Guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway

This book was so much more than I expected. It is very detailed in any and all aspects. All sites along the drive are marked by mile markers right down to the tenth of a mile. There is a brief section that tells about the history of the area. Other sites, stops, overlooks and points of interest are well documented. There are also sidebars to the wildlife that are native to the region. There is a section dedicated to what plants and flowers are in bloom(Bloom Calendar)from Jan. through Dec. Campgrounds are marked by mile markers and they specifically tell how many tent and/or RV sites are available as well as the elevation. Trailheads are marked by state. Tunnels are also marked by mile marker and length. However, the height clearance was not. A must have book for first time and repeat visitors. I also recommend "GUIDE TO THE NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY". It is by another author but has the same format.

I was on the B.R. PKWY and needed something more than the simple park map to figure out where the interesting hikes and views were. This book does it and does it well. I have been on the pkwy many times, but some of the history had eluded me until I got to glance through this guide. My buddy liked it so much, he bought his own just because I was always reading it. If you are going to drive the pkwy, I would recommend this book to help you get the most out of your trip.

Why is the origin of the name French Broad River? Who was Art Loeb of the Art Loeb trail? Why is the falls that you can see from Mile Post 361.2 called Glassmine Falls? It does not look like glass. This guide has an overlook-by-overlook explanation of the treasures on the Parkway prefaced by a good introduction on the history and geology of the road. I only wish the authors had added the altitude at each overlook. One appendix lists a blooming calendar and the overlooks most likely to have the flowers. Another one has contact information for all the enterprises on the Parkway from the Shenandoah National Park to the Biltmore Estate. It is a beautiful book with gorgeous color pictures. Text boxes detailing a particular subject such as rhododendrons or Daniel Boone are sprinkled throughout. But why did they have to use black text on a dark purple background for these boxes? They are so difficult to read. Except for that shortcoming, this book is meant to be used, not to be left on the bookshelf. I take my copy wherever I think I am going to be on the Parkway. As for the answers to the questions above? Check pages 120, 129 and 108, respectively.

This is an excellent guide to help you plan a trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The book maps out everything you need to know about the road. Every overlook, campsite, and picnic area is included. There are even several sites mentioned that are not clearly marked by the National Parks Service. I used the book before I went on the trip and highlighted all the things that I thought would be interesting and used it as I went. The book is extremely helpful and much better then the newspapers and magazine guides that you can get for free on the parkway. There were several problems with the book too. Even though it probably the most thorough guide of the Blue Ridge Parkway that I have seen it does not include a map of the road. Most of the pictures in book are very good, however they rarely match up with the information on the page. The last problem I had with the book was that the binding on the book became unglued and many of the pages are now falling out. Overall this is the best guide on the Blue Ridge Parkway that I have seen. It was extremely helpful to me, and I highly recommend it!