The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is the longest linear park in the U.S., runs for 469 miles 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 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 northeast 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, though this designation is not signed.
The parkway has been one of the most visited units of the National Park System since 1946. 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. 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 miles per hour and is lower in some sections.
The Blue Ridge Parkway was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2024.
Information from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ridge_Parkway
Tags: North Carolina NC The Carolinas Landscapes National Park System National Parkways Blue Ridge Parkway Buncombe County Appalachian Mountains Appalachians Appalachia North America United States US United States of America National Forests United States Forest Service Pisgah National Forest
© All Rights Reserved
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is the longest linear park in the U.S., runs for 469 miles 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 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 northeast 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, though this designation is not signed.
The parkway has been one of the most visited units of the National Park System since 1946. 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. 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 miles per hour and is lower in some sections.
The Blue Ridge Parkway was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2024.
Information from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ridge_Parkway
Tags: North Carolina NC The Carolinas Landscapes National Park System National Parkways Blue Ridge Parkway Buncombe County Appalachian Mountains Appalachians Appalachia North America United States US United States of America National Forests United States Forest Service Pisgah National Forest
© All Rights Reserved
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is the longest linear park in the U.S., runs for 469 miles 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 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 northeast 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, though this designation is not signed.
The parkway has been one of the most visited units of the National Park System since 1946. 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. 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 miles per hour and is lower in some sections.
The Blue Ridge Parkway was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2024.
Information from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ridge_Parkway
Tags: North Carolina NC The Carolinas Landscapes National Park System National Parkways Blue Ridge Parkway Buncombe County Appalachian Mountains Appalachians Appalachia North America United States US United States of America National Forests United States Forest Service Pisgah National Forest
© All Rights Reserved
Mount Mitchell (known as Attakulla in Cherokee) is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in mainland North America east of the Mississippi River. It is located near Burnsville in southern Yancey County in the Black Mountain subrange of the Appalachians about 19 miles northeast of Asheville. It is protected by Mount Mitchell State Park and surrounded by the Pisgah National Forest. Mount Mitchell's elevation is 6,684 feet above sea level.
The peak is the highest mountain in the United States east of the Mississippi River, and the highest in all of eastern North America south of the Arctic Cordillera. The nearest higher peaks are in the Black Hills of South Dakota and the highland foothills of Colorado. The mountain's topographic isolation is calculated from the nearest discernible single higher point: Lone Butte, which is 1,189 miles away in southeastern Colorado.
Information from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Mitchell
Tags: North Carolina NC The Carolinas Landscapes State High Points Mount Mitchell National Park System National Parkways Blue Ridge Parkway Yancey County Appalachian Mountains Appalachians Appalachia North America United States US United States of America Mount Mitchell State Park State Parks Attakulla National Forests United States Forest Service Pisgah National Forest
© All Rights Reserved
Mount Mitchell (known as Attakulla in Cherokee) is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in mainland North America east of the Mississippi River. It is located near Burnsville in southern Yancey County in the Black Mountain subrange of the Appalachians about 19 miles northeast of Asheville. It is protected by Mount Mitchell State Park and surrounded by the Pisgah National Forest. Mount Mitchell's elevation is 6,684 feet above sea level.
The peak is the highest mountain in the United States east of the Mississippi River, and the highest in all of eastern North America south of the Arctic Cordillera. The nearest higher peaks are in the Black Hills of South Dakota and the highland foothills of Colorado. The mountain's topographic isolation is calculated from the nearest discernible single higher point: Lone Butte, which is 1,189 miles away in southeastern Colorado.
Information from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Mitchell
Tags: North Carolina NC The Carolinas State High Points Mount Mitchell National Park System National Parkways Blue Ridge Parkway Yancey County Appalachian Mountains Appalachians Appalachia North America United States US United States of America Mount Mitchell State Park State Parks Attakulla National Forests United States Forest Service Pisgah National Forest
© All Rights Reserved