Maple Tree Campground Tree Houses, Gapland, Md.

Grassy Creek Cabooses, Fancy Gap

Mountain Waters Chapel at Beard, Hillsboro, W.Va.

Many guests at the Mountain Waters Chapel at Beard go as a personal retreat or a rest stop while traveling the nearby Greenbrier River Trail.

Many guests at the Mountain Waters Chapel at Beard go as a personal retreat or a rest stop while traveling the nearby Greenbrier River Trail.

Getting away from it all doesn't mean simply changing geography. It's a head thing, a new perspective. To truly escape, jump totally out of the loop, perhaps hiding out in a relic from another time. Maybe a few nights in an 1885 train depot or the quiet sanctuary of an old country church will give you that fix. Perhaps what you need is a retreat to the self-contained world of a caboose, on top of a mountain yet? Or for a truly zany retreat, you can hole up in a rustic tree house.

The best getaways provide more than a bed; they offer a fantasy. These offbeat overnights are surprisingly affordable and all within a few hours' drive of Roanoke.

Mountain Waters Chapel at Beard

Hillsboro, W.Va.

(304) 653-4387, lesleemac@frontiernet.net

If you're not braced against the back of a hard, wooden pew, the still sanctuary of a country church is an ideal place for a sleep. At the Mountain Waters Chapel in Pocahontas County, W.Va., guests can snooze before the altar on a queen-sized bed without the distraction of a preacher or choir. Or indulge any other fantasy in the private chapel cottage. A refrigerator in the kitchenette off the narthex waits to chill champagne or other potable spirits for guests' communion.

Although the Presbyterian congregation stopped meeting in this small clapboard church more than 30 years ago, the original pews, lights and altar still give the space a sacred feeling. Muted sunlight filters through stained-glass windows to brighten the dark wood sanctum. The few sounds that make their way through the thick walls are the chirping of birds or neighing of horses. Should you feel like playing the Hammond B-3 organ, the acoustics are excellent.

It is possible to marry and have your honeymoon at Mountain Waters Chapel; the sanctuary has hosted more weddings as a bed-and-breakfast than when it operated as a church from 1922 to 1975. Owner Leslee McCarty, an ordained minister, can officiate.

But most folks come to Beard Chapel as a personal retreat or a rest stop while traveling the nearby Greenbrier River Trail by foot, bicycle or horseback (McCarty accommodates equine guests in a pasture next door). Well-behaved dogs are also welcome at Beard Chapel.

Overnight rates are $95 for two and $25 for each additional person.

Nearby, so don't miss:

The 76-mile Greenbrier River Trail entices hikers, cyclists, and equestrians to stretch their legs.

Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park celebrates a key battle in which Union forces gained control of West Virginia in 1863. Monuments mark where the Union army broke through the Confederate line, and a log museum houses relics of the battle.

Snowshoe Mountain Resort offers everything from sporting clays and mountain biking to golf and skiing.

Grassy Creek Cabooses

278 Caboose Lane Fancy Gap, VA 24328 (276) 398-1100, www.grassycreekcabooses.com

High on a ridge above the Blue Ridge Parkway, far from any railroad, sit the Grassy Creek Cabooses. As owner Donnie Yow will tell anyone, getting the 27-ton, nickel-plated railroad cars to this Southwest Virginia mountain wasn't easy -- it required two cranes, a flatbed truck and lots of negotiating.

"I wanted to offer vacationers something different from the usual cabins along the parkway," Yow says.

Yow bought his first caboose, a 1956 model, from the National Railroad Historical Society in Greensboro, N.C., in 2000, added a 1962 version in 2001 and a newer N&W model a few years later. He spends his time refurbishing the cars from stark utilitarian to vacation comfort.

The cabooses have queen-sized beds, Jacuzzis, refrigerators, microwaves, televisions, stereos, VCRs, heat and air conditioning. The 494 model includes a full kitchen and a sleep sofa for the kids, although so far the secluded cabooses have appealed most to couples looking for a getaway.

Yow's last caboose features a cupola; he's also added a train depot for families who want more space. His goal is to have at least five cabooses perched on the hillside, all facing due west for the most spectacular sunsets.

"We're up at 3,000 feet, far from any urban spillover, so it gets very dark here when the sun goes down. It's a great place to watch the stars," Yow says.

Stargazers can enjoy the view from log rockers on the caboose porches or a cedar double swing on the edge of the meadow. Although Yow has installed low-level lighting in keeping with the natural setting, he is contemplating equipping his driveway with a railroad crossing sign with flashing lights tripped by motorists.

Grassy Creek Cabooses are open year-round and rent for $95 a night or $475 for a six-night stay.

Nearby, so don't miss:

Levering Orchard features summer plays and pick-your-own fruit.

Mount Airy, N.C. Andy Griffith's hometown, features the Andy Griffith Playhouse ([800] 286-6193), the Andy Griffith Museum ([800] 576-0231) and the Mayberry Jail.

Chateau Morrisette Winery. Virginia's largest winery and its adjoining restaurant are located at milepost 171.5 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Numerous antique shops and produce stands are located nearby, and many short hiking trails shoot off from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Maple Tree Campground Tree Houses

Gapland, Md. (301) 432-5585, www.thetreehouse-camp.com

Maple Tree Campground's tree houses are so rustic that you stand a chance of bumping into the central tree trunk if you roam from your bunk in the dark. The screened windows let in the scent of your campfire and the cries of owls and other night birds. This is like camping out without the damp ground and the bugs.

Each tree house has four to eight wooden bunks -- some single, some double -- extending from the walls. All tree houses are constructed around living trees, are seven feet off the ground and sport front balconies. None of them contain mattresses; those come with the larger tree cottages, which also have woodstoves, tables and insulation.

The indoor bathrooms and outdoor showers (hot and cold water) are a few minutes' walk down a forest path. The camp store dispenses snacks, coffee and camping supplies.

Maple Tree's grandmotherly owner, Phyllis Soroko, bought the wooded land on central Maryland's South Mountain in 1976 with a conventional campground in mind. But after constructing her first tree houses, Soroko developed a "revulsion" for graded RV sites and dumping stations, so the 26-acre wooded campground continues to serve only tent campers and those who stay in the 12 tree houses and cottages. Tree houses rent for $40 a night; cottages for $56 to $66 a night.

Nearby, so don't miss:

Antietam National Battlefield marks the end of Civil War Gen. Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North in September 1862 and resulted in more than 23,000 men killed, wounded and missing in a single day.

(301) 432-5124, www.nps.gov/anti

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is located in the town that witnessed John Brown's attack on slavery, the largest surrender of Federal troops during the Civil War and the education of former slaves in one of the earliest integrated schools in the nation. (304) 535-6371, www.nps.gov/hafe/home.htm

Gathland State Park includes a museum to the famous Civil War correspondent George Townsend and a self-guided tour of South Mountain Battlefield.

The Appalachian Trail runs along the back of the Maple Tree Campground.

Getting there: Take Interstate 81 to Hagerstown, Md., then catch alternate U.S. 40 to Boonesboro, Md. Here you will turn right on Maryland 67 and, after five miles, turn left onto Gapland Road and after 1¹₂ miles take a left on Townsend Road. The campground entrance is your third right.

The Train Station at Allisonia

Allisonia (540) 980-2051, www.newriverlodging.com

Although guests at the 1885 Allisonia Train Station no longer hear the whistle of the Norfolk and Western, they have ideal access to both the New River Trail and the New River. Walkers, bikers and equestrians pass by the station's front door on the 57-mile New River Rail Trail from Pulaski to Galax. The eponymous New River idles into Claytor Lake a hundred yards from the station's back door.

The three-room cottage is cozily furnished with a hodgepodge of beautiful and campy collectibles owner Chipper Holt refers to as "antique junk." The bedroom, which first served as a waiting room, is the most elegant room in the house with its lace shades, frilly lamps, and framed flowers. Guests breakfast beside the bay window in the former telegraph room and bathe in a clawfoot tub just behind the ticket window. The living room, whose couch folds into another bed, is dominated by a slew of woven baskets suspended from the ceiling. The curtains are suspended from railroad spikes salvaged from the railroad bed that runs past the depot.

But the television pulls in dozens of channels, and you can microwave your breakfast in seconds flat.

In the morning, you can accept the Holts' invitation to try out their paddle boat on this lazy section of river-turning-into-lake or stretch your legs on a hike on the New River Trail. Visitors often spot turkeys under the nearby Reed Island trestle, and vultures roost in the limestone cliffs just beyond.

Before you leave Allisonia, look around at the turn-of-the century architecture. The gingerbread and Queen Anne homes represent remnants of an iron-mining town that once boasted four general stores, two schools, three mills and two hotels. The ruins of stone iron furnaces are visible in the brush at several spots along the southern portion of the trail.

The train station rents for $90 a night, $400 a week.

Nearby, so don't miss:

New River Trail State Park runs past the Train Station, north to Pulaski, south to Fries and Galax. (276) 699-6778

Claytor Lake State Park offers a beach, a marina, hiking trails and picnic facilities. (540) 674-5492

New River Valley Speedway holds Saturday night races as part of the Winston Racing Series. (540) 639-1700

Getting there: Take Exit 94 off Interstate 81, following old Virginia 100 to Virginia 672 (Lowman's Ferry Road), where you will turn right, eventually crossing Claytor Lake. Turn right again on Virginia 693 to pass over Little Irish Mountain to the New River. The train depot is on your left as you approach Allisonia.