Road Touring

North Carolina's Blue Ridge Parkway, running 470 miles from the Virginia border to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is the longest designated scenic highway in North America. Shielded from all commercial development, the Parkway is like a wilderness trail for motorized travelers. Snaking along mountain ridges, at an average altitude of 3,000 feet, the Parkway offers nearly continuous views of the forested hills, mountain valleys and open meadows native to the Blue Ridge.

The Diamondback, a twisting route with more than 190 curves in a 12 mile loop, links Marion NC to Little Switzerland NC. The Diamondback, 226A, is a fun and exciting ride to the Parkway, NC gem mines, the arts and crafts shops at Little Switzerland and the Switzerland Inn Chalet and Restaurant. Take I-40 to Hwy 226 toward Spruce Pine and Little Switzerland to Alternate Route 226A.

At the 350-mile mark, the road climbs into the Black Mountains, passing through Mt. Mitchell State Park. (Mt. Mitchell, at 6,684 feet, is the highest summit east of the Rockies.) Just a bit farther south, the Parkway winds through Craggy Gardens Recreation Area, where wild flowers bloom by the thousands on rugged hillsides.

The smoothness of the tarmac and the rhythm of the curves make the drive dream-like. It is not a route to speed through, rather one to savor. Many who have ridden throughout North America say that no other route, even the famed Pacific Coast Highway, is more ideally suited to two-wheeled exploration.



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