The
469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway intersects with the Skyline Drive at
Afton Mountain in Waynesboro. It connects the Shenandoah National
Park in Virginia to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park in North
Carolina and Tennessee. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a toll-free
National Park which offers a spectacular view, quiet, leisurely
travel along the mountain crests, and many recreational activities.
The numerous pull-offs along the road offer beautiful outlooks
perfect for photographs, campgrounds, picnic areas, and hiking
trails. The most famous of hiking trails on the Blue Ridge Parkway
is the Appalachian Trail, but there are many others in order to suit
everyone. Peaceful meadows strewn with an abundance of native
flowers such as azalea and dogwood can be easily discovered. Just
off the exits, antique and crafts shops, resorts, inns, hotels,
rental homes, cabins, campgrounds, caverns, historical museums, and
restaurants to suit all are located. Open year round to enable
visitors to enjoy all four seasons, the Blue Ridge Parkway attracts
24 million people annually, and the numbers are growing steadily.
I
suppose it's inevitable to compare the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge
Parkway. After all the Blue Ridge Parkway picks up immediately at
the end of the Skyline and then continues to its end in North Carolina.
So, which do I prefer? I really can't say. The Skyline Drive is
through wilderness and rides most of the way on the top of the Appalachian
Mountains. The Blue Ridge, on the other had, has, for much of its
length, adjoining farms planted with hay or corn or tobacco. This
landscape is therefore very different. The decision to leave the
farms in place was made by the National Park Service officials. They
wanted to preserve what remained of the mountain culture.
In
addition, the Parkway, from its beginning at Rockfish Gap near
Waynesboro to Roanoke, is quite different from the section between
Roanoke and the North Carolina border. The reason is simple enough,
the Parkway to Roanoke lies on a ridge with usually parallel spurs.
To the east is the Piedmont area, to the west the Roanoke Valley and
, beyond, the Alleghenies. South of Roanoke, a plateau extends
westward from the Parkway and the terrain is more rolling, while to
the east, an escarpment plunges sharply down, with ridges that reach
more than a mile into the Piedmont. An interesting note: South of
Roanoke also is where the Blue Ridge becomes the water divide: west
of the Ridge, water will find its way to the Gulf of Mexico, east of
the Ridge, water will flow to the Atlantic.
The
Parkway's inception came about in 1933 when President Roosevelt
visited Shenandoah National Park. It was suggested that a scenic
mountain route be constructed what would connect Shenandoah and
Great Smoky Mountains and that such a route would be an appropriate
to be a public works program because of the Depression. Construction
started in 1935 and was not completed until 1987. Just planning the
location was a major undertaking, the architects and surveyors would
go through the woods and ask the local people to tell them where the
best views were located.
Wildlife
is a delight to see along the parkway. When the sun is high,
groundhogs sit erect and chipmunks and squirrels chitter and
chatter. At night, skunks, bobcats, foxes, opossums, and raccoons
may be seen along the roadsides. Look for whitetail deer and the shy
black bear in the early morning or evening. More than 100 bird
species can be seen during the spring migration season.
Trees,
trees, trees are nearly everywhere and come fall, many of them burst
into color. Dogwood, sourwood, and blackgum turn deep red in late
September. Tulip-trees and hickories turn bright yellow, sassafras a
vivid orange, and red maples add their multi-colored brilliance.
Finally various oaks put on a dash of russet and maroon. Evergreen
trees include Virginia pine, white pine, hemlock, spruce, and fir.
Flowering
shrubs put on a springtime show that rivals the display of trees in
the fall. Because of the range in elevation from 649 to 6,047 feet,
peak blooming occurs at different times and places. Somewhat earlier
in Virginia than 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 at 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 into fall.
Stories
of the independent mountain people are told at many overlooks and
facilities along the parkway, including Humpback Rocks, Peaks of
Otter, Mabry Mill, Brinegar Cabin, Northwest Trading Post, and the
Parkway Craft Center at Moses Cone Memorial Park. In the Asheville
area, be sure to stop at the Folk Art Center for craft
demonstrations and for general parkway information and trip
planning.
Travel
