Trip down the parkway

[Etienne]

Hey guys.

I am planning a little soul-searching/get-away-from-life-for-a-while trip down and back up the Blue Ridge Parkway from Va to the Smokey Mountains in mid August. Planning on taking about 5 days.

Was just wondering if any of you who live in that area or have done the drive had any recommended stops or rewarding side-roads. I'm really excited about the trip and want to make the most of it.

thanks for any ideas.

[grm]

On your way, stop and visit all the different Weirdo's in Asheville, NC. You would be surprised how the other people live.

[roadrash]

I've ridden parts of the BRP on my bicycle during a couple of century rides, and that's some beautiful countryside.

I'm not sure where it is in relation to the Parkway, but Mt. Mitchell (highest point east of the Mississippi River) is in that area.

Grandfather Mtn. is in the same general area, and is known for the "mile high swinging bridge." It's a footbridge at the top of the mountain. Oh, and if you do go to the top of Granfather Mtn., imagine riding up the steep twisty road on a bicycle... AFTER you've already ridden 100 miles. Man, I wish I was still in that physical condition.

I think there's a general store and restaurant at the top of Beech Mtn. called Fred's. It's sort of the local hot spot of the small town there, and might be worth checking out.

That's about all I remember... have a great trip!

[96cali]

Does 5 days seem too short to go down AND back from PA?

[Etienne]

Thanks for the replies.

Originally Posted by 96cali

Does 5 days seem too short to go down AND back from PA?

If I drove straight through it would only take about 15-20 hours one way (I'll be leaving from Lancaster). I want to make some stops a long the way, but mainly I'm just looking forward to some great driving. So I am figuring 2 days down, 2 days back up and then a buffer day. If this is unreasonable, let me know -- I've never made the trip before and could probably get an extra day off work if I ask right .

I saw a thing about that mile high swinging bridge on the internet... definitely looks awesome. I used to ride bicycles all the time when I was younger, lots of great trips, but never anything very ambitious .

Its funny you mention Asheville. Ironically I was planning on spending half a day or so there for a change of pace from driving.

Thanks again.

[andyman7931]

grm and I are both in Asheville, maybe you should stop and have dinner with us and a mini ti meet :-)

I'm taking Thurs and Fri off this week and driving from Asheville on the parkway north. I'm going on my motorcycle though, so my pace will be slower than if I were in a car since my butt isn't as robust as some riders. I plan to get to the northern end in a day of riding, look around there for a day and ride skyline drive and then come home on Sat or Sun depending on how I feel and how the weather is.

Mt Mitchell is definatley worth stopping at, Devil's Courthouse past Mt Pisgah is also very nice. There's a million trails all over the parkway here, several wonderful waterfalls to go tour as well. You could take a month to go on the parkway, all depends on what you want to do.

I've never ventured north past Mitchell, so after this weekend I can advise what's neat up there.

[Etienne]

Thanks for the tips. I'll have to check them out and see if I can incorporate any of it. Any comments on skyline drive would be cool too -- was debating whether to start with that or not.

Originally Posted by andyman7931

grm and I are both in Asheville, maybe you should stop and have dinner with us and a mini ti meet :-)

I'll keep you posted as to when I'll be in the Asheville area closer to the time I head south -- probably sunday the 13th to monday th 14th -- if it works out that could be a lot of fun.

Hope you enjoy your trip north .

Cheers.
Steven M

[Phil Marx]

Originally Posted by Etienne

If I drove straight through it would only take about 15-20 hours one way (I'll be leaving from Lancaster). I want to make some stops a long the way, but mainly I'm just looking forward to some great driving. So I am figuring 2 days down, 2 days back up and then a buffer day. If this is unreasonable, let me know -- I've never made the trip before and could probably get an extra day off work if I ask right .

If you're leaving from PA and including the Skyline Drive as the start of your trip you'll never finish in five days if you take time to sightsee at all. I live ten minutes from the start of the BRP where Skyline Drive meets it. The Skyline speed limit is 35mph and enforced. The BRP (469 miles) is 45mph and enforced but they seem to let you get away with a bit more than on Skyline (105 miles). From my home to Asheville on the BRP takes a good eight hours even on a bike and not stopping for anything but one tank of gas. That's where I usually quit as I'm usually cutting off for our office in Greenville, SC, at that point and the remainder to the Smokies is the twistiest/slowest part of the BRP, too. I often cut off the first 90 miles or so by taking the fast track on I-81 to Buchanan just to get a jump on the day and leaving me fewer miles of 50-mph riding. If you cut out Skyline, bust ass to get to Waynesboro (mile marker 0 on BRP) via Interstate, don't stop for too much along the way, and don't get behind too many RVs, and don't mind driving for twelve hours each day, you could do it in four days. But that's probably a minimum to have any fun with the scenery, food, and attractions along the way. Lancaster is an easy four-hours or more from the start of the BRP.

Most any road either side of the drive is a great experience both for attractions and challenging driving. In VA there's Crabtree Falls and Rt. 56, and nearly any parallel road in NC is a blast. You'll find yourself on 221 near Mose Cone in NC anyway due to a detour: http://www.nps.gov/blri/. Google is your friend. Here's a great map. Have fun.

[Etienne]

Thanks Phil.

I guess I'll probably pass on skyline drive. Worst case scenario, should I get too distracted along the way I might just take the interstate home instead of wandering all the way back up the parkway.

I've been giving google a work out these past couple days and fortunately my work doesn't care how many pages of maps I print out... lol .

[andyman7931]

I just got back from my parkway trip. My plans changed several times, and I ended up not going the whole length of the parkway. We left out on Fri AM and go to the place I made the reservations near Fancy Gap VA. Stayed there 2 nights instead of going on and then came home today. The farthest we made it was to Rocky Knob, milepost 175 or so. According to the GPS I averaged around 32 mph overall traveling speed due to stopping and slow tourists. If I were in a car the speed would have been higher, but I was riding 2 up by motorcycle and my and my wife's butts aren't accustomed to riding long distances yet. I originally was going to camp and go solo, doing this would have gotten me the whole length of the parkway and back in 4 days, but 2 up and stopping more frequently, 4 days would have been pushing it. If we'd done highway home 4 days would be enough, but my wife isn't use to riding on the highway yet, nor do I find it much fun.

What is your purpose for the trip? Are you just looking to get away or to see nice scenery? Do you like history? I found that the best views were from just north of Boone to the southern end. North of that there were several stops which featured nice historical displays. Mabry's Mill for instance shows a turn of the century mill and how it works and all... I personally just like riding and the parkway was perfect for that. During the week days the parkway is mostly empty, but today the traffic wasn't too bad, during leaf season it can be a lot worse.

I finally learned details of the motorcycle wave on this trip. I can now predict who will wave at who :-) My wife and I were discussing it for about an hour on the way home today.

here's a picture I took on Fri. This overlook was near Mt Mitchell. I have a BUNCH more...

[Etienne]

Wow... nice pic... I'm so looking forward to this .

thanks for the details on the trip. I have sort of adjusted the details for mine a bit too. I think I'm just going to go as far South as Asheville. I really didn't like the idea of taking the interstate all the way home from Tennessee, so decided to just not go all the way south so I could stay back and forth on the pkwy without murdering myself.

I am planning on making a few stops here or there if something seems really interesting -- thanks for the tip about Boone btw -- but mainly I just want to drive it and see the scenery. History is fascinating, but touristy stuff gets boring after a while for me... I can only read so many plaques .

Thanks again for the input!