Blue Ridge Parkway

[chiefriceburner]

so i leave with a friend of mine thursday morning for the blue ridge parkway we leave from toledo ohio at 7 am, we will be heading south 75 to our first stop in tennessee spend the night there, start off the next morning through the smoky mountains heading north to our 2nd stop boone north carolina then the next days stop someplace in virginia then the 4th day back home, so nothing but riding for 4 days i feel like the bike is well prepared for the trip over the course of the last couple of weeks i have purchased some important touring gear for the bike 1.national cycle 2up windshield 2. bestem passenger backrest with luggage rack 3. bestem t-bag luggage 4. bestem drivers backrest 5. tank bag 6. good rain gear just in case. the other item i have to get yet before i leave is a vista cruise then i should be complete, looking foward to the trip will get lots of pictures and share when i get back, if there are any words of advice feel free to share, talk to everyone soon.

[DOGBONE]

That is going to be a great trip. In May a bunch of us did the Parkway from Fancy Gap VA., to Gatlinburg. It was great, be careful and have fun.

[johbren]

Me and the wife did it earlier this year. You are going to love it. BRP is closed in a couple of spots so be ready for a detour.

[DrBob]

1- Bring lots of warm laters. Temps last week on the Blue Ridge were in the 40s and 50s in the morning/ night and 60s and low 70s during the afternoon.
2- The speed limit is 35 most of the way. Don't speed, as it is heavily patrolled by park rangers and the tickets are very expensive.
3- There is absolutely nothing on the parkway- no gas, food, lodging, etc. The entry/ exit roads from the BRP often are quite a few miles from gas. For example if you get off at Maggie Valley you are about 10 miles from a gas station, and if you get off at NC 152 you are more like 20 miles from gas. So don't push the limits of your tank and assume you can fill up easily at the next exit. Plan your stops for larger towns like Asheville, or leave wiggle room to go searching for a station.
4- Because of the low speed limit, the need to get off to find gas and food, and the occational slow-moving RV, most riders find it hard to cover a lot of ground on the BRP. I can do 300 miles easily before brrakfast on the highway, but 300 miles is a long day on the BRP.

[JMD]

My only suggestion, from experience, is to have an alternate route for each section of your trip. They close sections with little warning. Also, if a sign says road closed ahead , believe it. They wont close the road at an exit. I once did not pay attention to a warning because they did not have a roadblock and rode 15 miles north only to have to turn around and go 15 miles south for an exit.

The road is beautiful though. Contrary to most peoples opinion, I did not care much for the Skyline Drive portion because the road is lined with trees on both sides and I felt tunneled in and cold. The views were spectacular when you stopped, but views are not my thing. Enjoy your trip.

[ranger04]

Sounds fun-dont know your exact route but beeing that close to tennessee and NC border, you may as well take another day and ride the tail of the dragon-hellbender and the cherahola skyway, is easily done in a day and not far from the smokey mountains.

Enjoy-stay safe and stay warm

[awilson40]

yep, Dress warm
I just came back from Cherokee, NC and it was pretty cool in the AM.
Didnt bring my M50, but I did ride up the Parkway on my bicycle...
does that count ?