The Blue Ridge Parkway extends 469 miles along the crests of the Southern Appalachians and links two eastern national parks, Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains.

Rockfish Gap near Waynesboro, Virginia, is the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway. To the north the parkway connects directly to Skyline Drive, which winds 105 miles through Shenandoah National Park. The parkway follows the Appalachian Mountain chain and provides seemingly endless views of many parallel ranges connected by cross ranges and scattered hills. The roads joining the parkway are usually more challenging than the parkway itself and more travelled but 469 MILES with not one stop sign and NO trucks has a massive appeal for a bike rider. From Shenandoah National Park the parkway follows the Blue Ridge, eastern rampart of the Appalachians, for 355 miles. Then, for the remaining 114 miles, it skirts the southern end of the massive Black Mountains, named for the dark green spruce and fir that cover them, weaves through the Craggies, the Pisgahs, the Balsams, and ends in the Great Smokies.

Wildlife is a delight to see along the parkway. When the sun is high, groundhogs sit erect and chipmunks and squirrels chitter and chatter. At night, skunks, bobcats, foxes, opossums, and raccoons may be seen along the roadsides. Look for whitetail deer and the shy black bear in the early morning or evening. More than 100 bird species can be seen during the spring migration season.

Mile 469, the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway intersects with U.S. 441 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Cherokee Reservation. The Great Smoky Mountains, the majestic climax of the Appalachian Highlands, are a wildlands sanctuary preserving the world's finest examples of temperate deciduous forest. The name Smoky comes from the smoke-like haze enveloping the mountains, which stretch in sweeping troughs and mighty billows to the horizon. A scenic, high mountain road winds up through Newfound Gap. Along the road are superb views.

Deals Gap on Highway 129 going into Tennessee from North Carolina is an 11 mile stretch of 318 curves that is a motorcyclist's dream when the road is dry. Unfortunately there is a significant amount of idiot truck traffic that use the road to bypass weigh scales and the oil that they lay down makes the road a mite treacherous for motorcyclists when it rains. In a car you'd call it a four wheel drift. On a bike, it's just scary. It's worth the drive.......