BHTV: Explore WNC via the Blue Ridge Parkway

The Blue Ridge Parkway traverses the Asheville, Waynesville, and Hendersonville region, providing visitors and residents with tremendous opportunities for recreation. With an elevation almost 3,000 feet above Asheville, the Parkway offers a climate similar to southern Canada.

“It's a great place to just pull over at a scenic overlook, get your guitar out and play a few songs, and just enjoy the moment.”

The Blue Ridge Parkway is such an incredible resource for Western North Carolina. People visit here from all over the country, and those who live here are lucky enough to be able to enjoy it every day for recreation.

“What makes the Blue Ridge Parkway so special is the scenic drive that it is,” says Jill Jones of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. “It is 469 miles of pure scenic beauty.”

“The Blue Ridge Parkway is America's favorite drive, and the reason is, it's a park,” says Jones. “It was designed by Stanley Abbott to be a park. The landscaping was not by accident. So when you're on the Parkway, you're going through landscaped territory. You get off the Parkway and you can tell an immediate difference in the way things look. So, the scenic drive is very beautiful. People love to come here in the fall when the leaves change—there's plenty of overlooks. About 12 million people come here a year and bring their families. There's hiking and there's camping, there's canoeing on Lake Julian, there's crafts at the Folk Art Center and the Moses Cone Manor. So, there's just a ton of stuff to see and do along the Parkway, but the Parkway itself is the drive. It's like Main Street through our region.”

“Yes, the weather up here is quite unique,” says Bruce O’Connell of Pisgah Inn. “It's a big difference from Asheville to Pisgah Inn. When you drive along the Parkway, you change your elevation by about 3,000 feet. Our climate here is more like southern Canada. The difference in temperature could be 15 degrees cooler than it is in Asheville.”

“We have visitors from all over the world here,” says O’Connell. “They come from Europe, they come from Asia, they come from South America. We also have guests that drive up from the local areas like Asheville, Waynesville, and Brevard just to have a meal with us. People come up here just to travel on the Parkway and just to see the sights. One of the greatest things about living in this area is that you can be in downtown Asheville and then 30 minutes later be in the middle of the forest at the top of a mountain. The recreational opportunities in this area—the Blue Ridge Parkway and the national parks—fantastic. There's no other place like it in the Southeast.”

--LEARN MORE ABOUT STATE AND NATIONAL PARKS IN WNC--

WNC’s State and National Parks Provide Conservation and Supporting Jobs to Thousands
Today, our parks are visited by millions of people each year and comprise unique ecological resources and employment opportunities for thousands of people.

Celebrating 100 Years of State and National Parks in WNC
This year marks the 100th birthday of the US National Park Service, and WNC is the ideal place to celebrate by learning, relaxing, and reconnecting with nature in these unique protected areas.

The Blue Ridge Parkway: America’s Favorite Drive
The Blue Ridge Parkway unravels gracefully across the landscape, at times suspended from high cliffs and etched into rocky crags, then deftly shifting gears to skim over hayfields and past log cabins bound by split-rail fences.

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For more than 40 years, Beverly-Hanks & Associates, REALTORSⓇ has been honored to represent homes and land for sale throughout Western North Carolina, including in and around Asheville, Hendersonville, Waynesville, and Lake Lure.

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© Beverly-Hanks & Associates, REALTORSⓇ

[coastalkate]

Makes me wish I were there already! Looking forward to the next video! Ginna Bailey

[BrownAroundTown]

Great job on the filming and editing! I'm really impressed! I am grateful to everyone involved! My advice to anyone...get out and take a scenic drive more often! Jeff

[BeverlyHanksAssociatesREALTORS]

Thank you. We have a lot of fun making them. Next one is going to be about great hiking spots throughout WNC.