Best of the Blue Ridge Parkway: The Ultimate Guide to the Parkway's Best Attractions

We took a trip the end of October to BRP and used this book as our guide. It was an excellent resource of information, completely up to date.

Hubs and I drove up to North Carolina from South Florida over the Labor Day weekend. Because we were visiting family, we only had a short time to spend on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I'm an amateur photographer, and was looking forward to finding some good places to get in some shooting time. We found this book just before we left, plotted out the time we had, and the places we wanted to see, and crossed fingers that we'd fit it all in. Thanks to this book, we did. This is a fantastic guide that proved invaluable to us on a short time budget. PS. Take the 'MUST STOP vista' messages seriously. He's not kidding - they're awesome! =)

I bought this book as I live close to sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I am an amateur (very) photographer, hiker, nature enthusiast. I was curious as to where some of the better photo opportunities were located along the Parkway and did not have the luxury of spending a lot of time attempting to find the these locales on my own. I also live close to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and own a copy of another book co-authored by Nye Simmons, "The Smoky Mountains Photographers Guide". Because this has proven to be an outstanding guide, I presumed I could not go wrong with purchasing Nye Simmons latest offering, "Best of the Blue Ridge Parkway". I was definitely not disappointed! It is a wealth of information about everything you need to know about the Blue Ridge Parkway. Of course, the photography in it is outstanding. Mr. Simmons unselfishly shares photo tips on where and when a particular subject can best be photographed. However, this is not just a photo guide, but I'm sure it will serve you well whether you like to point and shoot, are a serious amateur or even a seasoned professional. Each chapter sequentially covers a section of the Parkway beginning at the north end in Virginia. Since I live closer to the southern terminus, I just skipped ahead to those chapters. Besides the photo op info, there are strip maps of each section, info on points of interest both on and close to the Parkway (scenic views, hiking trails, historic info) as well as info on lodging, dining and gas stations along the way. If you are looking for a guide to the Best of the Blue Ridge Parkway, this is it!