Recognized as America’s most popular scenic drive, the Blue Ridge Parkway meanders through the serene Appalachian Mountains—only minutes from Marion NC real estate. The Parkway in North Carolina meanders from the Virginia border down along the rim of the Blue Ridge Mountains to Asheville. Swerving west, it then passes the Cherokee and the Qualla Boundary and heads for the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.
The journey beginning near Marion and Lake James real estate is bedecked with seasonally brilliant dogwoods, royal purple Catawba rhododendrons, subtle laurel, and delicate wildflowers during warmer months. Then, come the billowing crowns of iridescent red and gold autumn leaves that gently waft towards the crunchy forest floor before the first sparkly blanket of new-fallen snow. There is no end to the beauty, majesty, and depth of the misty panoramic views that extend from the dock of waterfront Lake James real estate to the heart of the mountains.
But views are only one reason to drive the Parkway. A host of campgrounds, hiking trails, historic sites, orchards, fishing streams, nature walks, and waterfalls beg to be explored. Whistle pigs, or groundhogs, keep an eye on passersby. Deer love the grassy roadsides. Deeper in the forests, wild turkeys and bears, along with their lively little friends—the squirrels, possums, foxes, and skunks—scanter around for food and lodging among the sourwoods, buckeyes, tulip poplars, hickory, mountain ash, maples, red oak, and pine.
Within an amazing patchwork of protected mountainous areas ranging from the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains to several national forests and state parks, outdoor recreation brings over 25 million tourists along the Blue Ridge Parkway to favored destinations and cabins in the middle of nowhere. They hike, mountain bike, downhill ski, whitewater raft, fish, collect leaves, and dive into the skirts of Mother Nature. There are visitor centers, campgrounds, picnic areas, trails, lodges, restaurants, and other facilities to make the trip more enjoyable. It’s best to plan; gas stations are off the Parkway near major connecting intersections.
The Parkway was blasted out in 1935 when more than 100 men were enlisted from the relief and unemployment rolls of Allegheny County. At that time, Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to put American’s back to work. This 477-mile route connecting the Great Smokies with Shenandoah seemed a worthwhile project. The tireless crews turned old mud passageways used by oxen-pulled sleds and mule-drawn wagons into chiseled roads with graceful archways laid with Italian masonry. Some of the spectacular roadside balconies took 52 years to complete.
A simple drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway winds through mountain meadows past split-rail fences, old farmsteads, and historic structures, all signs of civilization centuries ago. To learn about the Cherokee heritage and the heated debates that took place before the Parkway was built, stop to cool off or warm up a one of two new Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Centers. With expert displays and exhibits and rich in media, Virginia’s Explore Park in Roanoke or Asheville’s Milepost 384 Destination Center. The zero milepost is at Rockfish Gap south of Shenandoah National Park.
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