I echo the above. We went on a college tour of a college in a city we were visiting when our kids were 9th grade. It was largely lost on them. The summer before 11th grade was when we started in earnest.
Check out James Madison University (JMU), Harrisonburg, VA. It has well regarded majors in Education, Nursing, etc. It has a similar feel to Virginia Tech but a little less remote. I went to Virginia Tech (Acctg), my oldest son graduated from Virginia Tech (Mechanical Engineering) and youngest is at JMU (Geology & Environmental Science). Cannot say enough good about both depending on your major. Best of luck.
I will also say it is better to wait. We started touring at the beginning of junior year - they will change quite a bit from middle school so criteria will be quite different. Also, we took younger S who was a hs freshman along on one and he came away with a negative impression - he was bored and not looking at colleges the same as he would even a year or two later. It’s not too early, however, to start exposing them to different career tracks - talking to people in different careers is a good starting point.
I would wait until 10th grade to visit. She will have a little better idea of what she might want to study and where she stands academically: for example if she wants to study engineering it greatly reduce the number schools you visit. I wouldn’t wait until 11th to start, she will likely be over scheduled by then.
Whenever you decide to take the trip, consider the University of Michigan; Ann Arbor is a great college town!