Plan an End-2-End Blue Ridge Parkway Vacation

Beautiful weather continues with Sunny skies for Nelson County today. The valley highs will be in the low 70's and the mountains will enjoy highs in the high 60's. For the full, local weather report, visit www.NelsonCountyLife.com

Order a Nelson County Vacation Kit & Visitor’s Guide: send me an email to kim@ExperienceNelsonCounty.com Plan a visit to beautiful Nelson County this Summer.

This week, I am on an end-2-end trek on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Read next week’s blog for stories about our trip. Last night, we were in Meadows of Dan, VA near Mabry Mill and Rocky Knob. Visit my Blue Ridge Parkway Blog at http://experienceblueridgeparkway.blogspot.com/


Questions, Answers, Updates & Requests

Send your questions, updates and requests to kim@ExperienceNelsonCounty.com I love receiving your emails and posting information to the daily blog!

Real Estate Today: 202 Timbers: Location, Location, Location! This first-floor 1BR condo is in the center of the Mountain Village. Near three restaurants, retail, the shuttle and the kid’s Tree House. Listed for $169,000. Ask any agent to see this condo today.

Update: Devil’s Knob Golf Course Opens TODAY.

Q: When does the Nellysford Farmer’s Market open?
A: The Nellysford farmer’s market opens in May. Stay tuned to this blog for more information about this popular Saturday attraction.

Plan an End-2-End Blue Ridge Parkway Vacation

The Blue Ridge Parkway follows the Appalachian mountain ridge tops. From their 2009 Guide:

“From Shenandoah National Park, the Parkway follows the Blue Ridge eastern rampart of the Appalachians, for 355 miles to a point near the entrance to Mount Mitchell State Park in North Carolina. Then it skirts the southern end of the massive Black Mountains, weaves through the Craggies, the Pisgahs, and the Balsams, before entering the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Cherokee”

The Blue Ridge Parkway has long been part of Nelson County’s history. My husband and I grew up visiting the Blue Ridge Parkway and camping in the region. To celebrate the Parkway’s 75th anniversary (in 2010), we decided to plan an End-2-End Blue Ridge Parkway vacation for Spring 2009. We started planning in January of 2009.

We will be traveling on the Parkway in mid-April and will be posting stories about our adventure after our return. (trying to stay away from the laptop and enjoy the beauty of the mountains) Our End-2-End adventure will take us about 7 days.

To begin planning our vacation drive on the parkway, I first started on the web site http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/. I ordered their book, Blue Ridge Parkway Directory and Travel Planner. It was delivered to our home in about three weeks. At the same time, I filled out a form to receive information from all of the counties along the parkway. That information arrived in about one month. To receive information by mail, click on the “request information” button on the left navigation bar.

Our plan is to camp along or near the Parkway. Most of the campgrounds managed by the Parkway do not open until early May. So, we picked privately owned campgrounds. There is a convenient list that can be printed on the web site http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/. Download the camping brochure that is on the left navigation bar of the web site. Many of these campgrounds have their own websites that are listed in the brochure. We found rates from $25 per night to $37 per night.

If you would like to travel from May-October, consider staying in a campground at Price Park, Linville Falls and Mt. Pisgah campgrounds. The fee is only $19 per night and you can make reservations at http://www.recreation.gov/. Just a reminder, these campgrounds do not have electricity and water to the individual sites. If you need an electric hook-up or water to your site, consider staying in a private campground.

We also plan to hike on trails that cross the Parkway in both Virginia and North Carolina. Visit these websites to print lists of trails on the Parkway:
www.blueridgeparkway.org/vatrails.htm
www.blueridgeparkway.org/nctrails.htm.
There are hiking trails for every ability level.



I hope to see you in beautiful Nelson County soon…

Kim Chappell is a graduate from the Realtor Institute and is an agent with Wintergreen Resort Premier Properties, the official real estate office of Wintergreen Resort. Kim also lists and sells property in beautiful Nelson County. Contact Kim Chappell at kim@ExperienceNelsonCounty.com or 434-238-2430. The Free Daily Blog is posted on both www.ExperienceNelsonCounty.com and www.ExperienceWintergreen.com