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The Blue Ridge Parkway Information
America′s Favorite Drive
The Blue Ridge Parkway is the most visited National Park unit in America and is called by many "America′s Favorite Drive." The parkway traverses five major ranges within the central to southern Appalachian Mountain and is the highest and longest continuous roadway anywhere in the Appalachians at 469 miles in length rising from 649 feet elevation at the James River in Virginia to 6047 feet at Richland Balsam in North Carolina.
At the northern terminus of the Blue Ridge Parkway the road path journey is extended for another 105 miles on the Skyline Drive.
At the southern terminus of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the road path journey can be extended for another 31 or more miles into the Great Smoky Mountains by taking the Newfound Gap Road into the national park, up and over Newfound Gap and then down the west side of the park to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Both of the two connected national parks extend the drive on similar roadway routes containing a variety of topography with numerous vista points of spectacular views of the forested mountains and rural landscapes.
The entire parkway has milepost which begin numbering with Milepost zero at the northern terminus after leaving in Shenandoah National park and ends with Milepost 469 in the Great Smoky Mountains national park at the Newfound Gap road.
First National Rural Parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway was the first national rural parkway to be conceived, designed, and constructed for a leisure driving experience and scenic beauty. Construction began in 1935 and at that time, it was the longest federally planned roadway in the country. The parkway was designed and constructed in section: as land was purchased by the states, right-of-ways were approved and contracts secured by the Bureau of Public Roads. Ground breaking began in September 1935 when the first contract for section 2-A extended 12.5 miles from the Virginia-North Carolina state line southward to Cumberland Knob, North Carolina and subsequent work progress on sections 2-B through 2-E. The construction on the Virginia sections of the parkway began in February 1936 simultaneously with sections 1-A and 1-P. Later, section 1-A from Rockfish Gap to Jarmans Gap became part of the Skyline Drive in 1961.
As the construction work continues, a fifty mile section near to Roanoke, Virginia was open to the public in April 1939. Later that same year more of the parkway was open to the public, between the state line and Blowing Rock, however, World War II halted the construction work, but not before some 170 miles were completed. The construction work resumed in the 1950 and by 1968, the parkway was complete except fo the 7.7 mile stretch around Grandfather Mountain. The final section which included the Linn Cove Viaduct was finished in 1987 at which time the Blue Ridge Parkway was fully opened, some 52 years after the 469 mile project began.
The Blueridge Parkway Today
There is no fee for driving the Blue Ridge Parkway, and commercial vehicles are prohibited from driving on the parkway. The speed limit is maintained at 45 mph but due to frequent curves lower speeds are often required.
In addition to the road, the parkway has a folk art center located at mile marker 382, a visitor center located at mile marker 384, and both are near to 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, which is also part of the park, is located in Galax. The highest point in eastern North America, Mount Mitchell is only accessible via North Carolina Highway 128 (NC 128), which intersects the parkway at milepost 355.4.
Roadpath Description:
The parkway traverses a distance of 469 miles between the southern terminus of Shenandoah National Park′s Skyline Drive in Virginia at Rockfish Gap and 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 parkway road. The parkway route is rarely the fastest or most convenient route for travelers and it avoids population centers, the road and its vistas are designed to be the attraction itself, rather than a 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 would frequent intersections and stoplights allow for.
Roadpath Type:
National Parkway
Blue Ridge Parkway Total Length:
469 miles, km
Blue Ridge Parkway,
Virginia Distance:
294 miles
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina Distance:
175 miles
Date Established:
30 June 1936
Date First Open to Public:
April 1939
Sections 2-A through 1-S, milemarkers 167-218
Date Entire 479 Miles Open to Public:
1987
Managed By:
National Park Service
Roadpath Use:
tourism
Roadpath Waymark:
White sign with brown lettering
Terminus Point One (North):
Location:
Southern Terminus of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park
Cordinates:
38.0313832, -78.8582610
Elevation:
1,894 feet
Terminus Point Two (South):
Location:
Great Smoky National Park
Cordinates:
35.5056091, -83.3008202
Elevation:
2,022 feet
Highest Elevation on Parkway:
6053 feet, Richard Balsam, North Carolina
Lowest Elevation on Parkway:
649 feet, James River, Virginia
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