Bluffs Lodge, one of four lodging facilities along the Blue Ridge Parkway, will be closed for the 2011 season.
The lodge and nearby coffee shop have been managed by Forever Resorts after taking over the contract in 2002 from National Park Concessions. Forever Resorts decided to discontinue its operations on the Blue Ridge Parkway following several years of one-year contract extensions. Forever Resorts was concessionaire at Rocky Knob Cabins, Mabry Mill, and Crabtree Falls in addition to Bluffs and the coffee shop. All are on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Forever Resorts in April 2010 did not renew its concession at Lake Crescent Lodge in Olympic National Park. That property was picked up under a 10-year contact by ARAMARK Parks and Destinations that operates Kalaloch and Sol Duc Hot Springs in the same park. ARAMARK is also concessionaire for Lake Quinault Lodge in neighboring Olympic National Forest.
Bluffs Lodge has experienced several issues, including problems with a new roof and closure of portions of the Blue Ridge Parkway due to construction work on historic rock guardwalls. The parkway is currently closed from milepost 241 to 245.5. Beginning July of this year, the closure is expected to move north to a section between milepost 232.5 and 241. The lodge is at milepost 241. Current construction work on the rock guardwalls is expected to be complete by the spring of 2012.
Capital improvements are not typically made by concessionaires operating on one-year contract extensions, and understandably so. Numerous short-term extensions at the same facility often result in a need for substantial expenditures by either the NPS or a new concessionaire. Contract length has sometimes been a contentious issue between concessionaires and the National Park Service.
According to Lisa Davis, concessions specialist for the Blue Ridge Parkway, it is hoped that Bluffs Lodge and the nearby coffee shop will reopen for the 2012 season under a new concessionaire. Bluffs relatively small size, with only 24 rooms, makes it difficult to operate profitably.
The gift shop at Crabtree Falls (formerly called Crabtree Meadows) will remain open and serve as a bookstore for Eastern National. Snacks and other pre-packaged food items, visitor convenience items, and camping and picnic related items will also be offered for sale.
Rocky Knob Cabins and Mabry Mill will also remain open with a new concessionaire under a temporary two-year contract.
The two of us have stayed at Bluffs Lodge on six or seven occasions and our experiences have always been positive. The rooms are dated, but we view this as part of the appeal, and it certainly blends perfectly with the coffee shop that hasn’t changed much in appearance since its construction in 1948. On one occasion we walked to our room after checking in and discovered a guest from our neighboring room playing a harp on the balcony. You don’t find that at a Holiday Inn.
Here’s hoping a new concessionaire soon comes forth and offers rooms to parkway travelers who enjoy a great place to spend the night.
Comments
My family has been staying at Bluffs Lodge for many years now starting way back with my Grandparents. My folks took me their many times growing up and I even once talked my Dad into hiking down to the cabin when I was 12 or 13. Been back a few times on my own and have been planning another trip in the near future so my youngest daughter can see the place that gives her father so many fond memories. I do hope everything works out and they are back in business for 2012 becuase for a self proclaimed computer geek the lodge is one of the few places I can really enjoy being unplugged. If there is anything those of us who love the Lodge and coffee shop can do to help make sure they are there for our kids please let us know.
I have very good memories of stopping by the restaurant the past twenty years. The cobblers were to die for,the best around,almost as great as my moms,and add vanilla ice cream....YUMMMM. Sure hope to see the openning in 2012! I'll be there with my spoon in hand.
This news is heartbreaking. We used to go to Bluffs Lodge a couple of times each summer when our chidren were young and went to camp in the area. I remember birthdays celebrated in the lodge, watching the wildlife, family hikes, etc. In more recent years, we have gone back in the fall to see the foliage. The food in the restaurant was to die for. It reminded me of breakfasts ad dinners at my grandmother's. I sincerely pray that it will reopen. If not, it will be sorely missed!
I was all primed to head for the Parkway and catch some fall foilage by the light of the full moon tonight. It's only 3 hours from Raleigh. Provided Bluffs Lodge had accomodations. Well, so much for that impulse. I didn't know until I called their phone that something was amiss. Oh, well, maybe next year.
P L E A S E someone re-open this quaint little coffee shop! And go ahead and re-hire the entire staff, because it just won't be the same without the same ladies cooking up those wonderful meals!!! I have to be completely honest...I come from a heritage of great country cooks! (My mama being the absolute BEST, and several aunts not far behind). And I have eaten many, many places in my few travels...but THIS restaurant serves THE BEST breakfast that I have EVER eaten!!!! (And I'm 56 years old) God bless ya'll for all those years of being the BEST!
The stimulus money at work program is the reason for the closure of the BRP in Doughton Park, NC. The lay off of all the employees of the Bluff Cafe, Lodge, closing access to trail heads , all to rebuild the stone guard rails. The original guard rails were built by the labor of skilled workman, no cement. All they need ed was maintenance to correct damage from sevral years of abuse. Just wait til you see this mess, and the waste that is going on is being hidden all for political patronage, payoffs. Shame on you people!
We have stayed at the lodge and always make it a point to stop at the coffee shop . It has been a meeting spot for local friends when we come up from florida each year.PLEASE reopen both as it is a part of the history of the parkway for over 50 years
This is sad news, indeed. My husband and I love Bluffs Lodge, dated though the rooms may be. That is part of the charm of the place. Always clean, too. We have stayed there almost every year for the last 25 years. Please, please reopen for 2012.