Posted October 31, 2011 | Updated July 17, 2017

One of the favorite things about my job is that I get to visit our beautiful state parks from time to time. I am half way through a marathon of meetings in southwest Virginia (ten days) and arrived this afternoon at cabin 11 at Natural Tunnel State Park.

I'm here for the Virginia State Parks Managers' Meeting having just finished being part of the Virginia Association for Parks meeting.

Cabin 11 is a two bedroom accessible cabin

Accessible cabin 11 has everything you will need for a wonderful vacation or getaway 

COMFORTS OF HOME

The beautiful cabins at Natural Tunnel State Park are built in the "new style" of cabins thanks to the 2002 State Park and Natural Area General Obligation Bond.

Our new two and three bedroom cabins feature a great room with a living area and kitchen. All of the cabins at Natural Tunnel State Park have gas logs (at our other parks with new cabins only the family lodges have gas logs). This is a wonderful convenience factor.

The cabin is also decorated with photos of the park that gives it a very homey feel.

Comfortable living room area with door leading onto covered porch

One bedroom features a queen sized bed and the other unique aspect of the Natural Tunnel State Park cabins - a Tempur-Pedic™ mattress. Thanks to a partnership with the Tempur-Pedic™ factory in Duffield, Virginia, all of our queen and twin beds in the park feature the Tempur-Pedic™ mattress line.

The second bedroom has two sets of bunk beds. Alas, Tempur-Pedic™ does not make a bunk bed mattress.

The master bedroom has mountain views from the bed 

OUTDOOR SPACE

The outside space is really nice. The cabin's porch runs along two sides of the cabin and features a lovely mountain view, particularly on this sunny fall afternoon, like when I stayed there.

While most of the cabins are lined up along this road facing the view, you still have plenty of privacy from your porch.

Rocking chairs make the outside space even more inviting

This is the lovely fall view from most of the cabins at this park

LOCATION

Natural Tunnel State Park is in Scott County, about 13 miles north of Gate City and 20 miles north of Kingsport, Tenn.. To get there, from I-81, take U.S. 23 North to Gate City (about 20 miles). The turn-off to the park is at mile marker 17.4 on Rt. 23. Take Natural Tunnel Parkway about one mile east to park entrance.

Drive Time: Northern Virginia, eight hours; Richmond, six hours; Tidewater/Norfolk/Virginia Beach, eight to nine hours; Roanoke, three and a half hours. Click here for a Google Map. 

RESERVE ONE

There are more than a dozen cabins at this park. Reservations can be made up to eleven months in advance and up to the day before arrival by calling the Virginia State Parks reservation and information center at 800-933-7275. The center is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed all state holidays). Reservations can also be made 24 hours a day on line by clicking here.

A week's stay is required from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day except within one month of arrival. A standard two night minimum stay applies all other times.

Click here for details on reservation cancelation and transfer policies. Pets are welcome to stay with you at the cabin. A fee is charged per pet per night for overnight stays.

Closer to nine other state capitals than Richmond, Natural Tunnel State Park is worth the drive to visit.

 

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Editor's note: While updating the information for reposting this blog I contacted Nancy who coincidentally just happened to be staying in a Natural Tunnel State Park cabin at this very moment. She checked the new cabin and saw it was also a Tempur-Pedic™ mattress as four new cabins have been built since this article first posted back in 2011.

Also added are Yurts, so if you prefer camping to cabins, you can choose a campsite or a brand new Yurt.

Posted October 31, 2011 | Updated July 17, 2017