Have you driven the enitre Blue Ridge Parkway at one time?
Aug 16th, 2002, 08:52 AM
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My husband and I did this vacation many years ago and really enjoyed it. We started out in Shenandoah Nat'l Park and stayed a couple of nights in one of the park lodges. Then we took 3 days to drive the Parkway to the end in Smokie Mountain Nat'l Park. We stayed the one night (after driving about 1/3 way) at B&Bs in Roanoke, Virginia, and we stayed another night in Blowing Rock, North Carolina (after driving about another 1/3). Blowing Rock is a really quaint town. I remember taking a side trip in Virginia to the Natural Bridge and another one in North Carolina to Grandfather Mountain. (We enjoyed both of these.) There were other stops along the way we made, but I can't recall the specific. Be sure to stop at Mabry Mills (very scenic). We essentially took our time ... You can only drive about 35-40 miles per hour and the road is very windy.
There were lots of other options for side trips, but we would not have had enough time ... it took longer to make the drive than we originally thought.
The most scenic part of the Parkway was between Blowing Rock and Smoky Mountain National Park. However, during that part of the trip we ran into a bit of fog. Apparently fog is not uncommon, especially as you get more into the Smoky Mountains, and can result in parts of the Parkway being closed.
When we got to Smoky Mountain Nat'l Park area, we stayed for a few nights on the N. Carolina side at the Cataloochee Ranch (a true horseback riding ranch) ... We absolutely loved staying there. Check out their website (cataloochee-ranch.com) It's really as nice as it looks on the web site. Then we stayed a couple nights on the Tenesee side in Gatlinburg ... We didn't care very much for the whole Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area (but some people love it. Next time would stay in the town of Townsend on the Tennesee side of the park.
It was a great vacation and one we would love to repeat some day.
There were lots of other options for side trips, but we would not have had enough time ... it took longer to make the drive than we originally thought.
The most scenic part of the Parkway was between Blowing Rock and Smoky Mountain National Park. However, during that part of the trip we ran into a bit of fog. Apparently fog is not uncommon, especially as you get more into the Smoky Mountains, and can result in parts of the Parkway being closed.
When we got to Smoky Mountain Nat'l Park area, we stayed for a few nights on the N. Carolina side at the Cataloochee Ranch (a true horseback riding ranch) ... We absolutely loved staying there. Check out their website (cataloochee-ranch.com) It's really as nice as it looks on the web site. Then we stayed a couple nights on the Tenesee side in Gatlinburg ... We didn't care very much for the whole Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area (but some people love it. Next time would stay in the town of Townsend on the Tennesee side of the park.
It was a great vacation and one we would love to repeat some day.
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asdaven
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Mar 19th, 2006 10:29 AM
