The Blue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway is touted as America’s Favorite drive, stretching from the Great Smokey Mountains National Park at Cherokee in North Carolina up through the mountains into Virginia ending at the Shenandoah National Park. Living near Asheville we almost take for granted the parkway that stretches through our County. There are several entry and exit points for the parkway in Buncombe County including Ox Creek near Weaverville, Town Mountain Road and Beaverdam Road between Asheville and Weaverville, Tunnel Rd. on the East of Asheville, then Fairview (74-A) and Hendersonville Road to the South of Asheville.
Closing information for stretches of the parkway can be found here.
The Parkway is a two lane road and the speed limit is 45 MPH unless otherwise noted. There are several tunnels to the north of Ox Creek as you head towards the Craggy Gardens area and there are also several overlooks where you can pull off the road and enjoy the view of our Blue RIdge Mountains.
Some warnings for you traveling on the parkway though: watch out for bicyclist’s, they are many in the stretch around Asheville especially and being a curvy road it is easy to come upon one unexpectedly (especially in the uphill stretches where they are slower moving.) Keep in mind that there are many blind curves and please try to be patient and wait for an opportunity that you can see is clear before passing.
Rock slides are also something that is a fairly frequent occurrence. Stretches of parkway are usually closed when this happens (or when the winter weather sets in.) So, lookout for signage pointing towards detour routes. Just because it’s open though, stay aware because you could just see a rock slide! Also, watch out for wildlife along the trail, I’ve commonly seen wild turkey, groundhog and snakes along the path from Weaverville to Asheville, but you never know you may also run across coyote, fox, black bear or white tail deer as well as many species of bird (Quail is one of the larger ones you might see along with the wild turkey.)
One other note – the stretch north of Bull Gap to Craggy Gardens is undergoing repaving work this year (2009). Last we traveled north from Craggy to Grandfather Mountain there were several rough stretches (potholes – some pretty big.) So, keep your eye out for the construction/maintenance and the poorly maintained areas. The climate in these stretches can be pretty rough so potholes can be a big problem as well as steep shoulder drop offs (ruts from heavy rain runoff/etc.)
North of Ox Creek (which is at Bull Gap) about 10-12 miles is the Craggy Gardens Picnic area and the Craggy Gardens Visitors Center. In this area you will find several hiking trails (one connecting the picnic area to the Visitors Center). There’s a small shop and restrooms at the VIsitors Center and plenty of great views. This stretch is also bordering the Asheville Watershed and for around 15 miles through here the rangers will urge you to move on if you stop at anywhere but an overlook, the picnic area or visitors center. It’s marked with signage at the beginning and ending of the stretch, but many years ago I think we had passed the sign, found the picnic area closed turned and come back, forgot about the sign and stopped on the shoulder of the road, just had things set out to start a picnic when a ranger pulled up and (somewhat curtly) chastised us for stopping there and told us to move on. There is a grey sign about 7 miles or so north of Bull Gap that tells where the watershed area starts.
The Craggy Gardens picnic area is really a favorite of ours, there are plenty of tables and an ample parking lot. One of the great things about it is if you go up there in the summer when it’s 85-90 degrees down around Asheville, you can find 70 weather up there. It makes a nice getaway from the heat. Unfortunately they don’t seem to have a way of notifying on their website when the picnic area is closed. August 22nd 2009 we headed up there and made the turn up to the picnic area only to find the road closed a little ways up with a sign stating that the picnic area was temporarily closed due to dangerous bear activity and a warning “for the bears safety do not feed them.” So, we headed on up to the Craggy Gardens visitors center (about 1-2 miles on up to the North) and had a bit of a picnic lunch on the sidewalk up there before heading back.
There are a couple hiking trails from the Craggy Gardens visitors center and having done them in the past I highly recommend them. If we hadn’t had an 18 month old with us I would have thought about a bit of a walk this time.
Around the Tunnel Road area of Asheville you will find the Folk Art Center (just to the North of Tunnel Rd.) One thing they like to point out is that they are open year round whether or not the parkway is closed. (There’s a gate just to the north of their entrance and just to the south of Tunnel road if the other stretches need to be closed.) So, even if you’re in town during January and there’s snow on the ground they are LIKELY OPEN. Here you will see a collection of some of the great arts and crafts of the Southern Highlands. This is also the headquarters of the Southern Highlands Craft Guild and home to their Allanstand shop. Many weekends throughout the year there will be demonstrations going on in the lobby and you can find quilts, chairs, handmade furniture all the way down to whimmy-diddles. (Don’t leave Asheville without one!) There’s also a Park Ranger desk where you can get information on the parkway.
Also at the Folk Art Center is a place where you can walk a segment of the Mountains to the Sea Trail. It actually shadows the parkway from the 74-A area all the way up through Ox Creek, but there are points of entry at Ox Creek Rd., the Folk Art Center, a crossing of the Parkway just a mile or 2 north of the Folk Art Center, and the Tunnel Road/parkway on ramps.
Just a bit south of the Tunnel Road access to the Blue Ridge Parkway is the Destination Center which is the newly built parkway headquarters and welcome center of sorts. (I haven’t been there yet, but will fill you in when we stop by.)
Further to the south of Asheville (after you pass Hendersonville Road) you will find signage directing you towards the Arboretum at Bent Creek. This is a good stop for you gardeners and horticulturists! You’ll see presentations of native plants (good walking trails too.) As well as more formal gardens and exhibits indoors as well. It’s been several years since we were there but have enjoyed our visits there very much.