Blue Ridge Parkway

Becoming a Blue Ridge Parkway Junior Ranger is exciting and rewarding! Pick up your Junior Ranger Folder and instructions at any park visitor center. Then travel the parkway to get site-specific activity sheets along your journey.

The Blue Ridge Parkway offers 469 miles of picturesque road cycling though the Virginia and North Carolina mountains.

The Afton Overlook provides an excellent introduction to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The view is spectacular at any time, but the colorful skies produced at sunrise can be truly breathtaking. And remember: No two sunrises are the same. So if you can, plan a few return visits to this unique overlook.

Want to take a walk on the wild side? Try a hike in the Middle Prong Wilderness! Adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway, this wilderness area protects a beautiful forest and has ample opportunities for solitude.

A mountaintop park may seem an unlikely place to fish, but just the opposite is true. The parkway protects over 100 miles of streams, many of them small, spring-fed watercourses that rise along the spine of the Blue Ridge. In addition, there are13 artificial lakes along the parkway.

Every autumn, thousands of raptors ride the thermal updrafts of the Blue Ridge Mountains on their way to wintering grounds. You can watch the graceful flights of these soaring birds from Harveys Knob Overlook.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center Loop Trail is a short, easy hike that is popular with all ages. Locals and visitors alike enjoy this leg stretcher trail and its close proximity to Asheville.

Make the steep 0.5 mile climb to the top of Devils Courthouse for one of the most fantastic views on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Enjoy breath-taking, panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and the valley below from one of the most unique vantage points on the Parkway.

While this hike is challenging, the trek is very rewarding for the seasoned hiker. The small cascades are pure magic!