Guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway

by Victoria Logue, Frank Logue, Nichole Blouin

Overview

Flowing among the beautiful mountains and valleys of Virginia and North Carolina, the 469-mile-long Blue Ridge Parkway is a true American jewel. Built to expose motorists to nature as well as to preserve its beauty, the Parkway still delivers unrivaled beauty today. Guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway is filled with information useful to those traveling the Parkway and is detailed with color photographs throughout. It highlights the many significant points of interest located on and nearby the Parkway, including Mount Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi, Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, and Mabry Mill, one of the most photographed sites on the Parkway. Also noted are locations of overlooks, waterfalls, and tunnels as well as key entry and exit points along the Parkway. The guide features a brief history of the Parkway itself, a look at the surrounding geology and human history of the area, and an extensive wildflower bloom calendar. The book is organized mile-post to mile-post, appropriate for travelers who are driving the entire Blue Ridge Parkway or only a small section.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781634042413
Publisher:	Menasha Ridge Press
Publication date:	07/01/2018
Series:	Nature's Scenic Drives
Edition description:	Third Edition
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	978,834
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Frank and Victoria Logue hiked the entire Appalachian Trail (AT) in 1988 and have returned again and again to hike its many sections on day and overnight hikes. In addition to hiking the AT and trails in the American West, the Logues have hiked in Israel, Jordan, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, and England. They live in Georgia, where Frank works as an Episcopal priest and as an assistant to the bishop of Georgia; he has also served on the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Board of Managers. Victoria, a writer of fiction and nonfiction, recently published her fourth novel. The Logues’ other books for Menasha Ridge Press are the two-volume “Best of the Appalachian Trail: Day Hikes and Overnight Hikes” (with Leonard M. Adkins) and “The Appalachian Trail Hiker: Trail-Proven Advice for Hikes of Any Length.” Born in Florida, Nicole Blouin graduated from Appalachian State Universityin North Carolina, where she fell in love with the mountains. She coauthored her first book, Waterfalls of the Blue Ridge, for Menasha Ridge Press in the early 1990s and since then has written or cowritten four other outdoor guides. Nicole lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she keeps busy with freelance writing and editing and managing a rock-climbing gym.

Read an Excerpt

High Mountain Wilderness Views

The southernmost stretch of the Parkway, between Asheville and the Great Smokies, boasts the highest peaks on the Parkway—Waterrock Knob and Richland Balsam. Here, the Parkway climbs to 6,047 feet, the highest point along the 469-mile motor road, and you will drive at elevations above 4,000 feet, with many miles above 5,000 feet. During the winter, because of the extreme cold at these high elevations, this part of the Parkway is closed more often than the rest of the Parkway.

The classic Parkway postcard scene—ridgeline after ridgeline shrouded with fog—can be found from overlooks along this section. Many overlooks afford extensive views of the Great Smokies, but unfortunately, due to high elevations, the views are often lost in clouds.

This section is wild, traveling along portions of Pisgah and Nantahala national forests for most of its length. Remote, with only a half dozen road crossings in 75 miles, and with towns usually 15 to 25 miles down the mountain, this part of the Parkway is also rugged, located high on a ledge and composed of many rocky cliff faces.

Leaving Asheville and heading south, the Parkway climbs from the French Broad River to traverse three ranges—the Pisgah Ledge, the Great Balsams, and the Plott Balsams. The last 10 miles run along ridges northwest of the Cherokee Indian Reservation. Reaching the Oconaluftee River, the motor road’s southern terminus, the Parkway meets the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The long trails in this section are more isolated than other Parkway trails and include the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST) and Shut-in Trail. The Parkway also provides access to Pisgah National Forest and Shining Rock Wilderness Area trails.

Shut-in Trail, in Vanderbilt’s day, extended from the Biltmore House in Asheville to Buck Springs Hunting Lodge near Mount Pisgah. Because this national recreation trail, first built in the 1890s, was not preserved, volunteers rebuilt original sections and created new sections, bringing Shut-in Trail back to life.

The trail, now part of the MST, runs for 16.3 miles, crisscrossing the Parkway several times, from Bent Creek (milepost 393.6) to Buck Springs Gap Overlook (milepost 407.6). The elevation rises from 2,025 feet at the French Broad River to nearly 5,000 feet at Mount Pisgah. The trail is named for the limited, or shut-in, views along the footpath caused by the dense thickets of rhododendrons.

393.5
French Broad River
This river was called the French Broad to distinguish it from the Broad River. The “French” reflects that the area into which the river drained was French- and Native American–held at the time. The Cherokee had several names for this river, including Tah-kee-os-tee, or “racing waters,” as well as Poe-li-co, Agiqua, and Zillicoah. You can access the Mountains-to-Sea Trail here.

393.6
NC 191
Nine miles to Asheville; 18 miles to Hendersonville. There is a three-sided wayside exhibit here about the Blue Ridge Parkway. Access to the North Carolina Arboretum is on the exit ramp to NC 191.

The North Carolina Arboretum
The arboretum is a member of the National Center for Plant Conservation, a network of 36 public gardens in the United States that participate in conserving rare or endangered plant species. Along with a visitor education center and greenhouse, and 65 acres of formal and naturalized gardens, including a Bonsai Exhibition Garden, the grounds provide varied opportunities for hiking, biking, walking, and running. Open daily, the arboretum also has a gift shop and restaurant. For additional information, call [phone] or visit www.ncarboretum.org.

393.8
View French Broad
The French Broad originates near Rosman, North Carolina, where the north, west, middle, and east forks of the river join. The river flows north and west for 187 miles through North Carolina and into Tennessee to Douglas Lake. Fur traders named the river using the second word to depict its vast width and the first word to distinguish it from another waterway in English territory.

396.4
View Walnut Cove
Here, you will find a grove of walnut trees and a good view of the French Broad River Valley.

397.1
Grassy Knob Tunnel
This tunnel is among the Parkway’s longest at 770 feet.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	1
	A Blue Ridge Sampler: Milepost 0-105	19
	American Elk	24
	Agriculture along the Parkway	26
	National Parks and Forests	32
	White-Tailed Deer	34
	Hawk Migration	38
	Roanoke and the Vicinity: Milepost 105-135	47
	Blight and Insects Plague Parkway Trees	50
	Settlers on the Landscape: Agriculture and Rural Life: Milepost 135-292	55
	Fences	60
	Log Cabins	64
	Mountain Ranges	66
	Daniel Boone	68
	Groundhog	72
	Appalachian Cultural Museum	76
	A House Divided	78
	Grandfather and the Black Mountains: Milepost 292-380	81
	Park Concessions	84
	Waterfalls Along the Parkway	90
	Building the Parkway Tunnels	98
	The Decline of the Fraser-Fir Forests	102
	Rhododendrons	106
	Asheville and Vicinity: Milepost 380-390	115
	Mountains-to-Sea Trail	116
	High Mountain Wilderness Views: Milepost 390-469	119
	Black Bear	122
	Managing Views	126
	Air Quality	128
	Southern Appalachian Balds	130
	Spring Houses	134
	Appendices
	Blue Ridge Parkway Bloom Calendar	139
	Blue Ridge Parkway Contact Information	145
	Trailsheads on the Blue Ridge Parkway	147
	Milepost Tunnel Guide	150
	Index	151