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Mountaintop Motoring
The Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia to North Carolina The Route: Winding 469 miles atop the crest of a gorgeous mountain range, the Blue Ridge Parkway begins at the southern border of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and ends at the doorstep of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in western North Carolina. The route offers plenty of spectacular Appalachian countryside, and the cool mountain air makes for an ideal summer drive. The whole parkway, allowing for frequent stops, takes three or four days to complete, and the towns clustered along its path are loaded with motels, so lodging is a breeze.
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In many ways, the Blue Ridge Parkway is a throwback to a simpler age: two-lane blacktop the whole way, no stop signs or traffic lights, a 45-mph speed limit, with numbered stone posts marking the miles along the way. The road’s twisting path through the hills is extraordinary, with mountain vistas visible from hundreds of scenic overlooks and turnouts. Hiking trails extend from the roadway into the surrounding forest, and historic exhibits, many featuring log cabins and other preserved or restored buildings, explain what pioneer life was like in the region a century ago.
There are also several interesting natural attractions within a few miles of the road, including the Blowing Rock, a cliff where constant strong updrafts cause objects tossed over the edge to “fall” up instead of down. As long as you’re not claustrophobic, be sure to check out Linville Caverns, a limestone cave full of stalactites and stalagmites. And Looking Glass Falls is one of America’s most picturesque waterfalls, a perfect place to take a breather after a long day of driving.
Worth a DetourThe Blue Ridge Parkway skirts the city limits of Roanoke, making for easy access to the Virginia Museum of Transportation. Housed in an old railway freight station, the museum features a train yard filled with vintage locomotives, passenger cars and cabooses, most of them open for interior walk-throughs.
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Worth a Day
History buffs should make the half-hour drive east of the parkway to Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. It was here that Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the Civil War. The exhibits are superb, and the history is everywhere.
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