Blue Ridge Parkway Blue Ridge Parkway Map - PDF

The Blue Ridge Parkway, known as “America's Favorite Drive,” is quite possibly the most spectacular scenic driving route in the country. Tracing the ridgelines of the Southern Appalachians, the parkway marks the uppermost point of Maggie Valley at Soco Gap. From there, the parkway heads south to Cherokee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and north to Asheville and beyond. All told, the Blue Ridge Parkway runs 469 miles from Cherokee, North Carolina to Front Royal, Virginia. With so much room to stretch out, it's easy to see why the parkway is so popular with motorcyclists, automobile enthusiasts and cyclists. Even the shortest of trips on the parkway provides high elevation views of the rolling mountainscape and convenient picnic areas and walking trails when the view from the windshield just won't do. A trip down the parkway provides stunning, long-range vistas and close-up looks at the natural and cultural history of the southern Appalachian Mountains. The Blue Ridge Parkway is unique in every season. In spring, the greening begins, progressing steadily up the mountainsides. When summer heat sets in, there's no better place than the parkway to escape the heat and dip your feet into an icy cold mountain stream. Fall brings heavy traffic to the parkway to see the vivid colors come alive in the mountains. In winter, the leafless trees open up the canopy and reveal even wider panoramas and dramatic views. 

Trails close by on the Parkway

Mile Post 407.6 Mt. Pisgah Trail (summit view) 1.26 Moderate / Strenuous

Mile Post 407.6 Buck Springs Trail (Pisgah Lodge to view) 1.06 Easy / Moderate

Mile Post 408.5 Frying Pan Mountain Trail 1.65 Moderate / Strenuous

Mile Post 417 East Fork Trail (USFS, access to Shining Rock Trail System) 0.1 Easy / Moderate

Mile Post 418.8 Graveyard Fields Loop Trail (loop by a stream) 2.29 Moderate

Mile Post 419.4 John Rock Trail (leg stretcher to view) 0.1 Easy

Mile Post 422.4 Devil's Courthouse Trail (panoramic summit view) 0.42 Moderate / Strenuous

Mile Post 427.6 Bear Pen Gap Trail (access to Mountains-to-Sea Trail) 0.22 Easy

Mile Post 431 Richland Balsam Trail (self-guiding loop through spruce-fir forest) 1.47 Moderate

Mile Post 433.8 Toy Taylor Overlook Trail (paved trail to overlook) 0.1 Easy

Mile Post 451.2 Waterrock Knob Trail (summit view) 1.18 Moderate / Strenuous

*Mileage indicated length of trail one-way unless otherwise noted.

Blue Ridge Parkway Website