Blue Ridge Parkway Heavy Hitters

Monday evening we arrived in Woodbridge, Virginia after travelling from Asheville over a three-day period. Our itinerary included several of the more well-known parks along the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP). Here are the three we visited on Saturday.

Grandfather Mountain

We checked out of our Asheville home around 9am and headed to our first big stop, Grandfather Mountain, which is near Linville, NC. We circumvented the BRP by taking a quicker route since we had already explored the parkway from Asheville to the Linville Falls area. We arrived at the park’s entrance gate around 11am. We had already paid our $22 (per person!) entry fee online so the gatekeeper handed us a USB drive that contained a short audio tour. We try and take advantage of audio tours whenever we can. Tip: If you visit National Parks you should download their app which has quite a few audio tours.

Grandfather Mountain is a state park, but the part of the mountain with the mile-high bridge is privately owned. In addition to the bridge, there is a visitor center, cafe, a small wildlife habitat and nature discovery center. As we ambled up the mountain, we listened to the audio tour, stopping at everything that looked interesting. As we approached the top, an employee told us we could either continue driving up the mountain or park and hike the last bit, so we parked and hiked. I’m glad we did. More beautiful scenery opportunities!

When we walked across the bridge it was obvious to me that it was not a “mile high” as advertised. When I asked an employee about it later, she said it is a mile above sea level. That’s an important fact suspiciously absent from their marketing literature! Before leaving the park we sat down to enjoy a picnic lunch I had packed, then it began to rain!

Linn Cove Viaduct

While planning this trip I came across photos of the Linn Cove Viaduct time and time again. This iconic portion of road hugs the face of Grandfather Mountain and is recognized internationally as an engineering marvel. It was also the last section of the Parkway to be completed.

I knew it was located near Grandfather Mountain, and sure enough, shortly after leaving the park we crossed the viaduct. Now I needed to find a place for me to see it from a distance. Thankfully we found Rough Ridge Lookout. We followed a beautiful trail, with a short foot bridge, upward for about a third of a mile and were rewarded with beautiful views that included the Linn Cove Viaduct. We took our time there before heading back down. It was really a blessing that the rain stopped the whole time we were on the trail.

Blowing Rock

Our last scenic stop for the day was Blowing Rock, which is known as “the only place in the world where snow falls upside down.” Apparently the wind comes up the valley with such force it pushes the snow upward. We didn’t spend too much time here since it was rainy and there wasn’t that much to look at.

Late in the afternoon we headed to West Jefferson, NC where we stayed the night. We ate a literal “greasy diner” for supper then headed to our Airbnb. Thankfully we didn’t have any issues! I’ll conclude this post with these shots of our evening in West Jefferson. Check out more photos here.