A Cabin Weekend for Six near Shenandoah in November and December
By Morry Kamara · · 5 min read · trip planning
Late fall is a good time to get six people under one roof. The October leaf traffic has gone home, the evenings come early, and a night in with a fire going and a game on the table feels like the plan rather than the fallback.
The Stag is the cabin we built for exactly that. It sleeps six in two bedrooms: a king suite on the main floor, and a king and a full upstairs. There are two full bathrooms, so nobody waits in line in the morning. It's about ten minutes from downtown Luray, fifteen from the Thornton Gap entrance to Shenandoah National Park, and about two hours from Washington, DC.
Here is how we'd spend two nights there.
Friday: arrive whenever you arrive
Groups never turn up together. Check-in is from 3:00 PM, and whoever gets there first usually ends up on the back deck. It's 25 by 10 feet and fully covered, with a six-person hot tub, a propane fire table and a grill, so a cold or wet evening still works outside.
Two things to sort out before you leave home. The last stretch is a gravel mountain road, and we strongly recommend four-wheel or all-wheel drive. If it snows, we clear it. And bring firewood for the fire pit out front: we don't supply it, but the Walmart in Luray and the gas stations near the cabins sell it.
Saturday: the caverns, the park, or neither
Luray Caverns is ten minutes away and open every day of the year. It stays about 54°F underground whatever the weather, so it's the plan that survives a grey day, and one ticket also covers the car and carriage museum, the heritage village and Toy Town Junction.
Skyline Drive starts fifteen minutes up the road at Thornton Gap. By November the crowds are gone, but sections close in ice and snow, sometimes at short notice, so check the park's road status the morning you go. Entry is $30 per vehicle, paid by card, and it covers seven days. Our Shenandoah guide has the hikes.
For lunch, downtown Luray is ten minutes back down the hill, and our Explore page lists the places we send people. If the group wants a brewery, Coal Ridge in Stanley is open Thursday to Sunday.
Saturday night: the loft
This is the part of the weekend The Stag was designed around. Upstairs is a whole loft for games: a Polycade arcade cabinet, an air hockey table and a Board game console, a 24-inch touchscreen table that plays with real pieces. There's a sofa and an egg chair for whoever is sitting a round out, under a six-by-seven-foot window onto the trees.
Downstairs has the rest of the evening covered: a 75-inch TV, an electric fireplace, a PlayStation 5, a karaoke machine and a record player. Dinner happens around the kitchen island, and the kitchen has a full range with an oven and a microwave, which matters when you're feeding six. Out front, six Adirondack chairs ring the fire pit.
Quiet hours on the hill run from 9:00 PM to 7:00 AM, so the karaoke has a bedtime. The loft doesn't.
Sunday: take it slow
Coffee from the bar under the stairs, one last soak, and check-out by 10:00 AM. The drive back to DC is about two hours, and our page on cabins near Washington DC has the routes.
The practical part
- Price: weeknights cost less than Friday and Saturday nights. The booking page shows the nightly rate, the $135 cleaning fee and tax for your dates before you pay.
- Minimum stay: stays that start on a Friday or Saturday are two nights. Other nights, one is fine.
- Dogs: up to two, for a $50 fee per stay.
- More than six? The Turtle (two) and The Sparrow (four) share the same hillside, so up to twelve can stay across all three. Our group stays page explains how.
- Coming between January and April? The winter weekend guide covers that season.
When we posted this, The Stag still had Thanksgiving weekend and a few December weekends open. Those go first, so check The Stag's dates if you have a weekend in mind.
