Some of the best scenery on the whole 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway is about 9 miles from the house, on the stretch between Blowing Rock and Grandfather Mountain. There’s no fee to drive it, and it’s worth doing slowly.
Start at Moses H. Cone Memorial Park (milepost 294), a former summer estate with a grand manor, a craft shop and 25 miles of carriage trails. A few miles on, Price Lake (milepost 297) has an easy 2.7-mile loop trail and is the only lake on the Parkway where you can paddle a canoe or kayak. Then comes the Linn Cove Viaduct at milepost 304, the curving bridge that wraps around the side of Grandfather Mountain. It was the final piece of the Parkway, opened in 1987. You can’t stop on the viaduct itself, so walk the Tanawha Trail or the Rough Ridge boardwalks for the classic view.
Good to know: sections close for snow and ice in winter and for maintenance, so check the NPS road status page before you set off. Fall colour usually peaks in October, and sunrise and sunset are the quietest times to drive.
