I love spending time in the Blue Ridge Mountains. No matter the season, the distant peaks are beautiful with their deep purple-blue hue and panoramic ridges. Some of my favorite road trips over the past year have taken us through these lovely mountains, including our most recent adventure to Massanutten Resort in Virginia.
Over Thanksgiving, Daniel and I decided to skip the traditional festivities and take some time away for ourselves. Massanutten Resort was the perfect spot because it was close enough to drive and offered plenty of social distance-friendly activities to enjoy on the long weekend. It has over 6,000 acres of mountainside area for guests to enjoy and dozens of cool activities onsite.
It’s also a great place for family gatherings because you can choose different accommodation levels, from hotel rooms to giant condos. We stayed in a spacious one-bedroom condo with beautiful views of the mountains and daily visits from a herd of deer!
For many of you, the mountains + winter= skiing, but that’s not what this post is about. While we would have loved to try the slopes, Virginia’s pre-Thanksgiving heatwave kept the mountainside clear of snow.
However, the resort had plenty of other fun off-season activities open for us to try, and I’d like to share some of my favorites with you today! Bonus: Most of these are pretty budget-friendly and can be enjoyed year-round.
5 Off-Season Activities to Try at Massanutten Resort (Besides the Ski Slopes)
1. The Indoor Water Park & Arcade
One of Massanutten’s premier attractions is its extensive water park. In the summer, you can enjoy slides, pools, and lazy rivers both inside and out. However, in the offseason, they close off the outside access and keep the indoor section at a toasty 84 degrees Fahrenheit.
The indoor water park is full of fun things to do, even for adults (but especially for kids). There’s a lazy river, a water fortress, body slides, tube slides, and even a FlowRider! At this time, the hot tubs are closed, but there’s still plenty to keep you occupied.
If you like open-top slides, you’ll have a lot of fun climbing up the Massanutten Meltdown water fortress, dodging torrents of water along the way, and trying out the 3 slides on various levels.
If you prefer the thrill of enclosed slides, be sure to make the trek up the stairs at the back of the park and try out the 3 tube slides and 2 body slides. These are pitch-black and fast but so much fun!
And for those who dream of surfing, be sure to take a turn on the FlowRider wave pool!
Ticket prices vary by season, and the resort is currently limiting visitors to 4-hour scheduled sessions to help with social distancing.
If you need a break from the water or wrap up early, dry off and head upstairs to Diamond Jim’s Arcade!
There are plenty of fun games to choose from, including shooters, racing simulators, and classic ticket games like Skee Ball and Down the Clown. The price-to-ticket conversion seemed pretty fair compared to most arcades, and we walked out with a glass chess set without blowing too much money.
2. Ice Skating
Winter isn’t complete without at least one trip to the ice rink! Luckily, Massanutten Resort sets up a small ice skating rink next to the Fitness & Rec Club during the winter season! For $10 per person, you can reserve skate times for one hour, and you can rent skates for an additional $4 or bring your own.
It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a nice way to enjoy the mountain air and get in some good exercise. It was also super cute when we visited because they had it dressed up for Christmas!
This is another one that fills up quickly, so book well in advance if you want to go. We waited last minute and had to try 3 times to get a slot!
3. Petting Farm
I’m such a kid at heart, so this was probably my favorite activity of the weekend. Masanutten Resort has a full stable and petting farm onsite where you can take trail rides and see plenty of adorable farm animals. Also, the view is gorgeous!
We skipped the trail ride this time, but I’m so glad we squeezed in a visit to the petting farm!
Watch our Massanutten Resort Petting Farm adventure on YouTube for cute animal footage!
First off, they have a family of zebus! The calf was one of the cutest I’ve ever seen and had the longest eyelashes. It was pretty shy, but the mama was open to letting us pet her for a bit.
Another of my favorite stops was the miniature donkey and pony enclosure. They were so cute and stubby! The little ones weren’t really interested in our TLC, but there was a full-grown mule here as well that came over for some extra attention.
The main area of the petting farm was largely dedicated to goats, sheep, and chickens. The goats made me laugh because they had so much attitude and didn’t want anything to do with people who didn’t have food.
The sheep, on the other hand, were super friendly. This chubby-faced one was my favorite. She (he?) let me pet her for a bit, and her wool was so dense and fluffy! After some research, I think she was a Valaise black nose, which many people call the cutest sheep in the world! I’d have to agree!
The petting farm also includes:
A peacock and some crazy-feathered Polish chickens
Llamas & an Ayrshire cow
4. Stop for Candy and Ice Cream at The Fun Factory
Hershey’s Ice Cream, candy by the pound, and toys–yes, please!
The Fun Factory is a small, whimsical shop with a big personality located at the very front of the Massanutten Resort property. It’s filled with tall shelves of candy, fun souvenir knick-knacks, and unique toys and games for all ages. One wall is covered with Build-a-Bear-style animals waiting to be stuffed and dressed, and a large corner is dedicated to a Hershey’s ice cream shop!
We obviously couldn’t leave without a bag of saltwater taffy and a scoop of ice cream each! Both were delicious, and the shopkeeper gave us the biggest scoops of ice cream we’d ever bought. It was definitely a 5-star experience, and I’m definitely stopping by again if we’re ever in the area.
5. Take in the Views from Massanutten Resort
With its picture-perfect location in the Shenandoah Mountains, Massanutten Resort is absolutely brimming with gorgeous locations to drive and walk, no matter the season.
While the hiking trails are closed for hunting season during the late fall and winter (except for Sundays), there are still several beautiful spots you should be sure to check out.
The Overlook
From the top of the mountain, the Overlook offers a panoramic view of the “bowl” the resort occupies. You can see the ski slopes, the different condos and restaurants below, and the mountains’ smoky shadow in the distance. It’s also an exceptional place to watch the sunset!
The Arboretum Trail
While the arboretum is undoubtedly at its best during the spring and fall months, it’s still a lovely, peaceful place to explore during the winter.
At the head of the trail, guests can enjoy a small pond, picnic areas, and a playground with views of the mountains all around. However, if you’d rather get lost in the woods, head in the other direction and enter the arboretum.
The best way to explore is by following the dirt path through the trees. It will lead you over a couple of quaint bridges and past fallen logs covered in mushrooms, small ponds lined with stone, and even a covered spring with benches.
Even on an overcast winter’s day, we enjoyed the quiet atmosphere and pops of color from the last of the fall leaves and stubborn mosses.
If you’re lucky, you might even have a special visitor join you on your trip! This adorable tortoiseshell kitty walked with us around the entire trail, only occasionally dashing off to explore. She picked us up right as we entered the arboretum behind her house and parted ways when we headed to the parking lot. TBH, I was a bit grumpy at the weather when we started our adventure, but having her join us brought the smile right back to my face. 🙂
Painter’s Pond
The resort property has plenty of its own hills and valleys because it’s built up the mountainside. One of these exceptionally pretty places is at Painter’s Pond.
The pond spreads out at the bottom of a little valley between two mountains. You can drive down the mountainside and park to walk around the pond if you like; however, we enjoyed sitting at the top of the hill by the upper parking lot and just taking in the view.
Closing Thoughts on Massanutten Resort
These are just a few of the many winter activities you can enjoy at Massanutten Resort! Some other notable attractions include carriage rides (Sundays only), snow tubing, escape rooms, basketball courts, multiple indoor swimming pools, ukulele lessons, guided weekend hikes, and golfing!
Of course, when you visit in the spring and summer, a whole new round of attractions opens up, so it’s a great place to visit any time of year!
One more thing: I can’t end this post without mentioning that the onsite food at the Campfire Grill and Virginia BBQ & Pizza Co. was delicious! We celebrated Thanksgiving with a 4-course takeout dinner from the Campfire Grill, complete with pumpkin bisque and fruit cobbler. The next day, we had the BBQ Pizza for dinner, and it was so unique and tasty!
If you’re looking for a chill place to relax over the holidays while still social distancing, I highly recommend checking out the Massanutten Resort. It’s so flexible on lodging and activity choices, which makes it great for families with varied preferences.
What do you think? Would you like to spend a weekend here? Let me know in the comments below!
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Thanks for taking the time to read about these off-season activities at Massanutten, and I hope it was a help to you as you plan your future adventures.
Take care, and happy travels!
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