What) The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road noted for its scenic beauty. It runs for 469 miles, mostly along the famous Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains. Its southern terminus is on the boundary between Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina, from which it travels north to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. The Parkway is not a National Park, but it is a National Scenic Byway and is the most visited unit in the United States National Park System.
Begun
during the administration of U.S. president Franklin D.
Roosevelt, work began on September 11, 1935, near Cumberland
Knob in North Carolina. Construction of the parkway took over
52 years to complete, the last stretch being laid around
Grandfather Mountain in 1987. The Blue Ridge Parkway tunnels
were constructed through the rock - one in Virginia and
twenty-five in North Carolina. The highest point on the
parkway is 6053 feet above sea level on Richland Balsam
Mountain at Milepost 431. The Parkway is often closed from
November to April due to inclement weather such as snow, fog,
and even freezing fog from low clouds. The speed limit is
never higher than 45 mph and lower in some sections. (1)
Where) From Cherokee, North Carolina to Shenandoah, Virginia
Why) Would
you believe that we hit a snowstorm on April 23 just as we
were driving into the Great Smoky Mountains?
By the time we made it to the entrance of the Parkway the snow
had stopped but the road was still closed. I wonder what
can be done about that. 
