Happy Birthday Blue Ridge Parkway

This year is the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway whose construction began in 1935 at Cumberland Knob. The last stretch was completed fifty-two years later near Grandfather Mountain, NC.

The 469-mile roadway that crosses through 29 counties from Waynesboro, VA to Cherokee, NC will be celebrated throughout 2010, just as Great Smoky Mountains National Park celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2009.

The Blue Ridge Parkway, although not technically a national park, draws more visitors than Great Smoky Mountains National Park--roughly 20 million a year. (The Smokies are still considered the most visited national park because of its true national park status).