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Blue Ridge Parkway

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox road 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 the longest linear park in the U.S.,<ref name=TCLF>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> runs for Template:Convert 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.

The parkway has been the most visited unit of the National Park System every year since 1946 except four (1949, 2013, 2016 and 2019).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=Whisnant>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=CFR>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 Template:Convert and is lower in some sections.

In addition to the road, the parkway has a folk art center located at mile marker 382 and a visitor center located at mile marker 384, both near Asheville. There are also numerous parking areas at trailheads for the various hiking trails that intersect the parkway, and several campgrounds located along the parkway allow for overnight stays. The Blue Ridge Music Center (also part of the park) is located in Galax, and Mount Mitchell (the highest point in eastern North America) is only accessible via North Carolina Highway 128 (NC 128), which intersects the parkway at milepost 355.4.<ref>Template:Cite map</ref>

Route descriptionEdit

File:Blue Ridge Parkway - schematic.jpg
Schematic map of the Parkway
File:Humpbackrocks.JPG
Farm at the Humpback Rock

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. 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 scenic overlooks line the sides of the road. Outside of the Asheville, Boone and Roanoke areas, it largely avoids major population centers, and the road parallels several US and Interstate Highways along sections of its route, which are generally used for longer haul traffic. Because of this, the road and its vistas are designed to be the attraction itself, rather than merely a means of efficient travel. The use of interchanges and grade separation at cross roads is designed to allow for freer flowing traffic and better vistas than frequent intersections and stoplights would allow for.

The parkway uses short side roads to connect to other highways, and there are no direct interchanges with Interstate Highways,Template:Efn making it possible to enjoy wildlife and other scenery without stopping for cross-traffic. Mileposts along the parkway start at zero at the northeast end in Virginia and count to 469 at the southern end in North Carolina. The mileposts can be found on the right-hand side of the road while traveling southbound on the parkway. Major towns and cities along the way include Waynesboro, Roanoke, and Galax in Virginia; and in North Carolina, Boone and Asheville, where it runs across the property of the Biltmore Estate. The Blue Ridge Parkway tunnels were constructed through the rock—one in Virginia and 25 in North Carolina.

Cold weatherEdit

Much of the parkway is located at high elevation, with colder, wetter and windier conditions than in surrounding areas.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The highest point on the parkway (south of Waynesville, near Mount Pisgah in North Carolina) is Template:Convert above sea level on Richland Balsam at milepost 431.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sections of the parkway may be temporarily closed to repair damage caused by the cold winter climate of the mountains or for other maintenance.<ref name=":0" /> The parkway's natural resource protection protocol limits the use of ice melting chemicals, and certain areas could remain closed for extended periods.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During road closures alternative routes are used, but short-term closures may not have a signed detour route.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sections of the parkway near the tunnels are often closed in winter due to icy conditions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Highlights in VirginiaEdit

File:TyMabryMill20050502r36f31.jpg
Mabry Mill
File:Craggy Gardens-27527.jpg
The view from Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway
File:East Fork Overlook.jpg
East Fork Overlook from Blue Ridge Parkway

Highlights in North CarolinaEdit

File:2019-07-21 Green Knob Overlook -- Blue Ridge Parkway (NC).jpg
Green Knob Overlook
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Fox Hunters Paradise Overlook Milepost 218.6
File:BlueRidgeSign1.JPG
Sign marking the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Great Smoky Mountains National Park
File:Fox Hunters Paradise.png
Sunrise at Fox Hunters Paradise, Milepost 218.6
File:Bluff Mountain Overlook.png
Bluff Mountain Overlook, Milepost 52.8

The Blue Ridge Parkway crosses the North Carolina–Virginia state line at mile 216.9. The 1749 party that surveyed the boundary included Peter Jefferson, father of Thomas Jefferson.

File:Grandview Overlook.jpg
Grandview Overlook from the Blue Ridge Parkway
  • Mile 217.5 Cumberland Knob, at Template:Convert, is the centerpiece of a small parkway recreation area.
  • 218.6 Fox Hunters Paradise, down a short walking path, is where hunters could listen to their hounds baying in the valley below.
  • 238.5 Brinegar Cabin was built by Martin Brinegar about 1880 and lived in until the 1930s when the homestead was purchased from his widow for the parkway. The original cabin stands there today.
  • 238.5 to 244.7 Doughton Park was named for Congressman Robert L. Doughton, a staunch supporter and neighbor of the parkway. The park has many miles of hiking trails, a lodge, dinner, picnic area and a campground.
  • 258.6 Northwest Trading Post offers crafts from North Carolina's northwestern counties.
  • 260.6 Jumpinoff Rock is at the end of a short woodland trail.
  • 264.4 The Lump is a grassy knob that provides views of the forested foothills.
  • 272 E. B. Jeffress Park has a self-guided trail to a waterfall known as the Cascades. Another trail goes to an old cabin and church.
  • 285.1 Daniel Boone's Trace, which Boone blazed to the West, crosses near here.
  • 292 to 295 Moses H. Cone Memorial Park has hiking, fishing and horse trails. Flat Top Manor, the former house of Moses H. Cone, is now used as the Parkway Craft Center.
  • 295.1 to 298 Julian Price Memorial Park, the former retreat of the insurance executive Julian Price, offers a variety of hiking trails, campground, and Template:Convert Price Lake. This is the only lake on the parkway on which paddling is allowed.
  • 304.4 Linn Cove Viaduct, the last segment of the parkway built, skirts the side of Grandfather Mountain. A visitor center is located nearby and provides access to a trail under the viaduct.
  • 308.3 Flat Rock provides views of Grandfather Mountain and Linville Valley.
  • 316.3 Linville Falls Recreation Area provides trails with overlooks of Linville Falls and the Linville Gorge. A campground and picnic area are also provided.
  • 331 The Museum of North Carolina Minerals interprets the state's mineral wealth.
  • 339.5 Crabtree Meadows & Crabtree Falls is a parkway recreation area with a picnic area, campground, giftshop and hiking trails.
  • 349.2 Laurel Knob provides views of Grandfather Mountain, Linville Mountain, Hawksbill Mountain, and Table Rock.
  • 355.4 Mount Mitchell State Park, reached via NC 128, is the highest point east of the Mississippi River.
  • 359.8 Walker Knob, formerly known as Balsam Gap, is located where the Black Mountains and the Great Craggy Mountains meet.
  • 361.2 Glassmine Falls is an Template:Convert ephemeral waterfall visible from an overlook on the side of the parkway.
  • 363.4 to 369.6 Craggy Gardens in the Great Craggy Mountains are covered with purple rhododendron in mid-to-late June. Craggy Pinnacle Trail and other trails (364.1 and 364.6); road to picnic area and trails (367.6).
  • 382 The Folk Art Center is the flagship facility of the Southern Highland Craft Guild. It offers sales and exhibits of traditional and contemporary crafts of the Appalachian region. There are interpretive programs, three galleries, a library and a book store.
  • 384 The Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center is the newest along the parkway.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Exhibits focus on the history and heritage of the parkway and western North Carolina.

HistoryEdit

File:2016-10-24 10 34 39 Sign at the north end of the southbound Blue Ridge Parkway at Rockfish Gap in Nelson County, Virginia.jpg
View south at the north end of the parkway at Rockfish Gap, Virginia

Begun during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the project was originally called the Appalachian Scenic Highway.

Original plans called for the parkway to connect Shenandoah National Park and Great Smoky Mountains National Park with the parkway either turning west into Tennessee at Linville, North Carolina, or continuing southward through North Carolina. Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes put together a three-person panel to study the possible routes the parkway could take.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> That panel, named after its chairman George L.P. Radcliffe, recommended the Tennessee route.<ref name=":1" /> However, Roosevelt had remained friends with Josephus Daniels, Roosevelt's superior as Secretary of the Navy during World War I. Daniels wanted the parkway to go through North Carolina and persuaded Ickes to choose the North Carolina route.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Bruce Bowers documentary The Blue Ridge Parkway: The Long and Winding Road gives Congressman Robert Doughton the credit for getting the route changed. The documentary claims Doughton worked to pass the Social Security Act only after getting the route changed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Most construction was carried out by private contractors under federal contracts under an authorization by Ickes in his role as federal public works administrator. Work began on September 11, 1935, near Cumberland Knob in North Carolina; construction in Virginia began the following February. On June 30, 1936, Congress formally authorized the project as the Blue Ridge Parkway and placed it under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. Some work was carried out by various New Deal public works agencies. The Works Progress Administration did some roadway construction. Crews from the Emergency Relief Administration carried out landscape work and development of parkway recreation areas. Personnel from four Civilian Conservation Corps camps worked on roadside cleanup, roadside plantings, grading slopes, and improving adjacent fields and forest lands. During World War II, the CCC crews were replaced by conscientious objectors in the Civilian Public Service program.

The parkway's construction created jobs in the region, but also displaced many residents and created new rules and regulations for landowners, including requirements related to how farmers could transport crops.<ref name="chesto">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Residents could no longer build on their lands without permission, or develop land except for agricultural use.<ref name="chesto"/> They were not permitted to use the parkway for any commercial travel but were required to transport equipment and materials on side roads.<ref name="chesto"/>

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians were also affected by the parkway, which was built through their lands.<ref name="mitchell">Template:Cite journal</ref> From 1935 to 1940, they resisted giving up the right-of-way through the Qualla Boundary, and they were successful in gaining more favorable terms from the U.S. government.<ref name="mitchell"/> Specifically, the revised bill "specified the parkway route, assured the $40,000 payment for the tribe's land, and required the state to build [a] regular highway through the Soco Valley". (The highway referred to is part of U.S. Route 19.)<ref name="mitchell"/> Cherokee leaders participated in the dedications when the Cherokee sections opened in the 1950s.

File:Blue Ridge Parkway Sawyer Work - October 20, 2024-3.jpg
Fallen vegetation on the Blue Ridge Parkway on October 20, 2024, following Hurricane Helene

Construction of the parkway was complete by the end of 1966 with one notable exception.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The Template:Convert stretch including the Linn Cove Viaduct around Grandfather Mountain did not open until 1987.<ref name=w-s>Template:Cite news</ref> The project took over 52 years to complete.

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.

The parkway was on North Carolina's version of the America the Beautiful quarter in 2015.<ref name="Mint">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The entire length of the parkway was closed in late September 2024 due to damage from Hurricane Helene.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sections began to reopen on October 11, 2024. Portions of the parkway remain closed as of April 2025.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Proposed extensionEdit

An extension of the parkway from its terminus at Beech Gap, North Carolina to a point north of Atlanta, Georgia, was proposed in 1961 by North Carolina Congressman Roy A. Taylor. The route was proposed to pass Whiteside Mountain, Bridal Veil Falls, Cuilasaja Gorge, and Estatoah Falls, ending between Atlanta and Gainesville, Georgia after crossing the Chattahoochee River and passing to the east of Lake Sidney Lanier. By 1963 the National Park Service had proposed a terminus at Interstate 75 north of Marietta, Georgia, in the vicinity of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.<ref name="legislation1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a bill to extend the parkway in 1967. A five-year schedule was proposed, with a budget of $87,536,000 (equivalent to $Template:Formatprice in Template:Inflation-yearTemplate:Inflation-fn). In 1970 planning was interrupted by the projected commercial development of land in the proposed path. Increasing costs associated with rerouting and the passage of time coincided with efforts to cut national debt and concerns about the project's environmental impact, and the project stalled in 1973. The project was formally cancelled on September 11, 1985; no construction work had ever taken place.<ref name="unc1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="lauro1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

EcologyEdit

Flowering shrubs and wildflowers dominate the parkway in the spring, including rhododendrons and dogwoods, moving from valleys to mountains as the cold weather retreats. Smaller annuals and perennials such as the daisy and aster flower through the summer. Brilliant autumn foliage occurs later in September on the mountaintops, descending to the valleys by later in October.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Often in early-to-middle October and middle to late April, all three seasons can be seen simply by looking down from the cold and windy parkway to the green and warm valleys below. October is especially dramatic, as the colored leaves stand out boldly and occur mostly at the same time, unlike the flowers.

Major trees include oak, hickory, and tulip tree at lower elevations and buckeye and ash in the middle, turning into conifers such as fir and spruce at the highest elevations on the parkway. <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Trees near ridges, peaks, and passes (often called gaps or notches) are often distorted and even contorted by the wind, and persistent rime ice is deposited by passing clouds in the winter.

The Blue Ridge Parkway has also been a corridor for the spread of many invasive species, including oriental bittersweet, privet, and multiflora rose.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Major intersectionsEdit

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TunnelsEdit

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There are 26 tunnels constructed along the Blue Ridge Parkway. One, the Bluff Mountain Tunnel,<ref>Blue Ridge Parkway NorthTemplate:Dead link </ref> is in Virginia and twenty-five are in North Carolina.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The design standards specified a minimum impact on the land. The vehicle tunnels were often constructed to reduce excessive landscape scarring that open cuts would have produced. They are used in areas of steep terrain where ridges run perpendicular to the roadway alignment.

North Carolina's more rugged terrain required the majority of the tunnels. Most of the work on the tunnel digging was done by hand and provided by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Little machinery was used with the intention of creating manual labor in depressed economic times. They did have for tunneling truck-mounted water-cooled compressed air drills called "Jumbos." After the initial holes were drilled into the substrata, dynamite was used for blasting away the rock.<ref>Blue Ridge Parkway tunnels Template:Webarchive</ref>

Concrete lining was done during construction due to tunnel cave-ins.<ref>Blue Ridge Parkway Tunnels Template:Webarchive</ref> This concrete lining was first used in the Devil's Courthouse Tunnel. It was later discovered that it enhanced the interior lighting within the tunnel itself. Where done the lining covered about a quarter of the interior structure. An additional benefit was the elimination of moisture entering the tunnel. Moisture in the winter caused ice problems.<ref>Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, Jennifer K. Cuthbertson, 1997 (Sheet 1 of 28) and Lia M. Dikigoropoulou, 1997, (Sheet 24 of 28).</ref>

The Pine Mountain Tunnel is the longest on the parkway at Template:Convert. Ferrin Knob Tunnel #1 is the first and longest of the triplet tunnels. The local people once referred to ferns as "ferrins." Ferrin Knob Tunnel #2 is located at milepost 401.3 and Ferrin Knob Tunnel #3 is located at milepost 401.5.

The distinctive stone masonry portals now on the parkway tunnels were generally not part of the original construction of the 1930s. They were added later.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The tunnels are listed below by milepost, name, and length.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The maximum height is in the center of the tunnel and the minimum height is at the edge stripe.

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Milepost Name of the tunnel Length Maximum Height Minimum Height Coordinates
53.1 Bluff Mountain Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
333.4 Little Switzerland Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
336.4 Wildacres Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
344.6 Twin Tunnel (North) Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
344.7 Twin Tunnel (South) Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
349.0 Rough Ridge Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
364.4 Craggy Pinnacle Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
365.6 Craggy Flats Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
374.4 Tanbark Ridge Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
397.1 Grassy Knob Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
399.3 Pine Mountain Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
400.9 Ferrin Knob Tunnel #1 Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
401.3 Ferrin Knob Tunnel #2 Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
401.5 Ferrin Knob Tunnel #3 Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
403.0 Young Pisgah Ridge Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
403.9 Fork Mountain Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
406.9 Little Pisgah Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
407.4 Buck Springs Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
410.1 Frying Pan Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
422.1 Devil's Courthouse Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
439.7 Pinnacle Ridge Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
458.8 Lickstone Ridge Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
459.3 Bunches Bald Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
461.2 Big Witch Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
465.6 Rattlesnake Mountain Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord
466.3 Sherril Cove Tunnel Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Convert Template:Coord

GalleryEdit

  • Parkway tunnel construction.gif

    Tunnel construction 1930s

  • Bluff Mountain Tunnel close-up.jpg

    Bluff Mountain Tunnel

  • Craggy Flats Tunnel.jpg

    Craggy Flats Tunnel

  • Devil's Courthouse Tunnel.jpg

    Devil's Courthouse Tunnel

  • Young Pisgah Ridge Tunnel.jpg

    Young Pisgah Ridge Tunnel

  • Fryingpan Tunnel.jpg

    Fryingpan Tunnel

  • Craggy Pinnacle Tunnel close-up on BRP.jpg

    Craggy Pinnacle Tunnel

  • Twin Tunnels.jpg

    Twin Tunnels

  • Grassy Knob Tunnel.jpg

    Grassy Knob Tunnel

  • Bunche's Bald Tunnel.jpg

    Bunche's Bald Tunnel

  • Rattlesnake Mountain Tunnel.jpg

    Rattlesnake Mountain Tunnel

  • Little Switzerland Blue Ridge ParkwayTunnel.jpg

    Little Switzerland Tunnel

  • Rough Ridge Tunnel.jpg

    Rough Ridge Tunnel

See alsoEdit

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NotesEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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Further readingEdit

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External linksEdit

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Tunnel locationsEdit

Template:Protected areas of Virginia Template:Protected areas of North Carolina Template:Authority control

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