The Bluffs Coffee Shop is expected to reopen for business in 2020/David and Kay Scott

In late September we headed north from our home in South Georgia to enjoy one of our favorite road trips – the Blue Ridge Parkway. We’ve driven the parkway at least a dozen times and the experience has never grown old. The Blue Ridge Parkway, in combination with Shenandoah National Park’s connecting Skyline Drive, make for one of America’s great driving experiences.

In addition to enjoying the leisurely drive, we intended to visit shuttered Bluffs Coffee Shop in Doughton Park to check on progress in renovating one of the parkway’s most beloved commercial facilities. We also planned to drop by nearby Bluffs Lodge where years ago we had spent several enjoyable nights on the parkway. While renovation of the coffee shop is moving forward, similar plans are not currently in place for the lodge that closed at the same time as the coffee shop.

Bluffs Coffee Shop and the accompanying lodge opened in 1949 and served the public for more than six decades before closing following the 2010 season. The two facilities, along with the adjacent gas station (now an NPS visitor center) are at milepost 241, approximately midway between Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the south and Shenandoah National Park to the north. 

Commercial facilities at Bluffs, along with Rocky Knob Cabins and Mabry Mill, had long been operated by National Park Concessions and, following its 2001 acquisition, Forever Resorts.  Forever made a decision to withdraw from the commercial facilities at the expiration of its then current contract in 2010. While the coffee shop and lodge at Bluffs would close for want of a willing concessionaire, Rocky Knob Cabins remained open an additional year under a temporary contract with a different concessionaire. Mabry Mill has continued in operation under several concessionaires. 

The original checkerboard flooring will be replaced with new checkerboard flooring/David and Kay Scott

The NPS made a diligent stab at keeping all these units open by offering varying combinations of packaging that included Peaks of Otter Lodge, but found it difficult to attract bidders for Bluffs and Rocky Knob Cabins. Peaks of Otter Lodge at milepost 86 and Pisgah Inn at milepost 408 are the parkway’s only lodging units that remain in operation. Peaks of Otter Lodge is operated by Delaware North, which also serves as concessionaire for the three lodges in Shenandoah National Park. Pisgah Inn continues in operation under long-time concessionaire Bruce O’Connell.

During our September visit we stopped at park headquarters a short distance outside Asheville, North Carolina, and talked with Public Information Officer Leesa Brandon about plans for the coffee shop. Brandon said the office had received comments not only from many locals, but also travelers from outside the area, expressing excitement about the planned reopening.

Many of those who commented related fond memories of family meals at the restaurant, and said they were looking forward to returning when it once again welcomes parkway travelers.  Brandon mentioned the Park Historic Structures Program, combined with increased public interest and an anonymous donor’s $100,000 gift, were important factors in the decision to undertake the renovation. 

The donated funds helped the NPS cover a portion of the $325,000 expense of mold remediation and renovation of the adjacent former service station. The majority of fundraising effort, however, was undertaken by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the nonprofit organization established to support parkway programs and projects. The foundation was our next stop.

The foundation, once housed in the park headquarters building, now enjoys a separate facility. Here we met CEO Carolyn Ward, who discussed the coffee shop renovation project. Asked how the foundation came to decide to rehabilitate the coffee shop, Ward replied that public meetings and foundation member surveys indicated increasing support for a reopening of the historic facility. 

Whether the Bluffs Lodge will ever reopen is a question that hasn't been answered yet/David and Kay Scott

With respect to cost, she said the initial estimate of approximately $1 million for the renovation remains pretty much on track. The project received a boost in 2017 when the North Carolina General Assembly appropriated $350,000 for coffee shop repairs. A year later, the Appalachian Regional Commission approved a $300,000 grant to assist in the renovation. Approximately $200,000 of this money was used to pay for a new roof.  Only $38,000 remains to be raised before inside work will begin on the renovation.

Asked about the possibility of beginning a renovation of Bluffs Lodge following completion of the coffee shop, the CEO replied that both the lodge and Rocky Knob Cabins are in the mix of future projects. She said the cabins at Rocky Knob remain in fairly good condition, while the cost of renovating the lodge is likely to cost nearly $4 million. On that note, we bid goodbye to Ward and headed north on the parkway for a night in Blowing Rock. Tomorrow we would visit the coffee shop, with a side trip to the lodge.

At mid-morning on a beautiful day for traveling the parkway, we pulled into the coffee shop parking lot to join three vacant vehicles and a bicycle. A spiffy Corvette pulled in shortly after we got out to stretch our legs. The former service-station-turned-NPS-visitor-center attracts travelers off the parkway, but we’re guessing many people stop without realizing the coffee shop closed its doors nearly a decade ago. 

The only obvious visual change from our 2016 stop was the new roof. The $200,000 roof and $200,000+ mold remediation haven’t noticeably altered the exterior appearance of a building that has been empty for nearly a decade. Despite some exterior maintenance needs, the coffee shop remains a work of art certainly worth saving. Work on both the exterior and interior are expected to begin soon after the lease agreement has been finalized and the fundraising goal met. 

With the entry door locked, we walked the length of the building while peering in the windows to get a glimpse inside. The interior was empty except for the lunch counter, the counter stools, and portions of the small gift shop area near the main entrance. The checkerboard flooring remains but will be replaced during the renovation. The coffee shop has a basement that was used for offices and a refrigeration unit. Old photos will be used in renovating the interior of the building. 

After an hour or so walking around the coffee shop and exploring the small NPS visitor center, we hopped in the car and drove across the parkway to check out Bluffs Lodge.  Driving over the hillside and viewing the lodge brought feelings of both pleasure and sadness. Each of the three times we revisited the lodge since its closing brought back memories of overnight stays when we walked to the coffee shop for an evening meal, attended the occasional evening program on the lodge patio, and visited with other guests as they relaxed in chairs outside their guest rooms.

At the same time, there is sadness at the building’s physical state. Visible mold has spread across louvers on guest room doors, making one wonder how bad it must be inside the building. Exterior siding and wooden gutters have split apart, and shingles on the roof have come loose. Most window coverings were pulled closed, making it difficult to view room interiors, but it was probably just as well.

David and Kay Scott shot the following video back in 2012. 

On October 1, five days following our visit to the coffee shop, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation issued a Request for Proposal to operate Bluffs Coffee Shop.  Proposals are due at the foundation offices by 4 p.m. on November 15.  According to the document, proposals will be evaluated on November 29, and finalist interviews will take place beginning December 2.  It is anticipated the coffee shop will be open for the 2020 season.

The RFP appears to offer more flexibility than most NPS contracts, although it requires a minimum operating schedule of five days per week May through October, with preference to proposals offering additional days and months. The contract is for five years and requires an operating fee of 15% of gross receipts.

Thanks to the NPS, the BRP Foundation, and the many parkway travelers who let it be known they wanted a reopened coffee shop, a favorable wind is filling the sails of the Bluffs Coffee Shop.  Perhaps there will soon be a breeze blowing across the parkway in the direction of Bluffs Lodge.

David and Kay Scott are authors of “Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges” (Globe Pequot).  Visit them at mypages.valdosta.edu/dlscott/Scott.html.