Linn Cove Viaduct & Little Parkway

Grandfather Mountain from above and below: from Blowing Rock the route rides the Blue Ridge Parkway south past Price Lake and over the Linn Cove Viaduct to the Linville Falls area, then comes back north on US-221 through Linville Falls, Pineola and Linville and along the Little Parkway past the Grandfather Mountain gate. It's 57 miles. The Linn Cove Visitor Center is temporarily closed, the Parkway has short single-lane closures for roadwork, and US-221 has potholes and gravel in the curves.

From Blowing Rock the route rides the Blue Ridge Parkway south past Price Lake and onto the Linn Cove Viaduct, which wraps around the flank of Grandfather Mountain. The viaduct is 1,243 feet long and built from 153 precast segments, and only one of them, the southernmost, is straight. Its dedication on September 11, 1987 marked the completion of the whole Parkway. Past Beacon Heights the Parkway continues to the Linville Falls area, where the route leaves it for US-221.

The way back is the old road below the Parkway. US-221 runs north through Linville Falls, Pineola and Linville, and from Linville to Blowing Rock it follows the Yonahlossee Road, built around 1890 to link the new resort of Linville with Blowing Rock; today it's the Little Parkway, about 18 miles of curves along the mountain. It passes the gate of Grandfather Mountain, a private attraction with paid admission that the route doesn't enter. The Linn Cove Visitor Center is temporarily closed, the Parkway has sporadic single-lane closures for roadwork, and US-221 has potholes and gravel in the curves.