Blue Ridge Parkway - Early April

agesilaus wrote:
Those low tunnels are strange, it seems like the height on the sign going one way is different on the sign on the other side of the same tunnel coming back.

It isn't surprising to me that they could have different minimum heights, since the minimum height is at the edge of the road above the fog line. If the tunnel curves or the roadway isn't perfectly centered or the arch isn't exactly symmetrical, the heights there could easily differ. (By the same token, if the maximum height on your RV is not near the passenger side, you could gauge based on the height of the wall rather than the height of the air conditioner or whatever.)

Google maps shows the south of Asheville portion closed right now. says it will open 3/7. North of Asheville is the Folk Arts center that's worth a look. There's Mt. Mitchel. the highest point east of the Mississippi. It has a restaurant that has great food too. Further on your way north is Blowing Rock and Boone that are worth some time to see. Grandfather Mountain is in that area.

Those low tunnels are strange, it seems like the height on the sign going one way is different on the sign on the other side of the same tunnel coming back.

Desert Captain wrote:
Not many campgrounds open that time of year especially right on the Parkway but if you venture off there should be some available. For those who drive down the middle due to low tunnel clearance PLEASE DON"T. If you cannot safely/comfortably fit within the posted heights while staying in your lane you DO NOT belong on that road.

Already covered that in the first post.

That's why we came up to Asheville and propose to do the southernmost section in just the truck. That's where the low clearance bridges are. We have a 10.5ft high trailer so the rest of the tunnels are non issues as they show over 12ft at the edge line (higher in the center).

Just 3 weeks ago part of the parkway was closed right at Afton Mountain in VA where it ends and transitions to Skyline Drive. I don't know if it's open yet there or not.
In my opinion April is plenty early for driving thru the high mountains. Snow is quite likely.
The last time we camped up there we took 4 days to go from Afton, VA to Galax, VA. I wouldn't want to do it any faster.

Not many campgrounds open that time of year especially right on the Parkway but if you venture off there should be some available. For those who drive down the middle due to low tunnel clearance PLEASE DON"T. If you cannot safely/comfortably fit within the posted heights while staying in your lane you DO NOT belong on that road.

Can you tell I like to ride motorcycles and NEVER, EVER cross a double yellow line for any reason regardless of what I am driving. Want a cheap thrill? Look up from your vehicle/motorcycle/RV and spot someonel 6' or more into your lane coming right at you. BTDT and it falls somewhere between vehicular assault and attempted manslaughter. Not every rig safely fits on every road... seriously!

:S

We did the Blue Ridge and Skyline drives in 2016. That part of the trip was 21 days. One wants to stop at viewpoints and at places of interest along the way, so we found that 50 miles on the parkway and return to base was plenty for one day. Given that, we chose three-day base camps about every 100 miles: one day for moving camp, one day up the parkway and back, one day down the parkway and back.

We used private RV parks that were close to the parkway, and we did not take the fifth-wheel trailer on the parkway. The main reason for that was so we could have the option of turning around whenever we wanted to. (There are not many places on the parkway where you can turn around while towing.) Also, parking at viewpoints is sometimes difficult if you are towing. (But it is possible that you may have lighter traffic in April.)

A +1 for Fairystone State park in Va, as well as a possible side trip above Lynchburg Va at Crabtree Falls.
In NC a stop for Mount Mitchell is a decent diversion, highest point east of the Mississippi, interesting that the trees and plants there (Spruce and Fir) look like your in Maine. Take a jacket, temps up there, el 6680' can be cool even in summer.

Should be no problem. We were up there a couple of months ago and a section of the parkway was closed north of Ashville so you may want to check their website to see if it is all open.

We drove the complete length of the Blue Ridge Parkway last summer with a TT that is 12ft in height. Several of the tunnels in the southernmost
section were close to being too low but passable. We slowed down and drove through the "middle" without problems, just increased anxiety. There was a section in Virginia that was closed for construction which was easy to bypass. Don't expect to travel much faster than 30-40mph. I believe that it took about 4 days from Cherokee, NC to Shenandoah NP. Didn't have much trouble finding campsites and stayed at private, national forest, and state park campgrounds. We especially liked "Fairy Stone" state park in southern Virginia where we stayed for 3 days. Nice trip overall but a couple of days were rainy and we missed out on lots of beautiful views due to the clouds. We would do it again but only as a leisurely drive.