know, how close I am to mass
nothing, and how easy it is forme to get away and just enjoy
(30:32):
the outdoors and not worry aboutthe to do list, I think that's
important and that people shouldtake advantage of you know, no
matter where they're at theirclosest park or their closest
resort, just always rememberthat there's things more
important than what you have todo. You also have to go enjoy
your life, and there's no betterplace to do that than the great
(30:56):
outdoors. Yeah, it'sinteresting. You took the 30,000
foot view, because I thinkthat's where I was headed to is,
I hope people just understandthat, you know, this area in
general, to me, is just one ofthe best locations in all of
Virginia for outdoors. Andagain, it goes back to what I
said at the beginning of ourchat about, if you stay anywhere
(31:19):
close to massanutton and arewilling to make a 30 minute
drive to go do your favoritething. The world is endless. You
could spend I'm in year three ofliving here, and it's still a
honeymoon. The only problem inmy life is figuring out how to
find more time to do cool stuff,and Massanutten just happens to
(31:41):
bea tremendous base camp for that.
For a lot of people, we don'thave a lot of campgrounds around
here, so there's really nonowhere to stay. But I would
just encourage people to bookthe trip anywhere near here and
utilize what we have on theground. It's amazing, and all
the seasons, right? So come backonce or twice and experience it.
Right now, we're in the fallseason, which is probably the
(32:03):
busiest, but man, it's beautifulout right now. The leaves are
changing, and then, of course,when spring hits, we have
blooming Laurel and all theother beautiful things. Every
every piece of the year has itsown experience and group of
activities that are available.
So yeah, it's a good spot to be.
And I forgot to add that one ofmy favorite things about the
(32:25):
western slope side of themountain is there's no cell
phone service. So I can I canunplug, and nobody can reach me,
and it's the best feeling in theworld. So you should at least
tell someone where you're goingand when you know you're
expected back. But that's just,that's just incredible to me,
just to get away from it all andnot look at your phone. Yeah,
(32:49):
that's, that's life hack. 101,right there you can, you can
pull into the parking lot andjust feel the barometer check of
anxiety and day's activity justdropping. It's amazing. How can
listeners connect with you? Itypically post a lot of my rides
and mountain bike content on myInstagram. I usually spend the
(33:09):
most time there as far as socialmedia accounts go. Yeah, so
stories are a great place tofind information about, you
know, where I'm riding rightnow, and even volunteer
information for sbbc. I do a lotof posts with that as well, and
Charles already mentioned it,but we do have, you know, that
small discount code for formountain bike passes and even
(33:31):
winter activities as well. Yeah,it's pretty easy. I think one
thing we didn't mention isStrava seems to be the new way
for a lot of outdoorsenthusiasts to connect and
locating us on Strava. It's agreat way to watch locally. Is
the folks here out doingactivities, and you can see
where we're riding and whatwe're riding. That's always a
(33:52):
unique way to connect withpeople outdoors that doesn't get
chatted about too much, but Ithink it's evolving. And then
social media the necessary evilof the day. It feels like I,
along with a couple of folks,run a independent Instagram
page. Here, we can link to it. Iam not a social media expert.
It's not my my day job by anyaspect, but good, just view of
(34:14):
what's going on on the mountain.
So first ride checks in thewinter, first lift up, you know,
kind of vibes, what's going onon the mountain? What's it look
like? When are we blowing snow?
What are the trail conditionslike? When are we doing trail
work? And I'm engaging with bothmass and nothing, and svbc is
kind of an intermediate playerbetween those two zones to I'll
(34:34):
call it the independent look atwhat's happening at Mass and
nothing these days, and I canstir the pot a little bit from
time to time too. So, but thoseare easy ways to connect with
us. You'll find that most of thecommunity here is engaging. Show
up, ask questions and and findus online, and we're glad to
help. There's also a few threadsJessica on mtbr project and.
(35:00):
Some other places out there formassanutton as well, where folks
can ask questions about trailconditions and stuff, and we're
actively engaged in those aswell. I will drop those links in
the show notes. I'll also addlinks to svbc, the Shenandoah
Valley Bicycle Coalition,Massanutten resort, of course,
downtown Harrisonburg, all theinfo that people are looking for
(35:22):
that we have discussed in thisepisode will be there. So Morgan
and Charles, thank you so muchfor being guests on Virginia
outdoor adventures. Thank youfor taking me out on the western
slope. We had an amazing daythat ended in downtown
Harrisonburg with fantasticfood, and it was a blast. So I
appreciate your passion, yourenthusiasm, giving back to your
(35:44):
community, and for all that youhave done for the community in
and around Harrisonburg, yeah,it definitely was a pleasure to
have you out. I'm glad you madethe time. We appreciated that,
and look forward to seeing youagain soon out here doing
something fun. Yeah, thanks forhaving us. It's been a blast.
Yeah, absolutely hope to see youon the trails adventure on
(36:05):
Virginia Outdoor Adventures isinspired by and supported by
listeners like you, which is whyyour messages and feedback means
so much to me. You can text medirectly by clicking on Send
Jessica a text message in yourshow notes, I answer questions,
respond to comments and shareyour feedback on the show. Never
(36:26):
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Sign up in your show notes orvisit Virginia outdoor
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time. Adventure on you.
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