A few years ago I came across a Facebook post about The Devil’s Bathtub. I looked up where it is (about 7 hours from us) and filed it away in the “maybe someday” file. Someday finally came and we set out for our newest adventure.
As I planned the trip I realized that we would be near a restaurant that we wanted to check out, so we stopped at The Homeplace Restaurant in Catawba. The restaurant was about 9 miles from the interstate. We went up and over the mountain. I happily discovered a small waterfall right next to the road. Unfortunately, there was not a safe place to stop to take a photo. After we crossed the Appalachian Trail we arrived at our destination, a lovely large plantation-style house with a long driveway. They served the meal family style. The food was delicious and the service was excellent.
We drove all the way to Tennessee and then turned right and came back into Virginia finally arriving at Natural Tunnel State Park. We set up camp next to a beautiful wildflower field, did a preliminary exploration of the park and settled in for the evening.
Bright and early the next morning we set off for our adventure. The Bathtub is about 30 minutes from Natural Tunnel. We stopped in at The Front Porch Store & Deli. The little store, deli and ice cream shop on the side of the road serves a tasty breakfast. There are a few tables where you can eat. Old class pictures from the early to mid-1900s adorn the walls. The changes between the pre-depression photos, the depression era shots, and then the more recent pictures were fascinating.
We made our way to the Devil’s Bathtub trail. We crept our way up the narrow dirt road heading to the parking lot at the start of the trail. The terrain became too treacherous for our low-lying vehicle so we found a safe spot to park on the edge of the road and walked the rest of the way.
Very quickly we arrived at the first of 12 stream crossings. We changed into the hiking sandals we had purchased and stepped into the icy water. It was a warm day, so after the initial shock, the water felt amazing. We took our time exploring the path, discovering the beautiful rock formations, plant life, and small creatures. There had been a lot of rain before our trip so the water was running fast and high. The crossings were a bit precarious. We had to take our time, being careful to have sure footing on the slippery and unstable rocks. In some spots, the water was more than knee-deep. With the camera over my shoulder, I definitely did not want to fall in. Had I remembered to get the trekking poles out of the trunk the stream crossings would have been much faster.
On the trail, we saw a Red Eft, the juvenile stage of the Eastern Newt. Seeing one in the wild for the first time left me awestruck. We soon arrived at a beautiful swimming hole but continued on in search of the Devil’s Bathtub. We passed an area of flat rock with water rushing by and eventually made our way up to a beautiful waterfall. At that point, the trail drastically narrowed and we saw a sign warning of the treacherous journey for the next five miles. Due to the overflowing water, we had not recognized the bathtub on the way in. Regardless, we enjoyed our wonderful hike and even saw a second Red Eft.
As we headed back to Natural Tunnel it started to rain. The thunderstorm lasted about an hour, so we had a beautiful sandwich for lunch and then took a nap. After the storm, we set out to enjoy the trails at the park. We followed the trail to Lover’s Leap where we had a beautiful view of the mountains surrounding the tunnel. We then hiked down to the tunnel. The trail is about 1/4 mile, but it is pretty much straight down. The path weaves back and forth with switchbacks and stairs. The tunnel was an incredible sight. The trip back up the mountain was arduous. Fortunately, they do have benches along the way if you need to take a break. There is a ski-lift if you don’t want to do the walk, but it was not open for the season yet when we were there.
The next morning we awoke to the sound of weed-eaters nearby. I took advantage of the early wake-up and hiked the two-mile trail to an overlook. It was a very peaceful walk early in the morning. Unfortunately, the view was hazy as the fog had not yet burned off. We packed up to head home, stopping to hike one more short trail to the backside of the tunnel. We were not disappointed. I did end up falling into the stream, but stayed upright, so no harm was done…just some wet shoes.
On the way home we found a cute German restaurant with tasty food. This is a trip we will definitely do again next summer.
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