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Bluffs Lodge and the Best Coffee Shop in a National Park

Submitted by David and Kay Scott on June 10, 2010 - 1:53am
As our lodging experts, David and Kay Scott, continue on their 2010 odyssey across the National Park System, they get to sample some of the best lodging, food, and coffee there is to be had. This dispatch came from the Bluffs Lodge along the Blue Ridge Parkway

Road Work Forces Our Intrepid Travelers To Detour Along the Blue Ridge Parkway

Submitted by David and Kay Scott on June 9, 2010 - 1:14am
Roadwork along the Blue Ridge Parkway forced our intrepid travelers to detour off the parkway, but the sidetrip proved worthwhile.

On The Road Through The National Park System

Submitted by David and Kay Scott on June 7, 2010 - 7:24am
We are beginning the ultimate 2010 road trip: North along the 469-mile length of the Blue Ridge Parkway followed by 105-mile-long Skyline Drive that winds through Shenandoah National Park. Then west to St. Joseph, Missouri, to follow the Oregon Trail to Oregon City, Oregon, before returning via the route followed by Lewis & Clark along the Columbia and Missouri rivers.

Ask A Ranger. Violence Is Nothing New To The Blue Ridge Parkway.

Submitted by haunted hiker on May 30, 2010 - 1:46am
Wayward bears addicted to Kentucky Fried Chicken are the least of a park ranger’s worries. Just ask Bruce Bytnar, who worked at the Blue Ridge Parkway for 27 years before he retired in 2008. In his book, A Park Ranger’s Life: Thirty-Two Years of Protecting Our National Parks, Bytnar tells the real story behind what it is like to patrol a 469-mile long park through some of the best scenery the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina have to offer.

The Numbers Behind National Park Visitation

Submitted by Danny Bernstein on April 23, 2010 - 1:06am
What's in a number? When it reflects visitation to national parks, it's not always as obvious as it might seem.

Symposium Marking Blue Ridge Parkway's 75th Anniversary Coming Up

Submitted by Danny Bernstein on April 12, 2010 - 1:35am
Seventy-five years is a pretty good show of longevity, and shouldn't be treated lightly. It certainly isn't being overlooked at the Blue Ridge Parkway, where two symposiums are scheduled to celebrate the beautiful ribbon of highway that runs through the Appalachian Mountains.

Free Entrance to All NPS Sites during National Park Week, April 17-25

Submitted by Jim Burnett on April 4, 2010 - 1:14am
If you're planning a spring trip to a National Park Service site, you may be able to save a little money if you schedule your visit between April 17 and 25, 2010. Free admission to all 392 NPS sites is being offered during National Park Week

Moses H. Cone Memorial Park: A Jewel Along The Blue Ridge Parkway

Submitted by Danny Bernstein on March 14, 2010 - 5:00am
Much of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina currently is closed due to ice, snow, and at least one rock slide. But visitors can still access some parks along the Parkway.

Blind Hiker Plans to Hike The Entire Appalachian National Scenic Trail

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on March 11, 2010 - 4:30am
Hundreds of hikers set out along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail from Springer Mountain, Georgia, come springtime with sights set on reaching Mount Kathadin in Maine before summer expires. But how many are blind?

When the Parkway Came

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on March 7, 2010 - 5:11am
When the Parkway Came
Part of FDR's "New Deal," the Blue Ridge Parkway was envisioned as an economic development tool that would pump both life and dollars into the Appalachian Mountain Range between Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains national parks. But the long and winding road with the fantastic vistas also took a good deal of life out of the landscape as farms that stood in the path were razed and the families moved off.