America's winding road: The Blue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road that winds for 469.1 miles from the southern end of Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive in Virginia to U.S. 441 at Oconaluftee in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Cherokee.
The Parkway runs through the Blue Ridge and the Smoky Mountains, boasting more than 200 overlooks and more than 100 trails. The local section of the Parkway runs from the southern terminus on U.S. 441 between Cherokee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the Pisgah Inn on the Haywood-Transylvania County line. Along this stretch of scenic road you’ll find highlights such as the Parkway’s highest elevation overlook at Richland Balsam (6,053 feet), views of Cold Mountain made famous by author Charles Frazier, Waterrock Knob and Oconaluftee Visitors Centers, and Devil’s Courthouse Trail.
Traveling the Parkway can take as much or as little time as you wish. To begin your trip, start at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s Oconaluftee Visitors Center near Cherokee. The Center, located just south of the Parkway’s end, is adjacent to the Oconaluftee River and has a pioneer homestead called the Mountain Farm Museum. The homestead includes a farmhouse, barns and a mill.
When the Great Smokes Park was created in the 1920s and 30s, many families still lived on the property, which was largely private. In the 1930s the national Park Service decided to save mostly the log buildings. Those on display at the Mountain Farm Museum were collected from around the Park and moved to the Visitors Center location.
The center is a great place to get acquainted with the Parkway and the GSMNP, as several maps and books are available and knowledgeable staff can help with hiking trail recommendations, backcountry camping permits, and other general questions about the area.
Head up on the Parkway making sure you stop at Soco Gap Overlook at milepost 456. The gap was a strategic location for the Cherokees. In the 1700s it was the main route for entering their land from the north and east. The Cherokees maintained an outpost here as protection from the Shawnees and whites. The Cherokee word for the gap is “ahaluna,” meaning ambush place.
The Waterrock Knob Visitors Center at milemarker 451 is a good place to stop for information, exhibits and restrooms. The trail to the top is 1.1 moderately strenuous miles, but the panoramic views are well worth the climb. The trail attains the highest elevation of all Parkway trails, ending at the 6,400-foot summit. Views to the southeast are of the Cowee and Nantahala mountains, to the northeast are the Newfound mountains.
Continuing with highest points, at milemarker 431 you’ll find the Parkway’s highest elevation overlook at Richland Balsam. A sign marks the location and is a must for photos. A 1.4-mile trail walks you through the remains of a spruce-fir forest — the trees have been damaged both by acid rain and the balsam woolly aphid.
The Devil’s Courthouse overlook at milemarker 422 gives way to Cherokee legend, as it is said that the evil spirit Judaculla once held court inside this rock outcropping. The .86-mile moderately strenuous trail is highly recommended and is a favorite spot for watching hawks ride the hot air currents that rise from the valley below.
As the Parkway bends south, Cold Mountain rises into view with its saddle-like crest and soon appears the Pisgah Inn. The Inn first opened in 1919, a welcome journey’s end for thousands of travelers escaping from the heat of the lowlands in the summer. Today the accommodations are simple but come with excellent views, as do breakfast, lunch and dinner which are offered seven days a week. At dinner, the Inn features fresh mountain trout baked, or have it charbroiled and filleted at your table upon request.
The Mt. Pisgah trail with a summit view is a strenuous 2.5 miles, the last three-quarter mile of which is a steep set of stairs up. If the whole trip is too much, the first half of the trail is wide, level and typically lined with wildflowers in spring.
Mt. Pisgah campground is the highest Parkway campground at almost 5,000 feet elevation. This campground was formerly part of the Vanderbilt Estate and is near the US Forest Service’s Cradle of Forestry site. The campground usually opens in May. Reservations may be made online at reserveusa.com or by calling 877.444.6777.
The Parkway continues on, wrapping around the eastern side of Asheville and north past Boone into Virginia. Notable locations along the way include the Southern Highlands Craft Guild Folk Art Center, Mount Mitchell State Park and Linville Falls. For more information to help plan your Parkway trip visit www.nps.gov/blri.
