Blue Ridge Parkway

The Parkway was born out of the Great Depression. Construction began on September 11, 1935, near Cumberland Knob in North Carolina, after President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved it as part of the New Deal programs meant to put people to work and bring travelers, and their money, into the struggling mountain region. In 1936 Congress formally authorized the road as the Blue Ridge Parkway and placed it under the National Park Service.

The idea was simple and radical: connect two great national parks, Shenandoah in Virginia and the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina, with a road designed entirely around scenery rather than getting somewhere fast. About half of the 469 miles were finished before World War II, more was built through the 1950s and 1960s, and the very last piece, the graceful Linn Cove Viaduct that curls around Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina, was not completed until 1987, more than fifty years after the first shovel.

The whole Parkway is measured by mileposts, numbered from Milepost 0 at the southern end of Shenandoah's Skyline Drive in Virginia down to Milepost 469 at Oconaluftee, near Cherokee, North Carolina, at the edge of the Smokies. Rangers, maps, and travelers all navigate by these numbers rather than by street addresses, so a favorite overlook, waterfall, or picnic area is remembered as a milepost.

Along the way the road strings together a remarkable variety of stops: high overlooks with hundred-mile views, quiet picnic grounds, restored mountain farmsteads and mills that tell the story of Appalachian life, visitor centers, and trailheads for everything from ten-minute strolls to serious hikes. Because the speed limit is low and the curves are constant, the driving itself is part of the pleasure, and a stretch that looks short on a map can happily fill an afternoon.

Around Roanoke, Virginia, the Parkway runs right along the edge of the city, and Roanoke embraces its role as a Parkway town, with overlooks like Roanoke Mountain giving big views back over the valley and the surrounding Blue Ridge. It is one of the easiest places to sample the road, since you can be on the Parkway within minutes of town and off it again for dinner.

Farther south in North Carolina, the road climbs into the High Country around Boone and Blowing Rock and past the flanks of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak in the eastern United States. This is some of the most dramatic scenery on the entire route, with the Linn Cove Viaduct hugging Grandfather Mountain and long ranges of blue ridges stacking up to the horizon. Whether you catch it near Roanoke or in the Carolina high country, each stretch has its own character while sharing the same unhurried spirit.

The best way to enjoy the Parkway is to give up on covering distance and give in to the drive. Pick a section near where you are staying, whether that is the Roanoke area, the Boone high country, or the Mount Mitchell stretch, and plan to stop often, because the overlooks are the whole point. Every season offers something different, from spring rhododendron and wildflowers to cool green summers and the famous fall color that draws crowds each October.

A few practical things smooth the trip. Fill up on gas and food in the towns just off the road, since there are no gas stations or fast food on the Parkway itself, and remember there is no cell coverage in many places. Check the National Park Service road status before you go, because sections close for winter weather, storms, and downed trees. Then simply take your time, roll down the windows, and let the ridgeline unspool.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.