Harrisonburg, its surrounding area, and the Shenandoah Valley, offer an enormous variety of places to explore. Most students leave James Madison wishing they could have found more time to take advantage of these opportunities. Have fun getting to know this wonderful area!
Arts and Entertainment
| Oasis Gallery A community co-operative gallery with interesting work from local artists. The exhibitions change frequently, and you can also take art classes here in the evenings. | 103 South Main Street 540-442-8188 Website |
| Zirkle House Gallery JMU's student-run gallery, which has been in operation since the early 1970's. Stop by when they have exhibit openings to check out some great student work and partake of refreshments. They also host Free Coffee Fridays "when you can add a rush to your day from both inspirational art and caffeine!" | 983 South Main Street 540-568-6869 Website |
| Blue Ridge Pottery Shop the gallery, take pottery classes, or a tour of the studios. | See website for directions. Standardsville, VA 22973 804-985-6080 Website |
| Court Square Theater The theater is a non-profit arts venue featuring unusual movies, musical groups, and plays. Their movies are probably the biggest attraction. | 61 Graham Street 540-433-9189 Website |
| Black Friar's Playhouse The playhouse is a period reproduction of a Shakespearean theatre where you can catch all of your favorites. | 10 South Market Street, Staunton, VA 24401 540-885-5588 Website |
| Frontier Culture Museum Three authentic farms have been brought over from Europe to portray America's ancestral culture. The structures include a German farm c. 1700-1750, a Scotch Irish farm c.1700-1830, an English yeoman farm c.1675-1700, an American farm from the 1800's, and an 18th century forge from Northern Ireland. Costumed staff replicate daily life at each location. | See website for directions. Staunton, VA 24402 540-332-7850, extension 124 Website |
| Artful Dodger Coffee Shop Stop in for a cup of coffee and you'll probably catch someone playing the piano or a guitar. Sit outside on the square and watch the world go by. | 47 Court Square 540-432-1179 Website |
| Calhoun's Restaurant and Brewery Live entertainment Wednesday through Friday, usually Jazz. | 41 Court Square 540-434-8777 Website |
| Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar Big screen TV's, karaoke, NTN trivia, sportscasts. | 1007 South Main Street 540-438-9790 |
| Massanutten Regional Library On the weekend, the library has "Art Video Lunch Hours' where community members are invited to come and watch videos about arts around the world. These are brown bag lunch events. Check the Oasis website listed above for times and topics. | 174 South Main Street 540-434-4475 Website |
| Dixie 4 Cinemas This is an old Victorian house that has been renovated and turned into a movie theater. It's a lot of fun and has a quaint old-fashioned concession bar on the main level. They play second-run movies for $3-5, even if you go in the evening. | 125 East Beverly Street, Staunton, VA 24401 540-885-6772 Website |
| Climbing Tree Moviehouse A couple bought one of the older Regal cinemas in town and have been trying to turn it into a profitable independent cinema- they also play second run movies, usually for under $4. They don't list what they're playing in the paper very often, but if you call, they'll be happy to list the features for you. | 1925 East Market Street (in the Valley Mall) 540-801-8500 |
| Regal Cinemas Harrisonburg 14 The megaplex in Harrisonburg- most commercially successful movies play here. | 381 University Boulevard 540-434-7661 Website |
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Recreation
| George Washington National Forest 900+ miles of trails, hiking, fishing, backpacking, biking, and camping. | See website for directions. 540-828-2591 Website |
| Shenandoah National Park 500+ miles of trails, hiking, fishing, backpacking, biking, and camping. | See website for directions. 540-999-3500 Website |
| Skyline Drive A scenic route through Shenandoah National Park. | See website for directions. 540-999-3500 Website |
| Reddish Knob At 4397 feet high, Reddish Knob is the highest point in Northern Virginia, giving you a panoramic view of the valley and amazing sunsets. Just 45 minutes away; take Route 42 west, six miles to Dayton. Turn right on Route 257. At Briery Branch, turn left on Route 731. Go 1/4 mile, then turn right onto Route 924 to parking at the Briery Branch Dam on the left. | See directions listed. 540-984-4104 Website |
| JMU Arboretum Feel like you're in the woods without leaving campus! Go for a hike, take a tour, sit by the lake, or play Frisbee. | See website for directions. 540-568-3194 Website |
| Massanutten Resort A four season resort approximately 30 minutes from town- you can go skiing, horseback-riding, play golf, hike, bike, go whitewater rafting, or canoeing. | See website for directions. McGaheysville, VA 22840 540-289-9441 Website |
| The Bull Pen Featuring miniature golf, batting cages, and go-carts. | 1945 Deyerle Avenue 540-433-2243 |
| Pointblank Paintball | 1084 Virginia Avenue 540-564-0002 |
| Fun Zone Family Roller Skating Center | 100 Miller Circle 540-434-1834 |
| Valley Lanes Bowling | 3106 South Main Street 540-434-8721 |
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Shopping
| Valley Mall Gap, Bath & Body Works, Express, Maurice's, American Eagle, B. Moss, Spencer's Gifts, B. Dalton, Hallmark, Belk, Peebles, JCPenney's, Walmart, FYE, Sam Goody | 1925 East Market Street 540-433-1875 Website |
| A Touch of the Earth Unique gifts from around the world; clothing, jewelry, pottery, instruments, incense, home décor, screens, and rugs. | 163 South Main Street 540-432-1894 Website |
| Dayton Farmer's Market Open Thursday through Saturday offering local produce, homemade baked goods, handcrafted furniture, collectibles and bulk foods. Operated largely by the Mennonite community of Dayton. "Experience a slice of Virginia you won't find on campus… it's the Mall-ternative." | See website for directions. 540-879-3801 Website |
| Harrisonburg Farmer's Market Every Tuesday and Saturday morning, April through November, local vendors and farmers will come to the downtown parking deck to sell their wares. You'll find fresh produce, baked goods, meats, cheeses, greenhouse plants, and cut flowers in this open-air market. | Lower level of the parking deck, between W. Bruce St. and W. Water St. 540-433-1676 |
| Green Valley Book Fair The Green Valley Book Fair is a discount book outlet store featuring new books at bargain prices. Save 60% to 90% off retail on over 50,000 different titles in more than 60 different categories - including fiction, history, health and self-help, personal finance, science, sports, children's books, cooking, gardening, crafts, art, reference, computer books, and more. The Book Fair will be open this summer from May 18 -June 2, June 29 - July 14, and August 10 - August 25. | See website for directions. 800-385-0099 Website |
| The Craft House and Studio Art Shop Your one-stop shopping location for art supplies in Harrisonburg. | 313 Neff Avenue 540-432-0695 |
| Glen's Fair Price Store A fire just waiting to happen, there's more stuff crammed into this tiny store than you can imagine. It's a department store, camera shop, pet store, costume rental, flea market, and hobby shop all rolled up into one. "If you can't find it anywhere else, don't give up before a visit to Glen's." | 187 North Main Street 540-434-8272 |
| Harper's Lawn Ornaments Another kitschy landmark in Harrisonburg, for all of your yard adornment needs. | See website for directions. 540-434-8978 Website |
| Plan 9 Music Go here for hard to find music and a wide selection of records. If they don't have it, they'll order it for you. | 1790 East Market Street (in Spotswood Valley Square) 540-434-9999 Website |
| Town and Campus Records Rarely open during their specified hours, sometimes open during non-specified hours, if you walk by and see that the sign says "Open," you're in luck. Step inside and experience Harrisonburg's real college-town record store. Also a great place to go if you want an enormous poster. | 20 West Water Street 540-433-5550 |
| Gift and Thrift This non-profit organization features second-hand merchandise as well as a 10,000 Villages international bazaar, including handmade pottery, jewelry, musical instruments, and coffee and tea from developing nations. | 227 North Main Street 540-433-8844 |
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Dining
Day Trips
Most JMU students stay on campus each weekend- we are definitely not a suitcase school. Sometimes, however, you may want to go traveling on the weekends to take a break from graduate school. You will be happy to know there are plenty of fun places to go that are not too far from Harrisonburg!
Transportation
Locally: The Harrisonburg Transit system is very comprehensive, and will allow you to get most places in Harrisonburg. It's free to ride, and the schedule is available online at http://www.hdpt.com/transitbus.htm.
Elsewhere: The Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport is located about 15 minutes away from Harrisonburg for your traveling convenience. If you need to fly somewhere and want to leave from a larger airport, most people would go to Dulles, which is about 1 hour and 45 minutes away. Reagan National Airport is about the same distance away as Dulles, and BWI is about an hour further north.
JMU also offers a service called Home Ride- it's a charter bus that leaves from campus on the weekends and on breaks with service to the Vienna Metro Station, Charlottesville, Richmond, and Hampton. Tickets can be purchased at the JMU Bookstore. For more information, visit http://www.bogens.com/homeride/info-jmu.html or call 800-553-6644.
Other Resources
