Blue Ridge Parkway - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 1051

15. Linville Falls
The earliest settlers who stepped ashore in eastern North America found a magnificent
forest stretching across half the continent. In those days, it's been said, a squirrel could
travel treetop-to-treetop from the Atlantic Coast to the Mississippi River and never have to
touch the ground. Thanks to landowners who refused to harvest timber here, and John D.
Rockefeller, Jr., who bought the land and donated it to the public, Linville Gorge is among
the few places left to still resemble America's vanished virgin woodland. In this pristine
valley, massive white pines tower skyward beside lacy hemlocks, ruler-straight tulip trees,
and exotic-looking Fraser magnolias with leaves up to a foot long.
Jewels worthy of this gorgeous setting, Upper and Lower Linville Falls cascade into
the deep gorge like shimmering silver curtains. The broad trails that lead to the canyon
overlooks here are among the most picturesque anywhere on the drive. In fact, if parkway
travelers were allowed to visit only one stop along the route, most would mention wild and
lovely Linville Gorge as their first choice.
16. Crabtree Meadows
Farther south lies McKinney Gap, most memorable for the lifestyle of its namesake—an
1800s homesteader who lived with four women and sired 42 children. The family traded
produce for such items as shoes, which were brought by the wagonload to people more
accustomed to buying shoes from itinerant peddlers, country stores, and their mail-order
catalogs.
At Crabtree Meadows, the spring flowers—from wild irises and columbines to lilies
and mountain laurels—are especially bountiful, but the main attraction here is the famed
Crabtree Falls, a steep but breezy hike downhill from the campground. The lacy veil of
water cascading down the ledges of a high rock wall creates one of the parkway's most
memorable scenes.
17. Mt. Mitchell State Park
Near milepost 354 the parkway leaves the Blue Ridge Range and loops past the southern
end of the Black Mountains. Named for the dark hues of their spruce and fir forests,
the Blacks are the highest peaks east of the Mississippi River, reaching their zenith at
6,684-foot Mt. Mitchell. Be sure to take the short side road to the state park at Mitchell's
summit, a delightfully cool retreat even in midsummer. In winter, however, only the hardi-