Blue Ridge Parkway

It's snowing outside and I have the TM counterpart to "Cabin Fever." So I pulled out the Atlas and just started ruminating on the possibility of taking a trip east in 2012 to catch the Trailmanor Rally in Gettysburg. We'd probably take I-80 from Salt Lake to Omaha, then drop south to KC & St. Louis. Intent here is to follow the Platte River trail that both sets of my pioneer ancestors followed in the 1850s. Then pick up I-70 to Gettysburg.

Coming back, given our interest in the music and culture of Appalachia, we'd take I-81 parallel to the mountain chain to Nashville. But I just was reading about the Blue Ridge Parkway and thought it would be a great thing to see. Problem is that it is over 400 miles long and looks pretty windy - meaning slow driving. Anyone taken this route before? What if I picked it up at I-77 and drove it from there to Asheville, then swung north back to I-81? Any suggestions?

Keith

[ShrimpBurrito]

Years ago, back in our tent camping days, my girlfriend (who is now my wife) and I were both living in the Raleigh, NC area. We decided to head to the NC mountains to camp for the weekend, but we were set on simply "finding a nice place and sitting still for the whole weekend", but generally heading in the Blue Ridge Parkway area. HA! When we got on the Parkway, we just couldn't stop. Understand that it was already a few hundred miles from home, but we just kept driving and driving, covering a few hundred more miles of the Parkway. It was fantastic. I think you would really be doing yourself a disservice by taking I-81 instead.

This was before we explored the western part of the country, however, so I hope it really was just as good as my memory. The east coast in general does not have the dramatic features of the west, but it is still beautiful -- tall trees, lush green forests, and roaring streams. It's not that the west is better so much, but the landscape and beauty are just different. But I would definitely go back, and in fact we may do just that later this summer. The northern part, i.e. Skyline Drive, is nice, but not nearly as nice IMHO as southern VA and NC.

Highly recommended!

The end of the parkway is just a bit south of Asheville, and from there, I'd head over to the TM factory. It's just north of Knoxville, and probably a 2 or so hour drive.

Gettysburg is also very cool. If you have any interest whatsoever in the Civil War, or don't know much about it, plan on spending at least a day or two there. You can walk the very battlefields where more Americans were killed than any other war to date. And to put the magnitude of that war into context, the number of those killed is about 75% of all those killed in all other U.S. wars combined (from the Revolutionary War to the Gulf War).

A fascinating place.

Dave

We have a trip planned down the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway in late May. We are going to start on Afton Mtn. (Rockfish Gap near Charlottesville, VA.) at milepost 0, stop overnite near Galax VA., and continue the trip to Asheville, where we will jump over to Gatlinburg, TN. for a couple of days. Galax is about the 1/2 point, so that will give us about 230 miles traveling each day. The Parkway speed limit is 45 mph, so it will take awhile, but we are looking forward to a pleasant trip. We will be traveling down the Parkway with 2 other RVs......my DD and SIL in a travel trailer, and the couple that bought our TM. We are to meet up with 2 other couples from this area in Gatlinburg, who did not feel comfortable driving the winding and hilly roads of the Parkway. For me, if I don't have a time allotment, then the slow, easy pace of 45 mph of 2 lane non-congested highway has it all over the I-81 route.

I will try to remember to give a report here when we get back.

When we are not camping in our TM. we ride motorcycles on the Blue Ridge Pkwy with our friends from Tenn. It is a very scenic road and very enjoyable trip. However there are many sharp turns ( that's why it is fun on a motorcycle) and lots of steep up and down hills with turns. Also there is very little room to pull off the road except for the overlooks. There are always RV's on the road though. My suggestions.
Do it. but.
Don't plan much over 25- 35 mph average speed.
Make sure your brakes are in excellent condition.
You need a trans cooler.
Make sure your TV capacity has LOTS of capacity margin. 100% min extra
Check all your lights well as you can hit dense fog on some of the higher points even on a clear sunny day.
Watch out for deer in the early am and evening.
One note. There are lots of entrances and exits to the PKwy from major roads like 81 so it it becomes necessary, you can take an alternate route.
Use topo capable mapping software to plan your route as it provides grade info.
Make sure you stop at the D-Day memorial in Bedofrd Va. Very touching.

Keith, I suggest you check out WWW.thecrookedroad.org for info about old time & bluegrass music. in southwest Va. the Blueridge parkway runs through part of the crooked road

I used to live about 1/2 hour off the parkway near Bedford, VA. My quick thoughts basically echo Bob's. There is a 45MPH speed limit with significant curves and grades. You will want to stop at the overlooks, many of them are fantastic. Even before reading Bob's post I was going to predict an average speed of 30MPH. If you have that kind of time, by all means do it.

As I expected from this forum - great suggestions from all. I'm particularly intrigued by "The Crooked Road." As we move from "ruminations" to planning, I'll be back for more info.

I assume there are plenty of camping and RV sites along these routes?

Check out: http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/index.php

Tons of information.

There are only a few campgrounds on the Parkway, and I think all are 1st come, 1st served. We chose to make reservations at a campground about 3 miles off of the Parkway in Galax, so that we would be assured of overnite accommodations. Through the week the Parkway campgrounds probably have some available sites, but we didn't want to take a chance on a Friday nite.

I've been on the Blue Ridge in our Passat, but I wouldn't tow our Elkmont on it. It just wouldn't be that much fun. Like others have said it's very scenic, but steep and curvy. Good for a motorcycle or car. We would camp close by and do bits of it as day trips in our TV instead; one of the reasons we bought a trailer rather than a motorhome.

Originally Posted by brulaz

I've been on the Blue Ridge in our Passat, but I wouldn't tow our Elkmont on it. It just wouldn't be that much fun. Like others have said it's very scenic, but steep and curvy. Good for a motorcycle or car. We would camp close by and do bits of it as day trips in our TV instead; one of the reasons we bought a trailer rather than a motorhome.

I need some help--Why would you not tow a Elkmont on this road? I have tried to find comething called "Blue Ridge " on my Trailer Life Campground Directory but cant. It this too steep-to windy-to narrow---or nothing to see.