8 The Blue Ridge Parkway . . .
The eastern United States features two large National Parks. Shenandoah National Park occupies roughly 200,000 long and narrow acres to the east of the Ridge and Valley Appalachians in north central Virginia. The much larger Great Smoky Mountains National Park (where I am now), occupies about 523,000 acres in North Carolina and Tennessee. Both were established during the Great Depression, and in spite of the times, quickly became popular vacation destinations. All of the expected activities were present and accounted for - camping, fishing, hiking, wildlife viewing, etc. But enjoying the scenic beauty of the region via automobile was becoming more affordable and accessible with each passing year. Construction on a road specifically for that purpose began in 1931 in Shenandoah National Park. The 109 mile long Skyline Drive was completed in 1939 and offered motorists the ability to enjoy the mountain views from the comfort of their car.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt was so impressed with the Skyline Drive concept that he authorized the creation of another scenic roadway linking the two National Parks together. Construction began in 1935 on the 469 mile long Blue Ridge Parkway, so named because of the chosen route, (i.e. the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains through North Carolina and Virginia). Planners knew that building a road that long in the mountains would take a while to begin with. But funding issues, land acquisition difficulties, and World War II would slow construction to a snail's pace at times. Progress was made, however. All but 7 miles of the roadway had been completed by 1968. Following the completion of the Linn Cove Viaduct, the Blue Ridge Parkway was officially dedicated in 1987, some 52 years after construction began.
The road's southern entrance is located on US Route 441 in Cherokee, North Carolina about 1/4 mile from the Oconoluftee Visitor Center. The northern end sits 469.1 miles away at the southern terminus of Skyline Drive near Rockfish Gap in Virginia. My plan for today was to drive from Cherokee to Asheville, North Carolina (mile post 393.6).Turning onto the Parkway takes motorists over the Oconoluftee River Bridge as seen above. Highway engineers realized that everyone would want to take a picture of the welcome sign on the other side of the bridge and built a pull-off specifically for that purpose.
Driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway is a simple procedure: Drive (roof down, of course) ~ Pull over at the many overlooks ~ Take lots of pictures of the incredible view ~ Repeat. Motorists have around 280 opportunities to do this over the entire length of the roadway. I had 78 opportunities from Cherokee to Asheville, many of which I took advantage of in the form of 180-or-so pictures and a couple of videos thrown in for good measure. What follows is a photographic essay of my 75 mile journey along the Blue Ridge Parkway as told from the various overlooks.
And with that, my journey began.