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Is NPS Getting Ready To Toss Bluffs Lodge On The Scrap Heap?

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Shuttered Bluffs Lodge on the Blue Ridge Parkway/David and Kay Scott

Without a concessionaire, Bluffs Lodge is fading into deterioration/David and Kay Scott

Of all the national park units we have visited, none provide a more pleasant experience than driving the 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Vistas through North Carolina and Virginia aren’t as spectacular as those along Rocky Mountain National Park’s Trail Ridge Road, Glacier National Park's Going-to-the-Sun Road, or Yosemite National Park’s Tioga Road. However, for a pleasant drive that lasts several days rather than several hours, the Blue Ridge Parkway is without peer.

Lodging on the Parkway

During our initial drives, the Parkway was home to four lodges: Pisgah Inn, Rocky Knob Cabins, Bluffs Lodge, and Peaks of Otter Lodge. At the time we were the proud owners of a VW camper (we went through four of these trouble-prone jewels) and spent nights camping, although we would often spend time browsing through the lodges. It wasn’t until 1996 when we started writing our national park lodging guide, Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges, that we began staying in the lodges.

The lodges were each quite different, a feature that added to the enjoyment of a trip along the Parkway. They were also conveniently spread along the Parkway from Peaks of Otter Lodge at milepost 86 in the north to Pisgah Inn, located south of Asheville, North Carolina, at milepost 408. We typically drove north with stays at Pisgah Inn, either Rocky Knob Cabins or Bluffs Lodge, and finally at Peaks of Otter before driving on to Shenandoah National Park and visiting its three lodges.

Unfortunately, only Pisgah Inn and Peaks of Otter Lodge currently remain in operation. Rocky Knob cabins, with only seven rental units, was almost certainly a marginal operation from day one. With a six-month season and cabins renting for $65 per night during its last year of operation (with a discount for multiple nights), the entire complex could produce annual revenue of only $75,000 to $80,000 even if every cabin was filled every night of the season. The saving grace of Rocky Knob was the concessionaire’s ability to also operate nearby Mabry Mill that always seemed a viable business. Although Rocky Knob Cabins has been closed for several years, Mabry Mill has continued in operation.

Bluffs Lodge and Coffee Shop

But this story is about Bluffs Lodge, one of our favorite places to spend the night in a national park. Bluffs was just off the Parkway, but in an isolated location offering quiet and enjoyment in a scenic rural setting. Its guest rooms and furniture were retro, but the place was fun and the atmosphere blended perfectly with what attracted travelers to drive the parkway. With only 24 guest rooms (23 during years when the manager resided onsite) and little to do, guests visited with one another and enjoyed evening gatherings with a park ranger near a fireplace on the small patio that separated the lodge’s two buildings.

Bluffs didn’t have a game room, lobby, TV room (in fact, it didn’t have TVs, and if it had, they would have been old black and whites of the Ozzie and Harriet era), or an attached restaurant. In fact, it didn’t have any extras other than a couple of friendly employees, a place to really relax and read a good book, and the fellowship of its guests. The registration area was the size of a closet. The place was perfect.

Shuttered Bluffs Lodge on the Blue Ridge Parkway/David and Kay Scott

Guests no longer stay at the shuttered Bluffs Lodge, and the facility's future looks bleak without a white knight rushing in/David and Kay Scott

Nearby, within walking distance, was Bluffs Coffee Shop offering a retro dining experience that served as an ideal companion to the lodge. We have dined at Yosemite’s Ahwahnee (now the oddly named Majestic Yosemite Hotel), Grand Canyon’s El Tovar, and Yellowstone’s Lake Hotel. Each serves excellent food with equally good service, but none provided a more enjoyable experience than dining at Bluffs Coffee Shop. No restaurant in America served better fried chicken, the coffee shop specialty. Regional specialties included pinto beans and cornbread, and biscuits and gravy. What delicious grub after a day on the Parkway. And where else could a person dine on barbecued pork with melted cheese served between two golden brown corn cakes, all topped with cole slaw? This was heaven on a budget!

Demise of a Parkway Icon

Unfortunately, the opportunity to experience a night at Bluffs Lodge along with a delicious and filling meal at the nearby coffee shop is an image in the mirror. Both are closed with a future that doesn’t look promising. With only 24 guest rooms to rent during a six-month season, it was apparently difficult to make the numbers work.

Long operated by concessionaire National Park Concessions (NPC) and later, Forever Resorts when it absorbed NPC, the lodge and coffee shop have sat vacant since the end of the 2010 season when Forever’s obligation was up and the company decided to pull out. Various attempts by the National Park Service were unsuccessful in attracting another concessionaire. The Park Service did install new roofs on the buildings, most likely at great expense, but the exteriors continue to deteriorate with evidence of mold and decay. Bluffs and the coffee shop have become a depressing sight for those of us who enjoyed many an evening there.

Is There Hope?

The National Park Service undertook a value analysis study of Bluffs and the coffee shop, along with the Crabtree Falls and Otter Creek restaurants, that was completed in 2014 but only recently released to the public. The study evaluated several alternatives for Bluffs, including resuming operation of the lodge and coffee shop by a concessionaire or under a lease arrangement.

According to the report, locating a willing concessionaire for Bluffs is likely to “encounter a major implementation issue” due to the significant investment required to remediate mold and rehabilitate the facilities prior to a concessionaire agreeing to an obligation for operating the facility. In other words, no concessionaire will be willing to absorb the costs necessary to put the facilities into operating condition. The copy of the report we received did not include the cost of remediation of either the lodge or coffee shop.

The study also considered the options of remediating mold in the coffee shop while demolishing the lodge, and of preserving the exteriors only so as to serve as exhibits without interior use. Fortunately, for the many fans of Bluffs, the evaluation team primarily recommended first determining interest in and the viability of returning the facilities to their traditional concessions operations. On the downside, the viability is a function of the condition of the buildings.

Another Avenue?

Some of you may know of or experienced a ride in one of the historic red buses utilized for tours of Glacier National Park. The so-called “Reds” are as iconic to Glacier as Old Faithful Geyser is to Yellowstone. Built by Cleveland’s White Motor Company, the buses were introduced into Glacier in the early 1900s with nearly three dozen additional buses being acquired in the mid-1930s. Glacier’s current concessionaire, Xanterra Parks & Resorts, continues to offer park tours in over 30 of these iconic buses thanks to the generosity of Ford Motor Company that partnered with the National Park Service to rehabilitate and refurbish the Reds to the tune of $6 million.

Wouldn’t it be grand if one or more corporations stepped up to offer financial and other assistance for Bluffs Lodge and the Bluffs Coffee Shop similar to that provided by Ford Motor Company for Glacier’s red buses? Because the lodge being in North Carolina, Lowes, a national corporation headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, would be a prime candidate for the donation of materials required for the renovation.

Reynolds American in Winston-Salem, and Bank of America in Charlotte, could both use some image improvement. BB&T is another large Winston-Salem company with substantial financial resources. Software firm Red Hat is headquartered in Raleigh. This is only a partial list of businesses that might be approached to assist such a worthy project that would likely provide loads of favorable publicity.

One of our stays at Bluffs was next to the room of a couple with their young daughter. Earlier in their trip the mother had purchased a harp that she played on the balcony outside their room. We spent a portion of the afternoon sitting in our chairs listening to the music and chatting with the couple. What a memorable late afternoon experience that helps recall the pleasures of staying at Bluffs.

So, who starts the ball rolling to help keep Bluffs from the scrap heap?

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Comments

I  hope that someone will step up to save this incredible place that I have so many fond memories of. I began visiting in the early 1970's as a small child and continued  with my wife into the early 2000's. I have wonderful memories of climbing the rock wall  to the terrace as a child and sitting by the fire that I wish I could share with my own children. It is such a peaceful place that I have so much love for. The meadows that extend from the rear of the lodge are some of the most serene I have ever experienced. I pray that the lodge will be brought back to life and bring memories to families for years to come. 


Bluffs is such a  sweet & charming place! My family & I always loved to eat dinner there when we would drive the parkway.  It broke our hearts to find out that it had closed.  I love the idea of approaching the large banks & businesses in NC to maybe come to the rescue. Many yrs ago (1950's) my parents & older siblings camped in the area. . They were excited to find out that my family & I were enjoying the area as well.  They have very fond memories of Doughton Park & Bluffs Lodge. I hope that someone will come in & spruce it up & allow families to make their own fond memories &;enjoy the beauty of our Blue Ridge Parkway. 


Forever Lodging did a tremendous disservice to the Bluffs Lodge.  They offered no online reservation system and were difficult to call... I once had to call several times in order to make a reservation.

I fully expect that a competent concessionary could make money and provide a quality service to guests.


When we would take day trips to The Parkway, we always stopped at The Bluffs for the best peach cobbler in the world. We still take the day trips and always sigh when we pass the restaurant. Hopefully, one day we'll be able to stop and get some of that most fantastic cobbler and a cup of coffee!


Work is being started to refurbish the Coffee Shop at Bluffs Lodge. More work is planned.


It would be so wonderful if someone or group would renovate and restore the lodge and the coffee shop at Doughton Park. One of my favorite childhood memories is staying at Bluffs Lodge every October for my birthday. It is sad to see the grounds so run down as they were always so manicured. It was such a peaceful place to stay and meet others that stopped for the night...sitting by the fire on the patio listening to the park ranger talk about the topic for the night. The menu at the coffee shop was always the same...country ham and buscuits, fried chicken and salad with "french,ranch, blue cheese,or thousand island dressing. Then came dessert....cobbler! And after dinner, a purchase from the gift shop... Oh, to be able to stay there again and relive what I cherish as part of my childhood! ( No TV or telephones were part of the charm !)


I can't believe this place is still closed!!!  It was a shot to the gut when I tried reserving a room a few years ago and found out it wasn't going to open!!  I guess the Forever Resort company wasn't making money on it.  I'm still playing the Lottery hoping I will win and reopen Bluff's Lodge!  Notwithstanding I have zero experience with running this kind of operation.


I was a frequent visitor to Bluffs Mountain Lodge and I was very disappointed to see it closed. The area is beautiful and the coffe shop at the bottom of the hill was a great place to eat. The cobblers, with fruit in season, were the best ever. I also didn't mind the required 20 minute wait for fried chicken. I spent many evenings fighting off the chill in front of the 'walk-in' fireplace. In fact, one cool night about 9 years ago I met an older gentleman who said he actually worked on the Parkway as a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Glad to see that there is still a chance to re-open this icon.


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