Blue Ridge Parkway

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Blue Ridge Parkway

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Route Overview

Velo Girl Rides

Beautiful Cycling Experiences

470 mi.

48,798 ft.

The Blue Ridge Parkway spans 470 miles through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina. On the bucket list of many cyclists, riding every flippin' inch of the Blue Ridge Parkway means that you will climb (and descend) approximately 49,000', which gives you major bragging rights.

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## The Challenge

High on the list of every cyclist, this remarkable national park unfolds in a continuous ribbon, without a single stop sign or traffic light along the entire way. It is truly a bicycling treasure unique to the United States.

My **@poi[grandfather's farm](2501526)**  lies adjacent the Blue Ridge Parkway in Meadows of Dan Virginia, so the parkway has always felt like a member of the family. I've ridden all 470 miles of the parkway numerous times and I know some sections so well that I could navigate them while blind-folded.

Today, I own and operate [**Velo Girl Rides**](http://velogirlrides.com), a bicycle touring company that offers tours of the entire Blue Ridge Parkway over [**7 days**](http://velogirlrides.com/blue-ridge-parkway-bike-tour/) and [**10 days**](http://velogirlrides.com/blue-ridge-parkway-bicycle-tour/).

Cycling every inch of the parkway isn’t easy and the accomplishment definitely earns bragging rights. But there's more...I’ve designed this tour to combine **@photo[challenging riding](2105412)** with stops along the way for **@photo[great food](2125768)**, **@photo[music](2126078)**, **@photo[sightseeing](2125762)**, and **@photo[taking photographs](2125770)**.

## The Blue Ridge Parkway
The @photo[**Blue Ridge Parkway**](2105414) was envisioned as a unique kind of  national park, literally a “managed museum” of American countryside. And thus one of the reasons why we’ll pause along the way.

The designers intended not only the @photo[**stunning panoramic views**](2105957), but also close-up experience of **@photo[rushing creeks](2118120)**, dense forest, @photo[**verdant farmland**](2118090), @photo[**grain mills**](2105400) and @photo[**cabins**](2126079) preserved from the time of the first settlers.

That attention to detail in the design, with variation between distant views and nearby details, means a continuously beautiful cycling tour — we are rewarded with awesome views at the top of the long climbs, and we’re entertained by beauty and history as we make those climbs.

And this isn’t just a flat landscape. You will travel through @photo[**26 tunnels**](2105402), cross **@photo[over](2118089)** and @photo[**under**](2105403) more than 100 bridges, and climb… um, alot.  The descents on the Parkway are generally not very technical, and the climbs are not very steep (usually 6 to 8%) but both tend to be long.

The Blue Ridge Parkway bike tour traverses a great variety of geology and terrain, but only three times does it skirt a city of any size (Roanoke, Boone and Asheville). Which means we will stay in small mountain villages and towns along the route, sampling @photo[**regional food**](2125766) and enjoying the talent of local musicians.

We hold this bicycle tour in June (7 Day) and September (10 Day), and generally a couple more times each year for custom groups.

## Locals Tips

* Portions of the Blue Ridge Parkway can be closed without notice. Causes for closures include weather, maintenance, rock slides, paving, etc... You can find up-to-date closure information on this [**interactive map**](https://www.nps.gov/maps/full.html?mapId=e212fcb5-4ff9-4787-bbe4-3d40cc0d0daa#9/36.8390/-80.6506). Sometimes cyclists are allowed to ride on areas closed to motorized traffic and sometime they are not permitted.

* In general, parks and concession areas are open from early May until the end of October.

* Services along the parkway can be inconsistent which makes is difficult to rely upon them for self-supported rides. For example, although they are listed in many guidebooks, Bluffs Lodge & Coffee Shop (located in Doughton Park) and Crabtree Meadows Coffee Shop (located at Crabtree Meadows) have been closed for many years.

* Tour guide companies are required to have a **Commercial Use Authorization** issued by the US Department of the Interior National Parks Service to offer tours of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

* The Blue Ridge Parkway has [**specific regulations**](http://velogirlrides.com/blue-ridge-parkway-bicycling-regulations/) for operating a bicycle in the park.

* There are [**26 tunnels**](http://velogirlrides.com/blue-ridge-parkway-tunnels/) on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Be prepared to navigate them safely by using [**adequate lights**](http://velogirlrides.com/lights-for-cycling/).
* The POIs listed on this route are only a tiny fraction of the sights, trailheads, exhibits, etc...that you will find along the Blue Ridge Parkway

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