BEDH_Blue_Ridge

Mileposts 121.4 (US 220 at Roanoke Virginia) to 276.4 (US 421 at Deep Gap, North Carolina)

The 155-mile portion of the Parkway from US 220 in Roanoke (Milepost 121.4) to Deep Gap at US 421 (Milepost 276.4) could be considered two sections if you split it at the Virginia–North Carolina state line. I-77 is a nice central access point near the middle.

Both of these subsections share a common flavor. This is where the Appalachian Front undulates south from Roanoke at generally lower elevations to the Virginia line, then rises again in North Carolina. To the east, the Piedmont still lies below—just not as far below—and western views don’t generally plummet to deep valleys. This is the Blue Ridge Plateau of rolling uplands, farms, and rural communities—a bucolic side of the Southern Appalachians.

Unlike other parts of the Parkway, here public lands don’t lie beyond the National Park boundary. Residential and, increasingly, resort development are more visible.

Groups such as the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway are working closely with the Park Service to minimize the impact of what hikers would call “development” but residents of Appalachia often call “economic opportunity.” For many of them, that opportunity has been a long time coming.

Fittingly, this part of the road is where human habitation of the mountains and the culture of the mountain people truly seem to stand out. This part may come closest to fusing the Parkway’s interpretation of the past with a sense of the present and future.

You’ll see the Parkway’s pioneer cabins and structures everywhere (most often on the trails in this book) and even “meet” some of the people who lived in them. Mabry Mill; Cool Springs Baptist Church; and Mathews, Trails, Puckett, Brinegar, Caudill, and Jesse Brown Cabins stand like silent portals to the past. Not all are exhibits. As you motor by, you may not even glimpse Sheets Cabin standing alone below the road at Milepost 252.3—with no nearby parking lot. You’ll see fences too, especially at the Groundhog Mountain exhibit. During the season, living-history interpreters movingly personify this “land of do without” lifestyle.

You’ll see historic structures when you hike into Rock Castle Gorge (Milepost 167) or the backcountry of Doughton Park (Milepost 239), but there’s more. You’ll see where fields are becoming forests again. You’ll see nature reclaiming a hardscrabble landscape where people struggled for generations attempting to make a living. Rock walls and stone chimneys are their monuments.

The people who lived here are gone now, but their progeny work or own businesses in tourism and other industries, including Christmas tree farms, that you’ll see all around you. They display their crafts at the Northwest Trading Post (Milepost 258.7), and traditional mountain music—so recently resurgent as a part of the country music scene—is featured stunningly in one of the Parkway’s newest facilities, Blue Ridge Music Center (Milepost 213). Extensive exhibits complement the center’s in-season schedule of popular outdoor concerts. Not far off the road, from Galax, Virginia (the Old Time Fiddler’s Convention, second weekend in August), to Wilkesboro, North Carolina (MerleFest, last weekend of April), real music events still do what they’ve always done—tempt people, including Parkway tourists, out of the hollows.

The long list of major Parkway service sites on this 155-mile stretch include Smart View Picnic Area (Milepost 154.5), Rocky Knob Campground (Milepost 167.1) and Picnic Area (Milepost 169), Mabry Mill (Milepost 176.2), and Groundhog Mountain Picnic Area (Milepost 188.8)—and those are just to the Virginia–North Carolina state line at Milepost 216.9.

In North Carolina, Cumberland Knob Picnic Area is where Parkway construction started (Milepost 217.5). Doughton Park is next, with a campground (Milepost 239.2), accommodations at Bluffs Lodge, a restaurant, and picnic area (Milepost 241.1).

With so much private land along the road, this section has a wealth of smaller roads that come and go. Take a chance and explore a few of the public ones. There are surprises. The mountain town of Floyd, Virginia (Mileposts 158.9 and 159.3), is a destination on “The Crooked Road, Virginia Music Heritage Trail”—a 250-mile drive that crosses the Parkway and includes the Blue Ridge Music Center. There’s great atmosphere and live music at Floyd Country Store. Tours and tastings at nearby Chateau Morrissette (Milepost 171.5) give a nod to the growing Blue Ridge regional wine industry—with a reliable restaurant and vintages produced on premises.

The Mayberry Trading Post (Milepost 180.5) and the cluster of services at Fancy Gap (Milepost 199.4) are enjoyably oriented to tourism.