Where Every Dog Has Its Day
Fun fact: Coined the “Doomsday Hideaway” by TIME magazine, the Mount Weather Special Facility on the eastern border of Clarke County, serves as emergency command post, underground bunker, and the setting for much post-apocalyptic fiction.
We found enough dog friendly activities in Clarke County to fill one ambitious day trip (or to savor slowly over a long weekend).
Even better, we rated our Clarke County experiences with 5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Accommodations not rated
- Dining ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Dog Friendliness ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- History ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Recreation ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Sightseeing ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Our favorite sightseeing? Admiring Clarke County’s non-stop beautiful scenery.
Mount Weather
Yes, this is the same Mount Weather that is portrayed in “The 100” television series.
Before hiking the section of Appalachian Trail located at Mount Weather, we learned some much appreciated details from GoHikeVirginia.com.
We parked at Mount Weather’s Buzzard Hill parking lot. Once on the trail, we found serenity and stark beauty within a seemingly endless forest.
We did not, however, find a waterfall.
Buzzard Hill usually treats its hikers to a lovely waterfall. Unfortunately, the icy creek flowed without much force today.
Here’s a photo of the waterfall we did not see.
Photo from Facebook | happilyeverexploring
Berryville
Our parking spot provided an excellent view of the Old Clarke County Courthouse, 102 N. Church, c. 1837.
Today, Berryville serves as Clarke County’s distinguished county seat, but in the 1700s, the rowdy locals with their many drunken brawls made a name for this place. It was called “Battletown.”
These are just a few of the historic buildings we found during our brief self-guided tour.
The good news: We found beaucoup restaurants and shops in Berryville, including this bookstore with a resident cat.
Berryville Old Book Shop, 7 E. Main
The bad news: We did not see any dog friendly dining options.
Clarke County Animal Shelter
225 Ramsburg Lane, Berryville
Clarke County’s Animal Shelter does not lack for sweetie pies.
Cletus, one such sweetie pie, is ready for his forever family to find him and take him home.
The Clarke County Humane Foundation helps with emergency vet bills and costs for spay and neuter.
Want to help? Here are some options:
Donate through these QR codes:
or send a check to the Clarke County Humane Foundation, P.O. Box 713, Berryville, Virginia 22611
Millwood
What does this mill have in common with Mel Gibson?
Revolutionary War hero General Daniel Morgan
Morgan’s wartime heroics served in part to inspire Mel Gibson’s character in The Patriot.
After the war, Morgan partnered with fellow officer Lt. Col. Nathaniel Burwell to construct the Burwell-Morgan Mill. Located at 15 Tannery Lane, it’s one of the nation’s oldest working grist mills.
Directly across from the mill, at 2049 Millwood Road, sits the Locke Store, one of our most important epicurean finds. This place knows how to please both its vegetarian and meat eating customers. We bought the most delicious hand pies and our only regret was that we didn’t buy more to take home.
Thank you, Locke Store, for providing dog friendly seating!
We ended up eating in the car due to freezing temperatures. Fortunately, the hand pies were perfect to eat on-the-go.
Boyce
We only have good things to say about the Virginia State Arboretum, located at 400 Blandy Farm Lane in Boyce.
Rover’s Top Ten Favorite Things about the State Arboretum of Virginia.
1. Dogs welcome.
2. Horses also welcome.
3. Open daily.
4. Free of charge.
5. Hundreds of acres to roam.
6. Largest collection of conifers in the southeast.
7. Trees have stories. (Listen here about the Incense Cedar and other trees.)
8. Buildings also have stories. (Learn here about the property’s history.)
9. So much to see and do. After multiple visits, we’ve barely scratched the surface.
10. Ginkgo Grove
After we learned about the Ginkgo Grove, we made another special trip in the fall to see the trees in their yellow glory.
As one of the most ancient tree species on Earth, Ginkgos existed before the dinosaurs.
Ginkgos evolved before the existence of fruit trees. The trees are dioecious (either male or female) and the female trees bear, not fruit, but what is more analogous to eggs.
Photo of the Ginkgo’s unique fan shaped leaves from Facebook | Blandy Experimental Farm
The 300 trees within the Ginkgo Grove all descended from a single tree planted at the University of Virginia. As of this writing, the Ginkgo Grove trees are just youngsters, less than 100 years old. However, Ginkgo trees can live thousands of years.
White Post
This very special white post is located in the town of White Post at the intersection of White Post and Berry’s Ferry Roads.
Who put this white post in the middle of the road??
Um…that would be George Washington
Gilbert Stuart’s 1797 portrait of George Washington
In 1750, teenage surveyor George Washington placed a guidepost for travelers seeking the home of Lord Fairfax. Today, the post is probably the only object on the National Register of Historic Places that regularly gets knocked over by distracted drivers.
Know before You Go
- Clarke County is chock full of self-guided tours and historic sites.
- Clarke County is also full of excellent restaurants. However, many are not dog friendly. The ones that are dog friendly only have outside “fair weather” seating.
- The Shenandoah River runs through it, making Clarke County a great place to fish.
- BringFido lists several dog friendly hotel and rental options. (We did not stay overnight in Clarke County because we live close by.)
Moose Apple Christmas Tree Farm, 2425 Berryville Drive, Berryville
- One of our road trips to Clarke County culminated in a Christmas tree purchase from the Moose Apple Christmas Tree Farm. Dogs are welcome but must remain inside your vehicle.
Road Trip Reads
These books enhanced our visit and can be found on Audible for easy road trip listening.
After the zombie virus wiped out most of humanity, Mount Weather offers safety and hope. Or does it?
(Warning: This book is fun but definitely not for kids.)
The outcome of the Revolutionary War may have been very different without Daniel Morgan. This book provides the full story of Morgan’s strategy and tactics which are studied at West Point to this day.
Clarke County native Forrest Pritchard tells us how he saved the family farm and, in the process, became a driving force in agrotourism.
Roving through Virginia with Rover 
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