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Blue Ridge Parkway: Shenandoah to Great Smokies

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🚗20 mapped stops

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

America's favorite scenic drive — 469 miles along the crest of the Appalachian Mountains. No commercial vehicles, no billboards, no stoplights. Just blue-hazed ridgelines and the oldest mountains on the continent.

Stops on This Tour (20)

  1. 1
    Rockfish Gap — Mile 0 The Parkway begins where Shenandoah National Park ends. 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  2. 2
    Humpback Rocks — Milepost 5.8 A recreated 1890s mountain farmstead sits trailside. 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  3. 3
    James River — Milepost 63.6 The Parkway crosses Virginia's largest river. 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  4. 4
    Peaks of Otter — Milepost 86 Three peaks — Sharp Top, Flat Top, and Harkening Hill — frame Abbott Lake. 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  5. 5
    Roanoke Mountain — Milepost 120 The largest city along the Parkway lies below. 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  6. 6
    Mabry Mill — Milepost 176.1 The most photographed spot on the Blue Ridge Parkway. 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  7. 7
    Blue Ridge Music Center — Milepost 213 Where old-time Appalachian music comes alive. 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  8. 8
    Cumberland Knob — Milepost 217.5 Construction began here on September 11, 1935, during the Great Depression. 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  9. 9
    Doughton Park — Milepost 241 A remote stretch of backcountry meadows and deep coves. 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  10. 10
    Moses H. Cone Memorial Park — Milepost 294 The denim king's country estate — a 3,500-acre playground of carriage trails, apple orchards, and the Southern Highla... 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  11. 11
    Linn Cove Viaduct — Milepost 304 An engineering marvel — 1,243 feet of segmental bridge hugging the face of Grandfather Mountain without touching the ... 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  12. 12
    Linville Falls — Milepost 316.4 The Linville River drops over a series of cascades into the deepest gorge in the eastern United States — 2,000 feet d... 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  13. 13
    Crabtree Falls — Milepost 339.5 A 70-foot waterfall tucked in a dense cove forest. 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  14. 14
    Mount Mitchell — Milepost 355.4 At 6,684 feet, Mount Mitchell is the highest peak east of the Mississippi. 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  15. 15
    Craggy Gardens — Milepost 364 In mid-June, the summit balds erupt in wild rhododendron blooms — a purple carpet at 5,500 feet with views to Mount M... 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  16. 16
    Folk Art Center — Milepost 382 The Southern Highland Craft Guild showcases Appalachian arts — quilts, pottery, woodwork, and basket-weaving traditio... 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  17. 17
    Mount Pisgah — Milepost 408.6 Named by a homesick Scotsman who saw it as the biblical peak from which Moses viewed the Promised Land. 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  18. 18
    Graveyard Fields — Milepost 418.8 A high-altitude bog with two waterfalls and blueberry bushes. 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  19. 19
    Richland Balsam — Milepost 431 The highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway at 6,053 feet. 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app
  20. 20
    Waterrock Knob — Milepost 451.2 A short steep trail leads to a panoramic summit view of the Great Smokies, the last major overlook before the Parkway... 🔒 Hear the full story in the Nara app

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