View Full Version : The Barn Restaurant- Atkins, Va.
GolfHiker
01-22-2019, 16:22
I read that the Barn Restaurant closed in late Oct., reopened in December with new Management. I have been unable to reach them by phone, as the number given in the Guides &/or Guthook is no longer working. Does anyone have any updated info, or a new phone number? The goal is simply to park at the Barn for a few days for an upcoming section and I’d prefer to know all is good to go in advance.
thanks.
oh boy was that place a trip when i was there back in may. it'd be sort of sad to see it go but yet it also makes sense. no way what i saw was a sustainable business model. dont know how it lasted this long.
Gambit McCrae
01-22-2019, 16:29
If you cant get ahold of them, parking is available for 2-3 cars on the other side of i81 opposite side as the barn restaurant.
Here is the number that google provides for the barn. As well, Rohlands parking guide suggests having permission before parking here. When I parked here, I called for permission, and told them I would be a customer at the end of my hike, which I did and it was very good!
have a great hike!
The Barn Restaurant
Phone (https://www.google.com/search?q=the+barn+restaurant+phone&ludocid=3698117227551420778&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj129mPnILgAhU6G7kGHeFwCuEQ6BMwEnoECAkQD g): (276) 686-6222 (https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=2HtHXOTVD4Kj5OUPvc-YyAg&q=the+barn+restaurant+atkins+va&btnK=Google+Search&oq=the+barn+restaurant+atkin&gs_l=psy-ab.3.0.0j0i22i30.1012.6515..7664...4.0..0.460.5257 .2-21j0j1....2..0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i131j0i10.OW4W0yDYJB4#)
Hours (https://www.google.com/search?q=the+barn+restaurant+hours&ludocid=3698117227551420778&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj129mPnILgAhU6G7kGHeFwCuEQ6BMwEXoECAkQB g): Open ⋅ Closes 8PM
Tuesday
7AM–8PM
Wednesday
7AM–8PM
Thursday
7AM–8PM
Friday
7AM–8PM
Saturday
7AM–8PM
Sunday
7AM–3PM
Monday
7AM–8PM
Unable to add this file. Please check that it is a valid photo.
GolfHiker
01-22-2019, 16:55
Thanks Gambit. Unfortunately, that number is the very one that is not working. It makes you wonder if they are even open for business, thus my request to the great WB family for some current information.
Gambit McCrae
01-22-2019, 17:16
Call skip and linda they shuttle in the atkins area and would know best what the deal is.
276-783-3604
parking is available for 2-3 cars on the other side of i81 opposite side as the barn restaurant
is that a safe space to park?
it's basically right off the exit and that makes me thing otherwise but ive never parked there....
wonder if the airport or that gas station right there would allow parking?
Gambit McCrae
01-22-2019, 18:07
is that a safe space to park?
it's basically right off the exit and that makes me thing otherwise but ive never parked there....
wonder if the airport or that gas station right there would allow parking?
I would personally park there for a weekend. I would probably try and find more suitable parking for longer then a weekend. Another option would be the Relax Inn but I wanna say they aren't very hiker friendly.
Another option would be the Relax Inn but I wanna say they aren't very hiker friendly.
thats sad as the trail is almost at their front door....
wonder if hikers pissed them off....
on a slightly different note----my grandfather is buried up somewhere up on the mountain on the opposite side of the barn/relax inn....
theres a series of roads that lead to dirt road that somewhere he is buried up there...
sadly, i will never know exact spot as the people who's land we used to bury him, are gone...
the last time/only time i was up there was in 1976 when we buried him and i was 6 years old....
i would have loved to figure out where he's at and see how close it is to the trail and potentially buy the land......
I would personally park there for a weekend. I would probably try and find more suitable parking for longer then a weekend. Another option would be the Relax Inn but I wanna say they aren't very hiker friendly.
i also stayed at the relax. i cant say it wasnt hiker friendly. it was sort of overpriced for what you got but what can ya do.
i dont think they get nearly enough business to be fussy about hikers coming in.
GolfHiker
01-22-2019, 20:47
Call skip and linda they shuttle in the atkins area and would know best what the deal is. 276-783-3604
Its funny how one thing leads to another... I had already called Linda for a shuttle, and sadly Skip passed away in December (?). She was great to talk to, and is still doing some light shuttling. She told me she had to notify the guides to make the change in names...
As as for the Relax Inn, I actually stayed there on my hike in ‘16. Not friendly, not unfriendly. Just another cheap motel on the trail. A quick side note, I did this section in 2013. The Barn was closed, the Relax Inn said no to parking, and we ended up parking behind the gas station on the corner, with their permission.
The way things are looking here, it may be the gas station again.
Gambit McCrae
01-22-2019, 22:18
Its funny how one thing leads to another... I had already called Linda for a shuttle, and sadly Skip passed away in December (?). She was great to talk to, and is still doing some light shuttling. She told me she had to notify the guides to make the change in names...
As as for the Relax Inn, I actually stayed there on my hike in ‘16. Not friendly, not unfriendly. Just another cheap motel on the trail. A quick side note, I did this section in 2013. The Barn was closed, the Relax Inn said no to parking, and we ended up parking behind the gas station on the corner, with their permission.
The way things are looking here, it may be the gas station again.
I hate to hear Skip passed away I didnt know. He shuttled me many times thru SoVa. Entertained me with his old sherriffin stories during the rides he gave me.
swatsullivan
01-22-2019, 22:52
I parked at the parking lot beside the trail where it crossed the next road after 81. It’s near a farm, and may be ok for a weekend. Didn’t get in the Barn, but I’m down that way fairly regularly. If I can remember, I’ll try to swing by the Barn Feb 15th when I’m there next.
Seatbelt
01-23-2019, 08:40
i also stayed at the relax. i cant say it wasnt hiker friendly. it was sort of overpriced for what you got but what can ya do.
i dont think they get nearly enough business to be fussy about hikers coming in.
This has been my experience also, have stayed there twice. They were friendly enough I thought.
I had to pay for parking at The Barn on a section last year.
Skip....is he the tall skinny fellow, his wife really short?
GolfHiker
01-25-2019, 12:27
I had to pay for parking at The Barn on a section last year.
Skip....is he the tall skinny fellow, his wife really short?
All the guide books state a $5.00/day charge, so I expected that.
As for Skip being tall, skinny, I never met the man. I spoke to Linda, his wife on the phone. She did sound like she was really short!
rmitchell
01-25-2019, 13:25
I parked at the Relax Inn Sept. 2011 and again April 2012. They did charge to park. Once got a shuttle from one of the younger family members there.
Not sure if they still shuttle
IslandPete
01-25-2019, 17:25
I don’t know which direction you’re going, but just south of Atkins is the Lindamood School and Settlers Museum. Safe, quiet place, and they allow hiker parking. The trail goes almost right through the property.
AdventureBunny
03-02-2020, 18:10
I did a 4 day 3 night section hike over Labor Day 2019 and the Barn seemed to be closed. We looked for information on the door, but nothing. We did park at the end of the lot closest to the AT. We were shuttled from the Barn parking lot south to Grayson Highlands and hiked NOBO back into Atkins. Our car was fine. We did go over to the Relax Inn to get a shower before driving back to Atlanta. Odd place, but they did let us shower for $10 bucks for 2.
The 2020 version of AWOL's AT Guide and Whiteblaze Pages continues to list The Barn Restaurant.
Puddlefish
03-03-2020, 10:07
Thread drift I know, but I liked the Relax Inn. The sheets were clean, the bathroom was clean and tiled in the 1950s, in that distinctive style. It's likely the comforter and carpets were also from 1950. Still, the whole place had a Route 66, faded Americana vibe. I don't remember a thing about the desk clerk, so apparently they were competent if nothing else. It's probably the kind of place I'd have been horrified of, had I not just spent months on the trail.
Enjoyed a great Mexican meal at the restaurant attached to the nearby gas station, and was able to get some very basic resupply items at that gas station.
Even in 2016 The Barn was apparently sporadically closed. Restauranting is expensive and difficult.
Sectioned from Fox Creek to Atkins over Labor Day 2019, and the Barn was closed. Parked at Relax Inn for a very small fee, and got a shuttle from son Ben for a very fair price. Resupplied at the gas station, and hit the road. (If you are heading north on I-81, there is a public rest area not too far to freshen up and change into travelling clothes. Easy-Peasy. Enjoy your trip!
4eyedbuzzard
03-03-2020, 18:08
The 2020 version of AWOL's AT Guide and Whiteblaze Pages continues to list The Barn Restaurant.It seems to have been open for a while last spring but Google now shows it as "Permanently Closed".
Apologize for the thread hijack but this thread got me reflecting back on my thru hike in '10. Back then there was a pretty well known hostel in Atkins run by Bunny and Rabbitt (iirc) who themselves were former thruhikers. They closed the hostel shortly thereafter. Anybody but me remember the place? Anybody recall the "official"name of that place and hhow the owners may be doing?
Apologize for the thread hijack but this thread got me reflecting back on my thru hike in '10. Back then there was a pretty well known hostel in Atkins run by Bunny and Rabbitt (iirc) who themselves were former thruhikers. They closed the hostel shortly thereafter. Anybody but me remember the place? Anybody recall the "official"name of that place and hhow the owners may be doing?
Happy Hiker Hollow owned by Rambunny and Aqua. Health challenges have limited their availability to hikers but I believe they may still shuttle hikers. Rambunny is a 3 time AT thruhiker making her one of just a few women to hike the trail that many times. They also worked for Honey and Bear at The Cabin in Andover ME around the 2006 time frame.
Crushed Grapes
03-05-2020, 12:58
It seems to have been open for a while last spring but Google now shows it as "Permanently Closed".
That's a shame. We had an incredible meal there on our hike. Staff was very hiker friendly, let us charge our electronics on the front porch when we were done eating as well.
thats sad as the trail is almost at their front door....
wonder if hikers pissed them off....
on a slightly different note----my grandfather is buried up somewhere up on the mountain on the opposite side of the barn/relax inn....
theres a series of roads that lead to dirt road that somewhere he is buried up there...
sadly, i will never know exact spot as the people who's land we used to bury him, are gone...
the last time/only time i was up there was in 1976 when we buried him and i was 6 years old....
i would have loved to figure out where he's at and see how close it is to the trail and potentially buy the land......
Bumping this old thread because I just recently purchased a home in Atkins at the base of Glade Mtn, less than three miles from the trail. I have a USGS survey map of Glade Mountain and the surrounding area and it shows two cemeteries in the area you are referencing--one is Atkins Cemetery (which I believe is now affiliated with Cedar Bluff Baptist church and is not on a mountain), between I81 and the present day location of the Settlers Museum. The second is about a mile up Glade Mountain called Overbay Cemetery--I have been trying to find Overbay in my treks around my new neighborhood but it appears to be on private property. You can take forest road 86 all the way around Glade Mtn (also called Denzler Rd on some maps) and reconnect with Nick's Creek Rd in Atkins, making a nice little twelve mile loop to explore the area.
Bumping this old thread because I just recently purchased a home in Atkins at the base of Glade Mtn, less than three miles from the trail. I have a USGS survey map of Glade Mountain and the surrounding area and it shows two cemeteries in the area you are referencing--one is Atkins Cemetery (which I believe is now affiliated with Cedar Bluff Baptist church and is not on a mountain), between I81 and the present day location of the Settlers Museum. The second is about a mile up Glade Mountain called Overbay Cemetery--I have been trying to find Overbay in my treks around my new neighborhood but it appears to be on private property. You can take forest road 86 all the way around Glade Mtn (also called Denzler Rd on some maps) and reconnect with Nick's Creek Rd in Atkins, making a nice little twelve mile loop to explore the area.
thanks...
the way i remember it though, is that my grandfather was not buried in an established cemetery...
rather, we just went up and put him in the ground on some family owned private land then put
some concrete over top of it.......he was buried in an urn.......
i recall a block of concrete about a foot and a half by a foot and a half......
and remember my grandmother picking up a stick and writing his name
in the cement....
i was just down in that general area (wytheville) to drop off some my dad's genealogy research papers
to the wythe county genealogical society....
i go by the exit (54) where the land is off of all the time, just the other day as a matter of fact but
was distracted watching a plane land at the airport....
twenty some years of doing that route and that's the second plane i have seen landing there.......
but once i am done with cleaning out my dad's house and settling his estate, i plan on going up
that area and see what i can find......
i just know that it's somewhere on the west side of 81, and had to go up a dirt road off the main little
road right there, and through a bunch of cattle gates to get up to the top...
it might be off of gordon road which is about a mile or two from the interstate...
this would make sense as my grandmother's sister got married to a gordon and it was
part of their land......
blazercoach
03-25-2021, 19:01
Please,
Where do you recommend a person park safely for free in Atkins? I'm heading there tomorrow. Hopefully you see this in time! Or anyone who knows....
Thank you!
SmokyMtn Hiker
03-25-2021, 21:08
I stayed at the Relax Inn on my section hike back in October (2020) and there was a for sale sign at The Barn and the talk on Guthooks was closed permanently. I can only assume they were another small business that fell victim to the COVID-19 epidemic...sad but what does our government care???
I can only assume they were another small business that fell victim to the COVID-19 epidemic...sad but what does our government care???
you really shouldn't assume things.....and then add in opinion on it.......
especially when the info can be found in this thread.....
as according to post number 22-----the barn is listed as permanently closed....
that post came in the beginning of the covid thing here in america and would have not had
any affect on them.....
Hello,
Pretty sure the Virginia Settler's Museum will allow parking as they are closed right now and the trail runs adjacent to the Visitor's Center. Their address is 1322 Rocky Hollow Rd in Atkins. You can also go down Rocky Hollow to Kiawana, take a left, and drive up to Denzler Road, which turns into forest road 644. It's quite steep and rocky so a good vehicle is recommended. After about a mile you will come to a T section--the trail is to the left, about another mile on. There is a small pull off near where the trail crosses the road that you could park a vehicle at.