The two-lane Blue Ridge Parkway runs 469 miles from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia’s southern Appalachian region to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. With numerous lakes, cascading waterfalls, and forests overlapping the parkway, there are plenty of opportunities to hike on one of the wellmarked trails.Rising to 6,000 feet, the Blue Ridge Mountains are shrouded in a blue-tinged mist. In the fall the forest foliage turns a fiery hue. A region of ancient land formations, the land was once the Cherokees’ before they were forced along “the Trail of Tears,” in their journey to the Oklahoma territory in the early nineteenth century.

Anyone traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway should not be in a hurry. The area provides a stunning panoramic backdrop for a number of outdoor activities, from camping and hiking to cycling and kayaking.

Built around the Shenandoah Valley and Norfolk & Western Railroads, Roanoke is a pleasant commercial center with a historic downtown region. Along with the old farmers’ market, visitors should also see the Virginia Museum of Transportation and the History Museum of Western Virginia.

The natural beauty of the parkway’s serene blue ridgelines can be best enjoyed around Floyd County, where pocket towns nurture the traditions of Appalachia’s mountain people. From Roanoke, detour across to Fairy Stone State Park by US-57, known for its fortuitous “fairy” stones. The town of Ferrum features the Blue Ridge Institute and Farm Museum, which highlights the region’s German heritage.

Bluegrass music fills the mountain air at Galax each August when the region’s best fiddlers pack in the crowds at the Old Fiddlers Convention. The Blue Ridge Parkway is open yearround, except when there is heavy snow on the roads in the winter months.