This is an incredibly long and beautiful scenic drive that serves many purposes for us. We have taken chunks of this drive while exploring loops around the Smokies, Natahala and Pisgah Forests, and the Blue Ridge Mountains. We also love this drive as it winds through Virginia, making a great route to travel into the Piedmont Triad. The road on this route is great in most all segments, and it's all around one of the most impressive driving paths on the east coast.

Driving the Blue Ridge Parkway (with my wife) from Cherokee to the Shenendoah National Park in our Porsche Boxster was our road trip this year. Entering the Pisgah Forest at the front end of trip was a highlight, especially staying at the Pisgah Inn. Great view and extraordinary food! We drove during the blossoming of rhododendron, laurel, and azalea...all at different altitudes was spectacular. Fortunate to see lots of deer, a few bear... and lots of tunnels. Stayed at mostly non chain hotels, restaurants, and visited charming little towns. Seeing Shenendoah N. P. was another National Park on our bucket list!

The Blueridge parkway is a 469-mile road that travels through the Great smoky mountains. It was designed to connect Shenandoah National Park and Great Smoky Mountains National Park during President Roosevelt’s era in 1935. It was finally completed in 1987. Most of the route is windy 2-lane road at various elevations with about ½ of the route in North Carolina and ½ in Virginia. Many parts of the road are at higher elevations so driving conditions may be challenging due to limited visibility or changing weather. There is no fee to use the parkway. There are numerous sights and pullouts for you throughout the park. The speed limit is mostly below 45 miles per hour and quite often lower than this. There is something for everybody along the trail from waterfalls to hikes to panoramic vistas. I would recommend that if you want to see the entire trail, you should take vacations and see parts of it on different trips. I highly recommend that you plan your trips on the parkway with the weather in mind so that you can get the best experience. I have taken some beautiful pictures above the clouds from several of the pull-offs. Overall, it is a great path to enjoy the mountain scenery and views. Enjoy!

The best scenic highway on the eastern seaboard! We drove it from Little Switzerland to the Southern entrance at The Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Cherokee, which is about 1/3 of its entire distance. Make sure you are making the drive with clear skies or you defeat the purpose. We were blessed to have perfect weather.

My 11 year-old daughter and I are taking a couple days to explore Western NC. Today, we took the Blue Ridge Parkway from Spruce Pine to Asheville, with a stop at Mt. Mitchell on the way. What a spectacular drive! This was my first time on the parkway and it was a delight to share it with her. There are so many overlooks with breathtaking views; it’s hard to decide which ones to stop at! We even saw a black bear!

This is got to be one of the premier road trips on the east coast and maybe in all of America. Unbelievable views in both North Carolina and Virginia. NC being more mountains and valleys with Carolina a lot more country side dotted with farms and rolling hills. We went in a convertible Mustang which made the trip that more special and easier to see the beauty around us. The open road with no stop signs, no traffic lights, and very few other vehicles out there with you. Just God's majestic masterpiece everywhere you look. Do your homework before you go and make a list of the must sees along the route. Maybe our best road trip ever!

Traveled on the Parkway from Asheville to Mt Mitchell- once again a great drive. Stopped at numerous overlooks for great views. Well maintained road.. I did find the bike riders obnoxious- but , oh well.. I guess they have to travel too. I really enjoy the parkway... well worth a road trip!

It is such a pleasure to drive this scenic parkway! There are plenty of overlooks to pull over, as well as the visitor center, arboretum, craft center, Mt. Pisgah, etc. We were staying in Asheville and got on the parkway on the way to the airport, because it's not that far away. Take time to drive even just a portion - you won't regret it!

My husband and I drove part of this road as we were traveling between Shenandoah NP and the Great Smoky Mountains NP. We would have loved to drive the whole route, but we didn’t have enough time. We primarily drove it near Roanoke and near the North Carolina/Virginia border. The views from some of the overlooks were comparable to the overlooks in the parks. It was really gorgeous. Both days we drove it (Thursday and Friday), there weren’t too many other cars. Thursday, near dusk, we saw lots of deer. Every mile or so we would see more for probably five to ten miles. We also saw a huge (15+) group of turkeys one day, and a smaller (maybe 10) the second day. It was easy driving and a great alternative to the interstates.

We started south on the Blue Ridge Pkway from N Carolina, not realizing that it is closed in 2 places after Cumberland Knob (mile market 217.5) where there is a 1 mile walk. They are doing construction there and then a bit further on a bridge so we had to detour about 40 miles+. We kept following the detour signs (vs getting on a main road and going straight to it later). We could not hike Fodder Stack Trail, or do Wildcats Overlook or Jeffress Park. We did end up in Blowing Rock (no good places to stay at last minute) and then Boone where we did stay. The next morning we continued to Cone Manor, in Moses Cone Memorial Park (lots of trails and nice to hike here) and did a nice tour of the historic house, and grounds and saw the Artisans area there. It is a scenic and twisty roadway that is very pretty. We had hoped the leaves would be changing but were about a week or 2 away from that. We continued to Linn Cove - there is an Observation deck with cool rocks (need to be able to clamor on rocks) to see a very nice view. We also hike to Linville Falls and did all of the viewings: upper, mid and lower observation areas. The falls were nice and it was a fun thing to do. The NC Arboretum is further south right off the Pkwy. There is a $20 parking fee and then it is free to tour the grounds. There is a lovely bonsai collection here. We picked up the Pkway again after visiting Asheville and went all the way to Tennessee via Newfound Gab Road which is a very scenic drive with lots of beautiful overlooks of mountains. This took us right into the Smokey Mountains where we did more hiking. Really a lovely area.