The Natural Bridge Historic Hotel is the only place to wake up beside one of America's oldest tourist wonders: a stately Colonial Revival hotel set on a hill across the road from Natural Bridge State Park, carrying on a hospitality tradition at the site that reaches back to the 1830s. The lineage is real — the Forest Inn welcomed early visitors to the bridge in 1833, the grand Appledore hotel followed around 1890 and was expanded and renamed the Natural Bridge Hotel in the early 1900s, and after fire destroyed it in 1963 the present building rose in its place, opening in 1965 with the red-brick, white-columned look it keeps today. It now operates in Wyndham's Trademark Collection. Expect a traditional, comfortable rather than luxurious hotel: classic rooms, the Colonial Dining Room for meals, wide lawns and porches with Blue Ridge views, and the feeling of a historic resort a little out of time. Its real value is position. The Cedar Creek Trail under the bridge is a short walk away, so you can be under the arch early before day-trippers arrive, and the hotel sits in the middle of a rich stretch of the Shenandoah Valley: historic Lexington about twenty minutes north, the Blue Ridge Parkway minutes away, and Luray Caverns about ninety minutes up I-81. Fit: families on an I-81 road trip, couples who like historic properties with modest prices, and cave travelers working their way through Virginia's valley.
The history is woven into the stay. Thomas Jefferson bought the bridge in 1774 and built a retreat cabin; in the 1880s and 1890s Colonel Henry Parsons developed the site into a resort with the Appledore at its heart; and the current hotel, despite being a 1960s building, was designed to echo the Southern grand-hotel tradition, with columns, a broad lawn and gracious public rooms. The hotel shares the bridge's story with guests, and the walk from the front door to the arch connects the two.
Stay craft
Book a room with mountain views if available, plan to walk the Cedar Creek Trail first thing in the morning for the quietest moments under the bridge, and use the hotel as a base for two or three days of valley exploring rather than a single night. Dining on site is convenient but limited; Lexington has a wider range of restaurants a short drive away.
Practicals and fit
15 Appledore Lane, Natural Bridge, Virginia, just off I-81 and US 11, about forty minutes from Roanoke. Pair it with Natural Bridge State Park, Lexington, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Luray Caverns. Fit: road-trippers, history-minded couples and families wanting a simple, well-located base.
Why stay here
- ✓Across from Natural Bridge State Park
- ✓Colonial Dining Room
- ✓Historic resort grounds
- ✓Blue Ridge mountain views
- ✓Wide lawns and porches
- ✓Easy I-81 access
- ✓Near Lexington and the Parkway
- ✓Trademark Collection by Wyndham
Good questions
How close is it to the Natural Bridge?+
Directly across the road from Natural Bridge State Park — a short walk to the visitor center and the Cedar Creek Trail under the arch.
Is the building historic?+
The site is: travelers have lodged here since the 1833 Forest Inn, and the grand Natural Bridge Hotel stood until a 1963 fire. The present Colonial Revival building opened in 1965 in the same tradition.
Is it a good base for Luray Caverns?+
It works for a valley road trip — Luray is roughly ninety minutes north on I-81, with Lexington and the Blue Ridge Parkway much closer.
