Blue Ridge Parkway
in
Western North Carolina
The American
Blue Ridge Parkway,
shepherded by the US National Park Service, is probably the most famous road in
current use in the world. Flirting with the peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains it
leads the motorist in a southwesterly direction from Virginia to North Carolina.
Shortly after entering North Carolina it interrupts its southwesterly journey to
skirt the southern end of the Black Mountains, then visits the Craggies (and
reaches its highest elevation), skirts Asheville, passes Mt. Pisgah and at the
spot where Haywood, Jackson and Transylvania Counties meet it reaches its
southern-most point. Bending northwest, now in the Great Smoky Mountains, it
enters Swain County and terminates at US-441 at the entrance of Great Smoky
Mountains National Park.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is quite a road. There is more to see, on and near the Parkway, than on
any other strip of pavement. From the heights of Grandfather Mountain (5964 feet
- Milepost
305 - Linville exit) and Mt. Mitchell (at 6684 feet, the highest point in the
eastern United States - Milepost 355.4) to the majesty of the
Biltmore Estate
(House and Gardens) in the valley of the French Broad River (Milepost 389 -
Asheville) and all kinds of sights before,
after and in-between, driving the Parkway is an entire vacation in itself.
In June, when the Rhododendrons are in bloom, we recommend the
detour to
Roan Mountain (At Milepost 331, take NC-226 through Spruce Pine to
Bakersville, then north on NC-261. Roan Mountain is on the left just before you cross
the Tennessee border (see:
alternate route). Also, best in the spring - but because of plentiful
water and not blooming flowers - is the climactic fury of
Linville
Falls (milepoint 316.3). There are so many well marked ways to access
the Parkway that we needn't list them here.
For the last word on parkway closures (recommended), please contact
the Blue Ridge Parkway Association, P.O. Box 453, Asheville, NC 28802. Phone
828-298-0398.
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