Part of the beauty of traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway is man-made -- the gorgeous stone guardrails along some of the bends in the 469-mile parkway. Unfortunately, needed work on some of those guardrails will cause some traffic problems in the months ahead.
Countless Blue Ridge Parkway motorists peek over Wildcat Rocks to see tiny Caudill Cabin 1,500 feet below in North Carolina’s Doughton Park. Take this hike to the cabin and explore a quintessential setting of Appalachian isolation.
Several years ago we wrote “The Best National Park Trip,” an article that described the wonders of visiting Zion, Bryce Canyon, and the Grand Canyon during a tour of the West. This is indeed a great trip that can be extended with visits to Lake Powell, Cedar Breaks, and other nearby units administered by the National Park Service.
Every state wants to have a long-distance hiking trail to show off the best of its natural features. The Long Trail in Vermont that meanders from the Massachusetts border to Canada is the oldest, having been created in 1910. Farther south, the Mountains-to Sea Trail runs from Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the Atlantic.
Wednesday entailed a short drive of 75 miles along the Blue Ridge Parkway on a day of clouds, mist, and fog. Even in this weather the parkway is an enjoyable drive, especially compared to interstates with speeding vehicles and pesky 18-wheelers.
We are beginning the ultimate 2010 road trip: North along the 469-mile length of the Blue Ridge Parkway followed by 105-mile-long Skyline Drive that winds through Shenandoah National Park. Then west to St. Joseph, Missouri, to follow the Oregon Trail to Oregon City, Oregon, before returning via the route followed by Lewis & Clark along the Columbia and Missouri rivers.
Wayward bears addicted to Kentucky Fried Chicken are the least of a park ranger’s worries. Just ask Bruce Bytnar, who worked at the Blue Ridge Parkway for 27 years before he retired in 2008. In his book, A Park Ranger’s Life: Thirty-Two Years of Protecting Our National Parks, Bytnar tells the real story behind what it is like to patrol a 469-mile long park through some of the best scenery the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina have to offer.