Driving the Blue Ridge
They call the Blue Ridge Parkway “America’s Favourite Drive”, so as devoted road trippers there was no way we were spending time in the part of the country without experiencing at least some of it. It meanders along the Appalachians for over 450 miles and is the product of a series of major public works projects which provided a boost to the travel and tourism industry and helped the Appalachian region climb out the depths of the Great Depression. As a national parkway the speed limit is low and it’s barred to commerical vehicles, so it’s a lovely peaceful escape from the trucks that litter the major highways.
The parkway is lined with mileposts along it’s length, starting in the north at Milepost 0 near Waynesboro, Virginia and finishing at Cherokee in Norh Carolina. In Asheville we were starting at about Milepost 382 and were heading north to Blowing Rock, a cute little mountain town where we would spend the night. The drive really was lovely! We stopped in at the Visitor Centre near Asheville and learned that we would have to make a detour off the parkway at one point to avoid a road closure due to a landslide. The staff were helpful and gave us a map with the route we’d have to follow.
There are dozens of overlooks along the route and we stopped at several to enjoy the views over the smokey blue mountains.
I was keen to stop in at Altapass Orchard to buy some new seasons apples. They had alovely little shop that sold a range of jams and jellies and spices etc, so I also picked up a jar of Apple Pie Jam, I can’t wait to try that on my toast! The trees were laden with apples.
Another pretty spot was Linville Falls, where we walked down the path to the Top Falls overlook. We stropped at the river here and had the picnic area to ourselves for our picnic lunch.
WE were keen to stop at Linn Cove Viaduct. It’s a spectacular section of roadway that sweeps out across the hillside like an S shaped bridge and is one of the iconic views used to advertise the Blue Ridge parkway. We were able to walk underneath it as well as to stop and view it from the side.
Finally we pulled in to the cute little town of Blowing Rock. It’s a very popular mountian town with lots of restaurants and cafes and many antique and gift shops – it definitely had the vibe of Leura to us. Many of the shops had been decorated to celebrate Fall, there were pumpkins and corn everywhere! We had a stroll through the town and then had tasty meal at the Blowing Rock Brewery.
On the West Virginia – State Number 45!
We both slept pretty well last night, the cooler nights in the mountains are a definite bonus as we don’t need to have the aircon on.
Shortly after leaving Blowing Rock we left the parkway and headed North West. We had afew hours driving across the top end of North Carolina and through the tip of Virginia before we finally crossed the state border into West Virginia, another new one for us making the count 45 so far! The drive took us through some massive tunnels uner the mountains.
Around midday we arrived at our next major stop, the southern entrance of the New River Gorge National Park. WE drove along the southern edge of the new River to stop at Sandstone Falls. The falls arent high but they make up for that in width, they span 1500 feet across the river. The New River is famous as a white water rafting destination and we could easily see why, even here in it’s widest section there was plenty of white water.
We then bactracked a bit and crossed to the other side of the river, stopping in at a coupe of high viewpoints before having lunch at the Sandstone Visitor Centre. We received some useful advice from the park guides there about what we should see next.
The staff suggested we detour a little to visit the “Grandview” section of the park and we were so glad we did, the views down the gorge there were spectacular!
It took us about 45 minutes to drive up to the northern end of the National park to the Canyon Rim Visitor center. The big drawcard here is the astonishing New River Gorge bridge. At time of construction, the New River Gorge Bridge’s arch made it the longest steel arch bridge in the world, a title it held until 2003 with the construction of China’s Shanghai’s Lupu Bridge. It is currently the longest single-span steel arch bridge in the United States and the third highest bridge in the country. I don’t usually get excited about bridges but this one is a doozy! We drove across it and at the visitor centre walkd down to the viewpoint where you could see the bridge from the side and also the view down to the river way below. The bridge was finished in 1977 and before that the only way to cross the river here was a 45 minute winding route down and up the sides of the gorge.
Tonight were staying just down the road from the bridge at a fairly nondescript hotel near the highway. hen I booked the trip there wasn’t much choice available so I was lucky to get this one. We’re hading out soon to try the Mexican restaurant down the road.
Tomorrow it’s on to Ohio!