Other Attractions in the Blue Ridge Region

Black Balsam's popular hiking trails in the Nantahala Forest can be accessed from the parkway.

Robert Stephens photo.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a "window" to the region and provides access to scores of communities, each with their own cultural and natural sites to explore. Take time to visit these communities to enjoy the local flavor that is so much a part the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The NC Division of Tourism and Virginia Tourism Commission have web sites that will help you discover things to see and do in local communities. Visit the Boone, Asheville, Roanoke, or Bedford web sites for information as well.

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Other National Park Areas and National Forests

The Blue Ridge Parkway connects Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the south and Shenandoah National Park on the northern end.

• Just east of Roanoke, VA, visit Booker T. Washington National Monument where the noted educator was born into slavery.
• Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site east of Asheville, NC preserves the poet and author's home.
• The parkway passes through four US Forest Service areas: the George Washington and Jefferson national forests in Virginia, and the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests in North Carolina. Learn the difference between a national park and a national forest.

State Parks

Visit the Virginia and North Carolina State Parks web sites for information on these protected areas throughout the region. Mount Mitchell State Park in North Carolina is adjacent to the parkway.