Did You Know? Virginia Has a Place That Feels Like a Magical Land—Grayson Highlands
Updated: Aug 5
State 2 of 50: Virginia
When I decided to choose one truly unique travel experience from Virginia, Grayson Highlands State Park immediately came to mind.
Virginia has beautiful historic towns, family attractions, mountain drives, and plenty of places worth visiting. But Grayson Highlands offers something very different.
It gives you the chance to slow down, step onto part of the Appalachian Trail, and quietly walk through the mountain home of wild ponies.
The ponies are not standing behind fences. They are not part of a show, and they are not waiting for visitors. They wander through the open highland meadows, graze beside the trails, rest near the creeks, and call to one another across the mountains.
You are entering their home, and that is what makes the experience feel so special.
A Visit Can Be as Short or as Long as You Choose
You do not have to be an experienced hiker or plan a weeklong backpacking trip to experience Grayson Highlands.
A family could stop for a few hours, enjoy a picnic, walk one of the trails, and look for the ponies. You could spend the entire day exploring, or make the park part of a longer vacation in the Virginia mountains.
My daughter was only eight years old when we visited, and she was able to walk the trails and experience the ponies with us. That does not mean every trail will be suitable for every child—the ground can be rocky, uneven, and muddy—but families can choose how far they want to go based on their own comfort and ability.
Visitors who want to stay longer can camp inside the park. Grayson Highlands offers regular campsites, yurts, a bunkhouse, group camping, and a separate equestrian campground. Families who prefer a traditional cabin can rent one in the surrounding area and use it as their home base while exploring the park.
Horse owners can also bring their own horses and ride on designated trails. The park has horse camping, stalls, trailer parking, and connections to additional riding trails in the surrounding national forest. Horses are not available to rent at the park, so this is an option for visitors traveling with their own animals.
That is one reason this place can become so many different kinds of trips. It can be a quiet afternoon stop during a Virginia road trip, a family hiking day, a camping weekend, an equestrian adventure, or the center of an entire week spent exploring the surrounding highlands.
Sometimes the Ponies Find You
The ponies roam freely, so no one can guarantee exactly where they will be or what you will see.
That uncertainty is part of the experience.
On our family visit, one of those unexpected moments found me.
Throughout the park, there are signs reminding visitors not to pet the ponies. At one point, my eight-year-old daughter pointed to one of those signs directly in front of me.
There was not a pony anywhere near us at the time, so I jokingly asked her, “But what happens if the pony pets us?”
Almost as soon as I said it, we heard a loud neigh coming from somewhere in the distance.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a beautiful golden pony came charging toward me.
For a moment, I honestly did not know what to do. This was a wild pony, and it was running directly toward me. I decided to stay still and wait to see what it was going to do.
The pony came right up to me, directly in front of the sign warning us not to pet the ponies, and began rubbing its head against my belly as though it were asking to be scratched.
The timing was so perfect that it almost felt as though the pony had heard my question and decided to answer it.
I gave him a scratch on top of his head, and we stood there talking to him for a little while. It was not something we planned or tried to make happen. The pony came to me, and for those few moments, it felt as though we had made an unexpected friend.
Then another neigh came from somewhere behind us.
The golden pony immediately ran toward the sound. He stopped, turned around, ran back toward us, neighed again, and then disappeared in the other direction.
It felt as though he had come back to say goodbye.
Visitors should follow the posted rules and should never approach, feed, or attempt to pet the ponies. They are still wild animals and need their space. Our encounter was completely unexpected and remains one of those rare travel memories that could never have been planned.
Walking Into Their World
Our experience did not end with the golden pony.
We continued up the hill and decided to sign the Appalachian Trail register. Just being able to say that we had stepped onto part of the Appalachian Trail was exciting, so we followed it for a while to see where it would lead us.
Grayson Highlands provides year-round access to the Appalachian Trail, along with trails that connect to the surrounding Jefferson National Forest and Virginia Highlands Horse Trail.
As we continued walking, we came across one of the most peaceful scenes I have ever experienced. There was a beautiful campsite surrounded by the mountains, with a small creek gently flowing through it. Ponies were resting and grazing around the campsite and beside the creek.
They looked in our direction for a moment and then calmly continued eating the grass and plants around them.
It was quiet, peaceful, and so beautiful that it did not feel real.
Then I noticed one very small pony lying directly in the middle of the path.
It was just a baby.
As I approached, the baby pony lifted its head, looked directly at me, and then calmly put its head back down—just like my dog at home when she sees that everything is fine and decides to go back to sleep.
The baby was so relaxed that I had to carefully step around it to continue along the path.
There we were, walking part of the Appalachian Trail, surrounded by mountains, a gently flowing creek, grazing ponies, and a baby pony sleeping in our path as though we were simply visitors passing through its home.
The entire scene felt like we had walked out of the real world and into some kind of magical land.
The ponies were not performing for us. They were simply living there—resting beside the creek, grazing in the meadows, calling to one another, and occasionally becoming curious about the humans walking through.
For a little while, we were allowed to step into their world.
Why I Chose Grayson Highlands for Virginia
I chose Grayson Highlands because it offers something that cannot be manufactured, scheduled, or guaranteed.
It is quiet.
It gives families room to slow down and experience nature together.
It allows visitors to walk through the home of wild ponies instead of viewing them from behind a fence.
It lets an everyday family step onto the Appalachian Trail—even if they have no plans to hike the entire trail from Georgia to Maine.
You can spend a few hours there and leave with an unforgettable memory, or spend several days exploring the trails, camping, riding your own horse, searching for waterfalls, and discovering more of the surrounding Virginia mountains.
But what makes Grayson Highlands truly special is not how many activities you can fit into a visit.
It is how the place makes you feel.
Years later, I can still picture the golden pony running toward me. I can hear the creek flowing beside that peaceful campsite. I can see the tiny baby pony lifting its head, looking at me, and deciding that we were not important enough to interrupt its nap.
Sometimes the most meaningful travel moments are not the ones written on an itinerary.
They are the unexpected moments—the ones that make you stop, laugh, look around, and wonder whether what just happened was real.
For my family, Grayson Highlands was one of those moments.
It truly felt like stepping into a storybook.
Want to turn Grayson Highlands into a family getaway? I can help you explore nearby lodging, scenic stops, and a trip that fits your family.
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