The Blue Ridge Parkway is the United States’ longest linear park, stretching 469 miles through Virginia and North Carolina.
The parkway follows the Blue Ridge, part of the Appalachian Mountains, and links Shenandoah National Park with Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Although it is a scenic road, the National Park Service manages the surrounding lands as a park unit.
Construction began in the 1930s as a New Deal public-works project. The route passes through 29 counties and includes overlooks, trails, campgrounds, tunnels, and historic cultural sites.
A common mix-up is confusing the Blue Ridge Parkway with Skyline Drive. Skyline Drive is also scenic and connects with the parkway near Shenandoah, but it lies inside Shenandoah National Park and is a separate NPS road.