Spring Travel Part Three: The Blue Ridge Parkway

Continuing our Spring Travel series on places of historic interest around the South, our post today features the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Stretching from the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, the 469 mile long parkway winds its way across the crest of the Blue Ridge and is one of the most spectacular drives in the world.

The entire route is rich in history. Daniel Boone and other early frontiersmen explored these mountains and numerous groups of Native Americans lived along the route of the parkway. The National Park Service preserves a wide variety of historic sites as part of the parkway, ranging from pioneer cabins and Native American sites to historic village sites and one of America's most beautiful old gristmills.

To read more about the Blue Ridge Parkway, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/blueridge1.

The Blue Ridge Parkway - North Carolina and Virginia

Stretching from Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina north to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, the Blue Ridge Parkway is America's most popular national park area.

Stretching 469 miles across the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains and reaching heights of over 6,000 feet, the parkway is more than just a road. It is a fascinating way to journey into the cultural and natural history of the South.

Our new Blue Ridge Parkway pages are now online at www.exploresouthernhistory.com. To learn more, just follow the link and scroll down the page to the Index section and look under both the Virginia and North Carolina headings.