Blue Ridge Parkway

obullfish

obullfish

Carolina Trail Blazers
Joined
Nov 21, 2011
Location
Candler N.C.
Looking for suggestions on where to camp and things you can’t miss along the way. The plan is starting at the southern end of the BRP in Cherokee and heading north to the end and then on to Skyline Drive. We will be leaving on a Saturday morning and planning on 150-200 miles a day and camping every other night and hotels the other nights. We want to be back down to Roanoke Va on Wednesday evening and get a hotel Wednesday night there and head over to Potts Mountain Thursday-Sunday. We know about the southern end of the parkway to up around Blowing Rock but haven’t been north in over 20 years. This trip will be done in my TJ rubicon with my trailer in tow. I should be able to go about 175 miles between fuel stops so we will be planning to get off the BRP for fuel daily along the way. This trip will be the 3rd week of July if we end up doing it.
 
You looking for hiking trail suggestions too?
 
If you want info about hiking, very mild wheeling trails/camping spots around the grandfather area let me know. I have traveled all the trails around here many times.....
 
junkxj said:
If you want info about hiking, very mild wheeling trails/camping spots around the grandfather area let me know. I have traveled all the trails around here many times.....
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We will probably up into Va before we camp Saturday night. We normally get up around Boone a couple times a year for a weekend trip though.
 
Crabtree Falls has primitive campsites you can drive to up top and then it’s a short hike down to the falls overlook. It is off of the parkway, but not far.

Meadows of the Dan / Mabry Mill are worth the time to visit and Rocky knob campground is just up the road.
 
I will throw out what I have experienced on the BRP North of Boone that might not be visible if you are just driving along.

1) Rocky Castle Gorge Trail (10.5-11 mile loop)- Camping is available at the bottom of the mountain. I have hiked this trail a few times. The wife and I hiked the trail early last spring when there was still some snow on the ground. If you start at the bottom, and hike clockwise, the trail follows the stream, passes an old private residence, then a waterfall, then starts up the mountain and crosses through a huge boulder field. There are views at the top from a field when the trail runs parallel to the BRP.
Rocky Knob Recreation Area, Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 169.0

2) Crabtree Falls (off hwy 56) - Maybe 5-8 miles East of the BRP. I was there last October. We parked at the bottom and hiked up beside the falls. If you like waterfalls, then this is a MUST SEE.
https://www.virginia.org/listings/outdoorsandsports/crabtreefallstrail/

3) Luray Caverns - About 15 minutes West of the Skyline Drive. We were up there a couple of years ago and went to the caverns
Discover Luray Caverns in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley

4) Big Levels 4x4 Trail. This is off the BRP just south of Wintergreen Ski Resort. I have never driven this trail, but it sounds perfect for your trip.
4x4TrailMaps - Big Levels
 
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Another +1 for Crabtree Falls. We have some friends with a cabin just off the intersection of the parkway and Crabtree Falls Hwy. There is fuel in Montebello and a small country store for basic supplies if needed.

Crabtree Falls also has a jeep trail, but its hit or miss if its open in recent years. If the gates are open then its fair game but sometimes the landowner gets a bug in his ass and closes the gates.
 
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Another vote for crabtree falls. I love hitting the parkway and do so at least a couple times a year. Not much in the way of hiking, but the little family cabin there at cumberland knob is one of my favorite places to stop. There is a hiking trail, but I have not hiked it.

Another cool place to stop is groundhog hill cemetery. No hiking, but some cool history and an awesome view out over arat.
 
I would guess you can average at best 40 mph in a TJ pulling a trailer on the parkway.
That's 5 hours per day of driving. Add in sleep, eat, poop, fuel....I mean there aint a lot of time for hiking unless Im missing something. Id personally try to add another travel day in to make it more enjoyable.
 
Ron said:
I would guess you can average at best 40 mph in a TJ pulling a trailer on the parkway.
That's 5 hours per day of driving. Add in sleep, eat, poop, fuel....I mean there aint a lot of time for hiking unless Im missing something. Id personally try to add another travel day in to make it more enjoyable.
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I guess I should say that our main goal is to drive the BRP from end to end and make it to Potts mountain for a relaxing weekend of wheelin and hanging out with friends. Anything over and above that is a plus. We plan to make it to Va on the first day since we are on the BRP from Cherokee to Boone pretty often and have done pretty much everything at some point on that stretch. As far as the TJ pulling my trailer it will not slow me down at all just take a little more fuel. My wife is a photographer so there will be thousands of pictures taken and some hiking to get to some photo locations.
 
When we go up on the BRP, I am bad about wanting to stop and hike every trail or spot where there is something to see. I think it would take me 2 months to drive the whole thing from end to end, LOL.
 
the old lady and i did that trip 22 years ago on our 20th wedding anniversary. we camped off our motorcycle and the weather was fine except for one day on the way back. it was one of the most memorable trips in our life.on the day of our anniversary we reached Luray Virginia so we rented a small cabin and i found a justice of the peace to redo our wedding vows.
turns out it was a small older lady (had to be in her 80s) and her husband. she knew of an overlook that had a great view of the valley below. we wanted some pictures and her husband said sure he would take some---needless to say when we had the film developed (remember film cameras?) he had cut off everyone's head. we still get a good laugh out of that.we redid our vows there and i cried like a baby.
when we left Front Royal at the end of skyline drive we jumped on business 340 south just to stay off the interstate and when we hit Roanoke
the proverbial bottom dropped out of the clouds. we were soaked to the bone thru our leathers and kept pressing on. we got on US 221 just outside Roanoke and just before Floyd VA there was a tavern and inn so needless to say we did a quick turnaround and went there. i went in the office and the manager lady was asleep on the couch so i rung the bell and said i needed a room -- she ask what time it was i said "around 6" she said "AM or PM?". PM it was and she said "just go find a room that you like and pay me in the morning". that inn had to be 100 years old and every room was furnished with antiques. it had steam heat radiators so we turned em up and spread our leathers out to dry--had supper at the tavern next door (that's a story in itself) stayed the night and woke up to another beautiful day.
sorry for the long post but just thinking back on that trip brought back a flood of memory's and i admit tears just thinking about the details. man i have been blessed to have such a good women in my life.
anyways i hope you and yours have a great trip and share many memorable moments. make love often but not to the point of being bored with it and hold close the one you love cause you never know what life holds in the future.

Krip and Swampy Mae (our club names)
 
Jeep and trailer for reference that will be making the trip.
623448E7-FFA0-4864-8E85-EF6A772F414D.jpeg
 
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