Blue Ridge Parkway

Bolstering rare plant populations. Archiving and sharing photographs of the Blue Ridge Parkway’s past. Revealing obscured views at overlooks. Repairs to a historic mill. We are asking donors to support these projects and additional initiatives that will enhance the scenic route and share its stories with millions of visitors. Each year, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation works with the National Park Service to select projects that will connect visitors with the park’s natural wonders and history and sustain the park for generations to come.

Thanks to your gifts, the new roof at the former Bluffs Restaurant at Doughton Park is complete! The facility at milepost 241 near Sparta, N.C., is now one step closer to reopening. The concrete shingles were replaced with Enviroshake shingles, which are easier and less costly to maintain.

The rehabilitation effort at Moses H. Cone Memorial Park is in for a big boost. The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and National Park Service are pleased to announce that three projects focused on repairs to Flat Top Manor, milepost 294, have been selected to receive Centennial Challenge grants awarded by Congress.

Sharp Top Shelter is looking its best thanks to your support! This summer, a crew with the National Park Service repaired and reset the windows, sills, and door frames, replaced the roof, and painted the clapboard siding on the structure at Peaks of Otter in Virginia. The most noticeable improvement is the removal of prolific graffiti that marred the charm of the circa-1850s building. You can still make a gift to show your appreciation for the rehab of this hikers’ haven.

Mother Nature was gracious and parted the rain clouds just in time for the third annual Denim Ball on Friday evening at Chetola Resort. The event raised $115,000 for repairs and improvements at Moses H. Cone Memorial Park thanks to an outpouring of support from individuals, sponsors, local businesses, and the community. More than 230 people attended to celebrate the remaking of history at the estate located at milepost 294 on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

Each year, the Foundation works closely with the National Park Service to identify initiatives on the Blue Ridge Parkway that need your support. You can give to the projects that mean the most to you or the overall protection of the park. No matter how you choose to give, you’re investing in the future of one of the most treasured landscapes in our country.  

The Blue Ridge Parkway leaves each of us with special memories and a deep connection to the mountains. For Doris Luening, that bond was made when she and her family lived near Mount Mitchell as her father and uncle helped build the Blue Ridge Parkway in the 1930s. Here is her story: Doris Luening was only five years old when she spent a year on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but even today she can direct you straight to the site of the camp that she and her family called home while her father and uncle helped construct the new roadway. 

Not long after public historian Mike Ryan became an interpretative ranger for the Blue Ridge Parkway in its Plateau District headquartered near Rocky Knob, he was asked if he might develop a program about Rock Castle Gorge a few miles south of the knob. Ryan had hiked the gorge a number of times, had seen the ruins of long-collapsed cabins there and knew that once upon a time, the gorge must have been a growing community of families who somehow coaxed a living from the steep hillside and rocky soil.  

In honor of Women’s History Month, we are highlighting the life and work of Bertha Cone. Moses H. Cone Memorial Park in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, may bear the name of its philanthropist and conservationist founder, but after his untimely death a mere 10 years after the estate’s completion, his widow, Bertha, took up managing its 3,500 acres for nearly 40 years afterward.

Official announcement from the National Park Service: