Trails & Views Forever Program

The places you enjoy nature on the Parkway desperately need your help! As the National Park Service faces an astonishing price tag to repair all aspects of the Blue Ridge Parkway, coupled with budget constraints, care of the trails, campgrounds, picnic areas, and overlooks is falling to the bottom of the long list of priorities.

You can protect the outdoor experiences that are at the heart of the Parkway journey with a gift to the Trails & Views Forever program. Your donation will revitalize trails, picnic areas, campgrounds, overlooks, and additional amenities that allow us to immerse ourselves in the beauty of the national park. 

The program's projects include:

Restore the Views

The Parkway’s designers created astounding roadside overlooks that wow travelers around every corner. Today, many of the views are obscured by overgrown vegetation. With your help, arborist crews will work to reveal the iconic scenery of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina near the border with Virginia.

Linville Gorge Trail Rehabilitation

You can help repair the trail that leads to Linville Falls, one of the most iconic outdoor destinations in North Carolina. The Linville Gorge Trail poses serious safety concerns with several downed trees, uneven and unstable terrain, and a steep, sloped tread that is eroding into the Linville River. Your gift will bring in a Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards team to clear trees, install rock structures including stone steps and retaining walls, and create sidehill reinforcements at several major erosion areas.

Humpback Rocks Trail Planning - FUNDED

Humpback Rocks Trail is an extremely popular hiking route, so popular that erosion and vegetation loss are significant and the possibility for injuries to visitors is a concern. Your support will allow the National Park Service to work with a consultant to realign the lower third of the route to protect natural resources and ensure its safe use.

Trail Management & Oversight 

Despite the Parkway’s 88-year history and hundreds of miles of trails, it wasn’t until recently that the National Park Service hired a team member focused solely on the oversight of hiking routes in the park.  The role of Trail Program Coordinator was created thanks to your foresight.

By providing support for this role, the coordinator will continue work to identify trail program priorities and coordinate projects with Parkway staff, volunteers, adjacent public land agencies, and partner organizations such as the US Forest Service, state parks, Friends of Mountains to Sea Trail, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and Carolina Mountain Club. It is critical to fund a dedicated position focused on maintaining and enhancing the treks that leads us through the natural wonders of the mountains.

Parkway Trail Inventory

Considering 16.7 million visitors flocked to the Parkway in 2023, the number of people exploring the trails in the national park is only expected to climb. More than 369 miles of trails in the national park lead visitors across rolling fields and through sun-dappled forests, up craggy mountainsides and down into lush valleys. In addition to official park trails and social paths, the Parkway intersects with the Appalachian Trail and Mountains to Sea Trail. Keeping each step of the way safe for visitors with minimal impacts on the surrounding ecosystems is a tall task.

By helping to fund a thorough inventory of trails within the national park, you can give the Trail Program Manager and volunteer crews the assessment tools and critical information they need to prioritize and plan trail improvements while carefully considering the impacts to the landscape.

Please give today! You can help us meet the challenge and ensure that the Parkway remains a beloved place to explore a breathtaking landscape.

Become a Trailblazer

Now is your chance to become an official Trailblazer for this critical program. With a gift of $500 or more, you will receive a limited edition patch and your name will be featured on donor recognition stations on the Parkway at Humpback Rocks, Peaks of Otter, Price Lake & Campground, Craggy Gardens, and Graveyard Fields. You will also receive special recognition in our annual report and this attractive patch featuring a fall scene. Give today to become a Trailblazer!

PLEASE Give Today

Learn more about Trails & Views Forever with this webinar: