Blue Ridge Parkway-My Favorite Drive!

Blue Ridge Parkway
Location	North Carolina & Virginia, USA
Nearest city	Asheville, NC & Roanoke, VA
Coordinates	36°31′07″N 80°56′09″W / 36.51861°N 80.93583°W / 36.51861; -80.93583Coordinates: 36°31′07″N 80°56′09″W / 36.51861°N 80.93583°W / 36.51861; -80.93583
Area	93,390 (377.94 km²)
Established	June 30, 1936
Visitors	17,882,567 (in 2005)
Governing body	National Park Service

Blue Ridge Parkway route map

The parkway near Grandfather Mountain

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. It runs for 469 miles, mostly along the famous Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains. Its southern terminus is on the boundary between Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina, from which it travels north to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and offers access to the Skyline Drive, the major north/south artery through the Park. The two All-American Byways are separate and distinct. The Blue Ridge Parkway was built to connect Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Parkway is not a National Park, but is a National Scenic Byway and All-American Road, and is the most visited unit in the United States National Park System. Land on either side of the road is maintained by the National Park Service and, in many places, the park is bordered by land protected by the United States Forest Service.