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Roadpath Description:
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. As it 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 frequent intersections and stoplights would allow for.
History:
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, who was the father of Thomas Jefferson.
Roadpath Type:
National Parkway
Blue Ridge Parkway Total Length:
469 miles, km
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina Distance:
175 miles
Date Established:
30 June 1936
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:
Elevation:
feet
Terminus Point Two (South):
Location:
Great Smoky National Park
Cordinates:
Elevation:
feet
Highest Elevation on Parkway:
6053 feet, Richard Balsam, North Carolina
Lowest Elevation on Parkway:
649 feet, James River, Virginia
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