Most of Western Loudoun's agritourism corridor asks you to drive. You stop at one winery, get back in the car, find parking somewhere else, repeat. Bluemont does something structurally different. The Appalachian Trail crosses the ridge at Snickers Gap. A quarter-mile down Foggy Bottom Road, four separate businesses occupy a connected stretch of the same 400-acre working farm. On a Saturday morning in June, you can hike two miles of the AT, pick up coffee and a cider donut at Knead It Bakery, walk to the Henway Hard Cider barn, and still be sitting on Dirt Farm Brewing's mountain patio watching the Loudoun Valley spread out below you before noon. That concentration is not accidental. It is what happens when one farming family builds four businesses on the same land over three decades — and then opens a Tasting Terrace on top.
The Zurschmeide family started farming in Loudoun County in the early 1970s, establishing a homestead in Lincoln, Virginia. As the operation grew, moving equipment through traffic became unworkable, and in 1993 the family purchased the land in Bluemont that is now home to Great Country Farms. Looking up at the mountain from the valley fields, they eventually acquired the 100 acres that became Bluemont Vineyard. Dirt Farm Brewing opened in 2015, one of the earliest farm breweries in Loudoun County. Henway Hard Cider — the name drawn from a five-generation family joke about a grandfather's chicken — came later, pressing cider from Great Country Farms' own apple harvest. The practical result: everything worth doing on a Bluemont Saturday is within walking or short driving distance of everything else on the property.
Start on the Trail
Bear's Den Overlook is a rocky outcropping on the Appalachian Trail, accessible from two trailheads near Snickers Gap on Route 7. The most direct route from the Snickers Gap parking lot runs about 1.5 miles round trip — short enough for most fitness levels, including families with kids who want to scramble on boulders at the top. The overlook is a west-facing ledge with panoramic views across the Shenandoah Valley. On a clear summer morning, before the valley haze builds, those views are worth the drive on their own.
Two practical points for summer weekends: start early. The Snickers Gap lot fills up by mid-morning and the trail gets crowded on the rocks by late morning. Dogs are welcome on leash. If you want more trail, the section north toward Raven Rocks extends the hike without significant additional elevation commitment, and the Appalachian Trail's "Roller Coaster" section — a 13.5-mile stretch of steep, rocky up-and-down terrain — is accessible for experienced hikers looking for a longer outing south of the gap.
Bear's Den is owned by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and operated by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. The historic stone mansion on the property serves as a hostel and sits 150 yards from the AT. Day-use parking is $3 per car.
Down Foggy Bottom Road
Great Country Farms and Knead It Bakery anchor the valley end of the Zurschmeide operation. The farm runs pick-your-own experiences across the season — cherries in June, peaches in July and August. Worth knowing before you go: a late freeze this season closed the orchards to u-pick, but peaches remain available for purchase at the farm market. Knead It Bakery operates on-site and produces the pastries and coffee that supply the brunch programming at Bluemont Vineyard's The Stable. If you are arriving before a hike, stopping here first is the move.
Henway Hard Cider sits further up Foggy Bottom Road, pressing cider from the same apple crop grown below the mountain. The barn offers flights — typically three ciders and an apple wine pour — in a space that is family-friendly and noticeably quieter than the winery above. The detail that surprises most first-time visitors: Henway has a stocked catch-and-release fishing pond. Bring your own pole. Live bait can be purchased at the farm market during the season. The May Day Market, which Henway runs in collaboration with the broader farm property, brings vendors and the whole Foggy Bottom corridor together for a family-oriented afternoon each spring.
Dirt Farm Brewing sits a short drive further up the mountain on the same property. The taproom and patio face out over the Loudoun Valley from the Blue Ridge mountainside — the kind of view that makes it easy to lose an hour. The brewery's Homegrown Series uses fruits, vegetables, and grains grown at Great Country Farms, which means the provenance of the beer is literally visible from where you are sitting. Starting in June and running every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through August, Chef Megan is serving fresh lobster rolls — full lobster on a buttery toasted roll. That menu choice at a farm brewery in the Blue Ridge foothills is the kind of detail that catches people off guard, and it should. Trail Fest, Dirt Farm's annual event combining vendors, live bluegrass, and guided hikes on the property's own trail network, is worth building a day around rather than treating as a stop. Bluegrass sets with Josh Crews and Shade Tree Collective are on the calendar through Memorial Day weekend and into the summer.
Bluemont Vineyard crowns the cluster at 951 feet above sea level, with panoramic views of the valley and the farm orchards below. The tasting room opened its Tasting Terrace for summer 2026 — an outdoor guided tasting experience running guided flights with seasonal pairings. The current pairing through May is a French Macaron and Wine flight. The vineyard's event calendar runs from Memorial Day weekend through fall harvest and includes monthly Vista Wine Club nights, a Meritage blending class, and a recurring astrological wine tasting series — flights built around your sun sign's elemental house, timed to the full moon over the Blue Ridge. Memorial Day weekend this year features events honoring the holiday alongside the Tasting Terrace launch. The Stable venue is available for private bookings and has hosted everything from brunch collaborations with Great Country Farms to wine-paired dinners.
For guests visiting from out of town, the Cottages at Bluemont offer an overnight option directly on the vineyard grounds. The Brewer's Cottage, built in the 1940s as a Bluemont residence, sits steps from Dirt Farm's taproom. The property was developed in collaboration with Henway and Great Country Farms to give guests full access to the farm ecosystem across multiple seasons — cherry harvest in June, barrel stomping at the annual Crush with Us event in September, and the Lighting of the Vines holiday illumination in December.
The Road Back
Bluemont connects to the rest of Western Loudoun via the Snickersville Turnpike, which runs south from the village toward Aldie through Airmont and Philmont. It was the first operating turnpike in America, and the two-lane road still passes through three quaint general stores and a string of historic stops. If you are driving out-of-town guests through the county, or simply want a different return route after a morning on the mountain, it earns its time. Bluemont Country Store and the Bluemont Farmers Market round out the village itself, which sits at the base of the mountain at the Route 7 junction.
Leesburg is about 20 minutes east on Route 7. Bluemont does not require a full-day commitment to justify the drive. But the structure of Foggy Bottom Road means that if you arrive mid-morning without a firm plan, you will still be there at three in the afternoon without having made a wrong decision. That is a specific kind of place, and it is rarer than it looks on a map.
If you live in Bluemont or Western Loudoun and have questions about the local market — or if you are thinking about what it takes to own property in this part of the county — Diana Geremia has worked in this area since 2006 and knows the land, the roads, and the farms. Let's connect.
