The ParkWay
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is America's longest linear park,[3] runs for 469 miles (755 km) through 29 counties in Virginia and North Carolina, linking Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It runs mostly along the spine of the Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains. Its southern terminus is at U.S. Route 441 (US 441) on the boundary between Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina, from which it travels north to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. The roadway continues through Shenandoah as Skyline Drive, a similar scenic road which is managed by a different National Park Service unit. Both Skyline Drive and the Virginia portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway are part of Virginia State Route 48 (SR 48), though this designation is not signed
Visits and Speed
The parkway has been the most visited unit of the National Park System every year since 1946 on average. The land on either side of the road is owned and maintained by the National Park Service, and in many places parkway land is bordered by United States Forest Service property. There is no fee for using the parkway; however, commercial vehicles are prohibited without approval from the Park Service Headquarters, near Asheville, North Carolina. The roadway is not maintained in the winter, and sections that pass over especially high elevations and through tunnels are often impassable and therefore closed from late fall through early spring. Weather is extremely variable in the mountains, so conditions and closures often change rapidly. The speed limit is never higher than 45 mph (72 km/h) and is lower in some sections. The highest point on the Parkway at Richland Balsam Overlook at 6,053 and the loest elvation is 670ft near Roanoke.
The Distance
The parkway runs from the southern terminus of Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive in Virginia at Rockfish Gap to U.S. Route 441 (US 441) at Oconaluftee in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Cherokee, North Carolina. A distance of 469 miles and if you wanted you could drive it in 10-11 hours...but why would you do it. It is an undivided two-lane expressway for most of its route. Access is controlled via interchanges with local roads and state/US highways. The parkway crosses (but does not interchange with) several interstate highways along its route and is carried across streams, railway ravines and cross roads by 168 bridges and six viaducts. Frequent pull-offs, rest areas, and 227 scenic overlooks line the sides of the road. The idea of the BRP came about in 1933 by President Roosevelt and work began in 1935. It took until 1987 with the completion of the Linn Cove Viaduct that the Parkway was able to run the continuous 469 mile route.
Blue Ridge Parkway Map
Discover the beauty of the Blue Ridge Parkway with our deluxe 40x60" archival cotton map. This map was created by us to show off the entire 469 mile route. It is...