For great views, awesome hikes and plenty of fresh air, head to the "Peaks."

From almost any outdoor location in Bedford County, you can look up and see the Peaks of Otter mountainscape, located along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The peaks are surrounded by many trails, ranging from a strenuous 1 1/2-mile trek to the summit of Sharp Top (which offers a 360-degree view of the mountains) to an easy one-mile loop around Abbott Lake. Speaking of the lake, fishing there includes catfish, smallmouth bass, golden shiners, sunfish and bluegill. The three mountains that make up the Peaks of Otter are located near the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Thomas Jefferson once wrote that "the mountains of the Blue Ridge, and of these the Peaks of Otter, are thought to be of a greater height, measured from their base, than any others in our country, and perhaps in North America." Of course this later turned out not to be the case, but not before Virgina had sent stones from the peaks to be its part of the Washington Monument.