Plan a Visit

Location & Directions

3075 Gables Run Road
Charlottesville, VA 22902

We’re conveniently located 7 miles from downtown Charlottesville, five minutes from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and Keswick Hall. Use the map here for detailed directions, or follow these steps:

  • From US-250 E

  • Turn right onto N Milton Rd

  • Turn left onto Milton Rd

  • Turn right onto Gables Run Rd

  • Pass through the iron gates and visitor parking is on your right. Follow the stone steps towards the Tasting Tavern.

Hours of Operation

We’re open to visitors:

Thursday - Saturday 12 - 7pm and Sundays 12-5pm

Note: Hours may vary seasonally. Check our website, Google listing, Instagram @thistlerockmead, or call ahead for the latest information.

 

The Tavern

Our Tasting Tavern, built out of a restored 1790’s log cabin found in the Shenandoah Valley, features a live-edge tasting bar, cozy fireplace, botanical facilities, library, and honey lounge, designed by our co-founder John Kluge and his wife Christine, and built with local artisans with fallen oak timber and antique furniture throughout.

At the tavern, guests can enjoy our flagship and seasonal meads, local craft cider and wines crafted by women winemakers, NA beverages, and a Scotts-Irish gastro small plate menu prepared by our culinary partner, Chef Harrison Keevil, with ingredients sourced fresh from local Central Virginia farms including vegetarian and gluten-free options.

Mead & Honey Tastings

We offer a mead tasting flight curated by mazers Doug Suchan and Amanda Kwiecien, and a honey tasting flight featuring estate and rare honeys selected each month from special biospheres around the world. Our knowledgeable staff will guide you through each tasting, explaining the unique flavors, mead styles, honey terroir, and stories of beekeeping communities responsibly for these honeys.

Guided Bloom-to-bottle Tours

We also offer immersive, guided farm tours where guests, accompanied by a senior member of our honey guiding team, will get to walk through our pollinator gardens, learn about the entire bloom-to-bottle process, get behind-the-scenes look at our production, completing the tour with a sample of our estate honey and flagship Piedmont Wildflower Traditional mead at the Tasting Tavern.

Booking Information

To book a visit or tour:

  • Call us at (434)-340-1933

  • Email us at thehive@thistlerockmead.com

  • Groups of 8 or more should contact us for special arrangements. Private events and special bookings are also available.

Additional on-site Ammenities

  • Regenerative Flower Farm

  • Farm shop with mead, honey, and mission-aligned products

  • Outdoor stone amphitheater & performance venue

  • Outdoor picnic areas, swings, and hammocks

  • Forest walking trail

  • A selection of indoor and outdoor games

  • Scandinavian All-Season Event Tipi

  • Accessible facilities for all visitors

cut-your-own

regenerative flowers

Walk amidst thousands of blooms of regeneratively grown perennials and annuals. Choose your own botanical adventure, cutting from over 150 unique species of flowers and plants.

Cut-Your-Own tickets are available at the Tavern for $25. Guests are given a pair of snips to borrow and a mason jar to take home with their bouquet. General Admission to the flower field is $10 per person.

Farm Rules

  • Follow the Way of Nature. Be kind to our Earth and to each other.

  • Well-behaved dogs may be outside on a leash.

  • No outside food or drink.

  • No outside alcohol per ABC law.

  • No smoking/vaping on the property.

  • Guests must remain in public areas; private areas are off-limits.

  • Access the bee yard only on guided tours.

  • Access to the flower field requires a ticket; children under 12 can enter free with a supervising adult.

  • Children must be supervised.

  • Last call at the Tavern is 30 minutes before closing; to-go bottles sold until closing.

  • Groups of eight or more must reserve seating in advance.

  • No trespassing; open only during posted hours.

  • No stealing; theft will be prosecuted.

  • No weapons except for law enforcement.

  • No vandalism; offenders will pay for damages.