Virginia Museum of Natural History
Under $25Meet an Allosaurus skeleton and a fossil baleen whale, then walk through Virginia's natural history in the state's own science museum.

Photo: Virginia State Parks staff, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
Hunt for cross-shaped fairy stones, swim and paddle on a 168-acre lake, and sleep in a CCC-era log cabin in Virginia's foothills.
967 Fairystone Lake Drive, Stuart, VA 24171 · Stuart, VA
Fairy Stone State Park is named for the small cross-shaped stones, a mineral called staurolite, that turn up in the area. It is one of Virginia's six original state parks, opened in 1936 on 4,741 acres donated by Roanoke publisher Junius B. Fishburn. A 168-acre lake joins Philpott Reservoir and has a swimming beach plus rowboat, canoe, kayak and paddleboat rentals. Rangers lead fairy stone hunts in summer and on spring and fall weekends. Cabins 1 to 9 are log cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Blue Ridge Parkway is a short drive away.
The closest stops to Fairy Stone State Park, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.
Meet an Allosaurus skeleton and a fossil baleen whale, then walk through Virginia's natural history in the state's own science museum.
16 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
National Park Service site preserving part of the Virginia tobacco farm where educator Booker T. Washington was born into enslavement.
30 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
Lakeside state park in Pulaski County known for fishing, boating, swimming, camping and cabin stays.
34 mi awayMore like this
A transportation-focused museum in downtown Roanoke with cars, aircraft, and locomotives.
34 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
Swim at a summer beach, rent a tritoon or kayak, and hike short trails on the shore of Virginia's second-largest freshwater lake.
36 mi awayMore like this
A linear state park on a former railroad corridor that follows the New River in southwest Virginia.
41 mi awayMore like this