Blue Ridge Parkway

Labor Day 2007: Part II, Saturday

Appalachian Farm Building, Humpback Rocks, Blue Ridge Parkway.

Common weeds, but when they're backlit by the sun, they acquire a halo-effect and are quite charming; Blue Ridge Parkway.

Vista just north of Whites Gap Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway

Once you exit the Shenandoah National Park at Rockfish Gap and cross over I-64, you then enter the Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs from I-64 in the north to just north of Cherokee, NC, approximately 470 miles. Saturday's drive covered about 1/10 of that and brought me out between Whites Gap Overlook (2,567 ft ASL) and Indian Gap at Buena Vista (pronounced Bwee-na Vista in these parts), 11 miles east of Lexington.

Near the entrance of the Parkway is Humpback Rocks Visitor Center, which features an Appalachian farm. In the 1800s, the government paid settlers to move out and settle the Appalachian ranges, thereby creating America's westernmost settlements at the time.

The parkway--like its sister, Shenandoah National Park--features beautiful vistas and winding mountain roads.

Zip: 22945

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential (09/07)