Blue Ridge Parkway

[goldsp8]

We are taking an after Labor Day trip to Maine. I'm considering running the Blue Ridge Parkway on the return trip to home. I know there are some low tunnels on the South end and that the road is not straight. Not like we will be in a big hurry. Any tips and pointers on what not to miss? Thanks in advance.

[2hams]

Some of the pull offs might be too small for your rig. Lynchburg KOA is 1 mile away, and a good base for day trips, but they tend to fill on weekends. Stop at James River Visitor Center and walk across to see old locks. Use upper parking lot at Peaks of Otter. Be very very careful what road you take to come down off the parkway.


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[Bamaman]

I used to travel the whole length of Virginia when working. The Blue Ridge Parkway's also very close to my sister's house in Banner-Elk, NC.

I sometimes will drive 20-30 miles on the parkway for contrast to traveling Interstate 81 . But to run 450 miles on a crooked, very hilly, slow moving scenic road is not very appealing. I feel the same way about traveling the Natchez Trace that runs 10 miles from my house.

If you're coming out of NW Arkansas and going to Maine, you'd do best to stick to I-40 East picking up I-81 North at Dandridge, TN. Going thru Harrisburg and Scranton, PA and east into Connecticut's parkways north of New York City is very scenic. You can also bypass Boston to the west--and go thru Manchester, NH before getting to the start of Maine. I suggest avoiding I-85, I-95, Washington, DC, the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey across the Hudson from NYC.

[WhittleBurner]

we only drove a small section with our 303, the pkway is much easier to do and see in sections camping along the way. We dry camped in Price CG, also Lake Powhatan and a few others as we meandered down from Skyline drive. We picked areas and drove on the freeway stayed in state parks, national forest campgrounds a few day to a week depending on the area.

Even after Labor day the campgrounds fill up. We had the silly notion we'd do the whole trip on the fly in the fall. First place we wanted to stop in VA was full.
All the nearby parks, private and public were all full. Frantically called down the road and ended up another 2 hrs away before we found an open site. So we missed the Shanondoah area.
That night we reserved the rest of the trip so that wouldn't happen again. There are lots of people out thete after Labor day!
We took our time and would repeat the trip over again and still see new things.

We really like the whole Asheville NC area , Blowing Rock NC...darn the whole parkway is great.

[goldsp8]

Thanks for the info. We have made Maine several times, usually we take I-44, I-70, I-81 more less going up. We are looking at returning down I-81 to do the parkway. We have done the Southern part of Natchez Trace and really enjoyed it. Doing the I-85/95 corridor once was enough for me.

[2hams]

As Whittleburner said, you might want to park nearby and do day trips, and campgrounds might be full especially on weekends and especially near college towns that have football like Charlottesville and Blacksburg.

Shenandoah River state park is nice near the north end of Skyline Drive. Misty Mountain isn't bad at north end of Parkway. On I81, Staunton KOA is ok, with a great German restaurant nearby. Or from Misty Mt take I64 east to US29 south to VA 130 west to Lynchburg KOA (get reservation for FHU). From there visit orchards, wineries, ride n and s on parkway - south to Peaks of Otter then down VA 43 (DO NOT tow this) to WW II memorial in Bedford then VA 122 back to Big Island and parkway. Towing south from there we take parkway to 122 to US 460 to I81.


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[VonGreg]

I used to travel the whole length of Virginia when working. The Blue Ridge Parkway's also very close to my sister's house in Banner-Elk, NC.

I sometimes will drive 20-30 miles on the parkway for contrast to traveling Interstate 81 . But to run 450 miles on a crooked, very hilly, slow moving scenic road is not very appealing. I feel the same way about traveling the Natchez Trace that runs 10 miles from my house.

If you're coming out of NW Arkansas and going to Maine, you'd do best to stick to I-40 East picking up I-81 North at Dandridge, TN. Going thru Harrisburg and Scranton, PA and east into Connecticut's parkways north of New York City is very scenic. You can also bypass Boston to the west--and go thru Manchester, NH before getting to the start of Maine. I suggest avoiding I-85, I-95, Washington, DC, the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey across the Hudson from NYC.

Real interested in your exact route especially in bypassing Boston. I am doing the trip to Maine the last week of Sept and first week of Nov. I have to leave Arkansas and head to Chattanooga before I head out. Easy enough to pick up I-81 via 75 and 40. I am assuming to bypass Boston you go all the way up to Albany NY before heading over to Manchester via Hwy 9.

Thanks


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[Ruach-Elisha]

Real interested in your exact route especially in bypassing Boston. I am doing the trip to Maine the last week of Sept and first week of Nov. I have to leave Arkansas and head to Chattanooga before I head out. Easy enough to pick up I-81 via 75 and 40. I am assuming to bypass Boston you go all the way up to Albany NY before heading over to Manchester via Hwy 9.

Thanks


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Did you ever figure out a good Boston bypass? I head to Maine from Virginia in just over a week.

[Bamaman]

It's a shame you've got to go through Chattanooga when going up east. Most would go through Memphis on I-40 and proceed to I-840 (east of Dickson, Tennessee) that's the "new" Nashville southern loop bypass--ending in Lebanon, TN, 30 miles east of Nashville. I avoid Chattanooga like the plague, especially since I usually go through during rush hours.

When in doubt, whip out GoogleMaps.com. From Knoxville, through Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley and through East/Central PA is just beautiful. When you get over into Connecticut the parkways run outside of their cities, and they're easy to travel. If you cut and paste the below, it's what I'm talking about:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Scra...59!2d43.661471

[Likes to tow]

We have traveled every inch of the BRP and Skyline Drive many times. I agree with what others have said about being careful what route you choose to exit. Some of these routes are REALLY steep and not RV friendly. Caution about the section from James River to Peaks of Otter. Steep climb for a few miles with a nice overlook at the top but don't pull up and then shut down the engine. You are building heat in your transmission and to shut the engine and cooling system down all of a sudden can result in it getting too hot and spilling transmission fluid on the ground........heat expansion. Just keep moving for a few miles and let things cool off before shutting down. This happened to us a few years ago. With these warnings being said, don't be afraid of this beautiful drive!! If you are not in a hurry this is the best route for your return. The speed limit is 35/40 and sometimes you may want to drive faster but don't. Also be aware some overlook pull outs my be hard to turn your rig around in. Look for those that are pull thru rather than a parking lot.
Great campground at Mabry Mill (Meadows of Dan)..easy in/out and plenty of spaces. This is our favorite drive, enjoy!!