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Are
you planning a trip to the THE BLUE RIDGE
PARKWAY?
The Blue Ridge Parkway offers a delightful,
scenic and often breathtaking tour. But
why take my word for it? You can read
hundreds of reviews from real travelers
on TripAdvisor. Get
the truth. Then go.
The
scenic beauty of the has Blue Ridge Parkway
has earned it the designation as an All
American Road. In its restored glory, the
parkway has become one
of the most visited sites of the National
Park system.
Once,
these mountains were home to the Cherokee.
After they were transferred to their new
homes on the Oklahoma reservation, the farmers
and settlers who took their place found
that surviving in their mountain environment
was far from simple. They had to hunt exhaustingly
and farm a difficult terrain to extract
the very rudiments of an existence.
Today,
the settler/farmers of previous times have
mostly left. The dwindling supply of game,
the difficult farming terrain, the absolute
remoteness and the harsh winters all took
their toll and contributed to their departure.
After
numerous years of extensive logging and
over-farming, the scenic beauty of the Blue
Ridge Mountains has been restored. Together
with the cultural remnants of the departed
hill people, The Blue Ridge Parkway, part
of the Appalachian chain, has become one
of the most visited sites of the National
Park Service. It has been designated an
ALL AMERICAN ROAD by Congress.
Starting at Front Royal in Virginia, the
parkway flows for over 400 miles from Skyline
Drive in Shenandoah National Park to the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park near
Cherokee, N.C.
Starting
as a depression-era public works project,
the monumental undertaking took over 50
years to complete, pioneering enduring standards
for parkway design and engineering along
the way. It is the nation's first and longest
rural parkway. Designed to simulate a natural
park-like environment, the 469 miles of
"America's Favorite Drive" winds
its way through mountain meadows and past
seemingly endless vistas, blending naturally
into the surroundings of split rail fences,
old farmsteads and historic structures that
complement the spectacular views of distant
mountains and valleys.
The Parkway incorporates several recreation
areas, some exceeding 6,000 acres. These
parks have visitor centers, camp grounds,
picnic areas, trails and, in many instances,
concessionaire-operated lodges, restaurants,
gas stations and other facilities. Nine
developed sites along the Blue Ridge Parkway
provide food, lodging, information, restrooms,
hiking and interpretation. Campgrounds are
open from May to November with fees charged
on a per night basis, which includes two
adults. Children accompanied by an adult
camp free. Drinking water, RV dump stations
and restrooms are provided. None of the
campgrounds are equipped with showers, electrical
hook-ups or laundry services. Winter camping
is occasionally available.
The
Humpback Rocks Visitor Center at milepost
(MP) 5.8, the first of 13 visitor centers
on the parkway, is a great place to start
your drive. The rangers will happily load
you up with a stack of maps and recommend
places to see as well as current road and
weather information. They will most likely
also advise you to take the ¼ mile
self-guided tour of the restored 19th century
mountain farm. If you time it right you
will find colorful characters in period
costumes in the farm buildings, who will
cheerfully explain the difficulties of 19th
century existence in the mountains. You
will also learn that this drive is not for
hurrying - the speed limit is 45 mph, less
in some places, so take your time to discover
and savor the subtlety as well as the grandeur
of this special place. There are more than
200 overlooks where you can enjoy panoramic
vistas, but unless specified otherwise you
can park on shoulders as well. Usual care
should be taken so as not to endanger yourself
and others.
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Autumn
blooms
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Blue
Ridge Mountains
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An
especially good time to explore the parkway
is in the fall, after the summer throngs,
like the homesteaders of old, have vanished.
That is the time when the autumn leaves
turn the mountains into a spectacular color
show, and the best campsites are vacant,
awaiting your visit.
Parkway
Highlights
Wildlife
is a especially abundant and a delight to
behold. When the sun is high, groundhogs
sit erect, and chipmunks and squirrels chatter
away. After nightfall nocturnal animals
such as skunks, foxes, opossums, and raccoons
may be seen along the roadsides. Look for
white-tailed deer and black bear in the
early morning or evening. Salamanders -
less conspicuous but often more colorful
- thrive in the moisture rich environment.
Many different bird species can be seen
during the spring migration season.
Flaura
abounds as well. You will find yourself
constantly surrounded by trees. In the spring,
tuliptrees, serviceberry, and others produce
a beautiful array of blooms. Flowering shrubs
put on a vivid display rivaling the display
of trees in the fall. In the fall the leaves
burst into color. Dogwood, sourwood, and
blackgum turn deep red. Tuliptree and birches
turn yellow, sassafras a vivid orange, and
red maples add a multicolored brilliance.
The massive oaks turn russet and maroon
and the mountain ash berries turn bright
red, an excellant food for wintering birds.
Evergreens include Virginia pine, white
pine, hemlock, spruce, and fir.
Because of the range in elevation, from
649 to 6,047 feet, springtime blooming occurs
at different times and places - somewhat
earlier in Virginia than in North Carolina.
Flame azalea is at its best south of Roanoke
to Rocky Knob about mid-May and in the high
mountains west of Asheville about mid-June.
Mountain laurel blooms along Otter Creek
in mid-May and elsewhere on the Parkway
in the first two weeks of June. Dense thickets
of catawba rhododendron turn purple north
of Peaks of Otter to Onion Mountain and
along the bluffs of Doughton Park the first
week of June and in Craggy Gardens and through
the Balsams after mid-June. Various wildflowers
begin to bloom in April and continue through
fall.
Route
Closures
Due to serious damage in 2004 from Hurricane
Frances, then again by Hurricane Ivan, many
areas along the parkway were closed until
the spring of 2005, with two areas that
were not fully repaired until the spring
of 2006.
At
one area, just north of Mount Mitchell,
the road was completely washed out during
the storms. Although repair crews managed
to open this section by May 2005 as a gravel
road, it sunk eight feet (nearly 2.5 meters)
again after heavy rains from Tropical Storm
Arlene in June. It has since been reopened.
The other closure, just south of Linn Cove
and the Linn River extending south to the
Bear Den overlook, was caused due to severe
erosion from flooding, but has also been
repaired.
Other
damage, including the flooding of the visitor
center at the Linn River, has been repaired,
and all other facilities are open for the
season.
It
is also not unusual for small sections of
the Parkway to be temporarily closed to repair
damage caused by the cold winter climate of
the mountains. Detours caused by these closures
are well-marked, and are arranged to cause
as little disruption as possible.
Parkway
Contact Details
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