Blue Ridge Parkway

News release from the National Park Service (Oct. 23, 2024) BLOWING ROCK, NC – On Wednesday morning, October 23, 2024, the Blue Ridge Parkway opened to traffic from milepost 285.5, at Bamboo Gap, to milepost 305, near Beacon Heights, in the Blowing Rock, North Carolina area. This is the first section of roadway to open in North Carolina since Hurricane Helene. Opening this section of the park provides improved transportation links while communities address ongoing storm recovery on other local routes.   

From the start, the very idea of the Blue Ridge Parkway was monumental. Just imagine the incredibly ambitious undertaking of constructing a 469-mile scenic route over and even through mountains to create a new national park.  Today, we face a monumental challenge—Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic destruction. We desperately need you to come to the aid of your storm-battered park. We have never tackled a greater task in the 27 years since donors like you became stewards of the national park.

Update from National Park Service 10/10/24 Asheville, N.C. – The Blue Ridge Parkway from milepost 0 to milepost 198 in Virginia, which closed due to impacts from Hurricane Helene, will reopen at 8 a.m. on Friday, October 11. This includes the 198 miles of the scenic byway from Shenandoah National Park south to Virginia Route 685 - Skyview Drive/Turkey Ridge Road (near Fancy Gap):

National Park Service News Release Hurricane Helene Recovery Update – Tuesday, October 8

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and Waypoint Adventure are partnering to offer adaptive kayak training for volunteers and adventures for individuals with physical or mental disabilities in August at Price Lake, milepost 297 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Blowing Rock, N.C.

  The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation welcomed guests to celebrate the release of the new Blue Ridge Parkway license plate and discuss plans for improvements to the national park on March 21 at The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center. The nonprofit’s CEO Carolyn Ward and Whitney Brown, Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, welcomed the audience to share their ideas for supporting the country’s most-visited national park.

On February 6, the Blue RIdge Parkway/National Park Service released the following release concerning Request for Expressions of Interest for Otter Creek Restaurant, Rocky Knob Cabins, and Bluffs Lodge

More than 130 leaders from North Carolina and Virginia gathered to discuss strategies for unifying and strengthening communities adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway during the Blue Ridge Rising Two-State Summit on Dec. 5-6 in Blowing Rock.

On the Blue Ridge Parkway, we’re counting down to Giving Views Day on Tuesday, November 28. It’s our own special version of the annual day of generosity celebrated around the world.  

Beginning Monday, Oct. 23, a contracted crew and volunteers will start reconstruction of the viewing platform atop Mount Pisgah in Pisgah National Forest off the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 407.6. The project is funded through the generosity of our Community of Stewards.