There and Back Again: Rocky Mount to Bristol

Explore the Crooked Road—from Virginia to Tennessee

Photo courtesy of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum

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Backroads transport us to the places in between. This regularly occurring feature takes you to and from two southeastern destinations via winding rural roads lined with spacious farmland, historic sites, captivating overlooks, and locally owned businesses. Take one route there and another back to experience two unique journeys.

Our spring excursion follows a portion of “The Crooked Road,” an established music heritage trail in Southwest Virginia that offers more than just good tunes and live performances. It also leads to distilleries and vineyards where you can sample locally curated spirits; hikes to waterfalls and mountain overlooks; a country store that grows 600 varieties of daylilies and hosts cruise-in style music jams; and more. 

Start your journey in Rocky Mount, Virginia, then travel four hours and forty-three minutes to Bristol on the border of Virginia and Tennessee. The return to Rocky Mount takes four hours and thirty-three minutes. We recommend booking an overnight stay in Bristol to ensure enough time for maximum enjoyment of these intriguing destinations.

In this post, Explorer and Voyager subscribers will find Google Maps links from Rocky Mount to Bristol, then back again from Bristol to Rocky Mount, plus bonus info about unique accommodations so you can book an overnight stay to break up your trip.