safe place to park in Daleville, VA for a few weeks

I'm (finally) retiring in a week's time and am looking forward to getting back out on the Trail for a post-retirement section hike. If I drive up to VA from FL this would involve a NB section hike from Daleville, whereupon I'd hike for a week, then turn around and hike back to my car. If this were to work out I'd need a safe place to park for a couple of weeks. Any suggestions?

The driving option is one of many. I might fly up to Roanoke instead, then get a shuttle from the airport to the AT in Daleville, but I'm looking to cover all of the potential options. Thanks to all in advance - all comments and suggestions are welcome.

The HoJo's in Daleville (right on the trail) might let you park there. They are hiker friendly and have a big parking lot. Worth a call to find out.

Ask at Outdoor Trails. There is a very large and underutilized lot there and they may be fine with you parking in it.

Like caleb said call outdoor trails see if you can park in the parking lot. ITs shared with all the shopping center and is patroled by the county. The long term parking by the freeway I would pass on for that long.For a weekend would be ok and has been anything longer would be a no go there.

Is the out and back thing a necessary part of the hike? Outdoor Trails did shuttles the last time we hiked that area, and you could get shuttled 2 weeks north and hike back.

Definitely give John at OT a call re a shuttle. Or post here for that matter... Plenty of us live in the area and are potentially available.

I parked in the Kroger parking lot under a light. I've done it for a couple of weeks twice - no problems.

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Originally Posted by bigcranky

Is the out and back thing a necessary part of the hike? Outdoor Trails did shuttles the last time we hiked that area, and you could get shuttled 2 weeks north and hike back.

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First of all, thanks to all who have posted so far. Some good ideas, including the Outdoor Trails outfitter in the shopping plaza. I remember that place from 2005, when I got off the trail at that time. Glad to hear that they are still in business.

The out and back thing is definitely not necessary. Frankly, I'd rather just keep right on walking on trail that I haven't done before, rather than retrace my steps. I reached out to one shuttle name from the list for that section, so that is a possibility at a buck a mile as well.

Now that I know that the outfitter is still in business, maybe I'll just fly up, get a shuttle from the airport, then buy fuel there before heading out. It's going to be a while before this takes place but it's good to know the details in advance. Thanks everyone.

another option for a shuttle is Stanimal in Glasgow (James River crossing I think) - IF you want to go that far. Park your car at the end point, get shuttled back to Daleville, and hike north. I just stayed with them at their Waynesboro location and made extensive use of their shuttles - worked out very well.

If you need a shuttle - Homer Witcher is the man.
For parking use a lot behind Valley Cleaners (recommended to me by Homer) - it's right next to AT. Left my car there without a problem.

Valley Cleaners is okay with leaving a car parked there while they're open? I never realized that. They're definitely good with using the lot over the weekend.

There was a girl sitting near the back entrance when I arrived.
I asked her if it was OK to leave my car at their lot for a week and she said it was fine - no permission or note needed. There were a few cars parked there already.

I saw a note on one cars' windshield about section hiking with dates, though. Wouldn't do it myself out of security considerations.

Mass transit options exists. Keep in mind a shuttle would be involved at some point. Roanoke has bus, train, and plane options. The bus is probably not helpful NOBO as the dog arcs over to Richmond. Amtrak stops in Lynchburg, Charlottesville, and Culpepper, with that line running to DC. Now here's a plan. Fly between say Tampa and Roanoke (1 way) and Tampa and Charlottesville (1 way). Daleville to Smith Roach Gap is ~175 miles, and a shuttle from the Gap to Charlottesville is only ~35 miles. Key is to split the flights between airports near the endpoints. Note that if you factor in Amtrak, the southbound train is an evening train into Roanoke. Roanoke is on a spur line, so perhaps southbound there are other trains earlier in the day not going to Roanoke. Amtrak has multiple trains daily on high traffic commuter lines but I don't suspect that line has more than one daily.

Actually the bus to check out is Megabus. They have multiple stops along that Amtrak route as well as on the other side of SNP along I81 from Christiansburg north to as far as Front Royal before heading east to DC.