Tunnels on Blue Ridge Pkwy.

The area in Virginia from Peaks of Otter to the crossing of the James River is downhill for several miles. Take care of your brakes if going north and watch transmission temperature if heading south. This is the highest point on the parkway in the state of Virginia to the lowest point in Virginia. I personally believe this area is the main concern for anyone with a large rig. If you are heading south and pulling this long grade do not stop at the top, just keep moving until your engine/transmission cools down after this long pull, then pull over if you want. When going down hill just get on the brakes hard, bleed off about 10mph then let it coast back up to speed. Don't "ride" the brakes all the way down. By braking hard and then letting it coast you are cooling the pads. Also use a lower gear.

I've driven the entire PKWY many times. The section from Cherokee to Fancy Gap has the steepest hills. The entire Pkwy has rather narrow roads, with lots of blind corners and fairly tight bends. The speed limit is 45 most of the time. Its doable with just about any rig but much more enjoyable with a car or truck. You will be sharing the road with lots of people on bicycles and motor cycles so the driver has to pay close attention. There are few long straight segments any where, but from Fancy Gap north its is much easier until you get to the Skyline Drive section if you are going that far. There are no hookups or showers at the campgrounds. You can get water from a spigot. Most of the campgrounds are best for tents and small RVs. A few, like Linville Falls have plenty of room. I have camped at almost all the campgrounds the full length. Its a great alternative route if you can take your time. I did it once with a big Montana 5ver but wouldn't again. Much more fun with something smaller. The scenic pull overs (there are many) are not very accomadating for big rigs. The favorite ones are often packed with cars, etc. Almost every year there is at least one segment that is closed for construction and the detour can be a major pain of small back roads. Consider staying at a full service RV parks along the way and driving up on segments for day trips with your truck.

We were on the parkway not long ago in a tour bus and had no problems.

AlabamaTraveler wrote:
Just a simple question. Can the entire pkwy be traveled with a 5er that needs 12ft 6in clearance?

The simple answer is yes as long as you crowd the center line through the tunnels.

Yes. I've traveled the entire southern stretch which has the shortest tunnels in my previous 5th wheel which required 12' 6" of clearance. The height is measured at the yellow line. Here is my 10'-6" rig going through Devil's Courthouse Tunnel which is 14' 2".



Noticee how just by hugging the yellow line you can gain 3'+ because of the arch. There isn't a single tunnel where even a 13' rig would need to cross the center line to gain enough clearance.

What is worse than the tunnels are the tree limbs, especially when wet from rain or fog. The limbs are all small and will swing out of your way when speed is properly reduced. They use to be kept trimmed well, but the budget cuts means they haven't been trimmed back for a couple years on the southern section (below Mt Mitchell).

We did a lot of traveling on the BRP two summers ago...in our tow vehicle. We would never take our motorhome there. We did see a few larger RV's, but not many. As others have mentioned, some of the exits/entrances onto the BPR are not for larger vehicles. I disagree with a previous poster about this being a relaxing trip. It has a lot of steep grades and curves. Not exactly my kind of relaxation.

What we did is leave the MH parked at the CG and took our truck.

Yes you can. Tunnel clearances are taken 1' from the tunnel wall and increase greatly another two feet out. The parkway is one of the most relaxing drives you can take with the slow pace and no steep grades (on the parkway). Never found fuel (diesel or gas) to be any problem though there ARE a few side roads with very sharp curves and pretty steep grades so choose carefully based on knowledge. Major highways are always a safe bet.
Good luck / Skip

AlabamaTraveler wrote:
Just a simple question. Can the entire pkwy be traveled with a 5er that needs 12ft 6in clearance?

Yes.

I would also like to bring up something else you should be aware of. The various exits on/off the parkway can be very dangerous for pulling a 5th wheel. I would most definitely stick with the main entrance/exits. ALot of these roads have very sharp loop backs and steep inclines.

Also gasoline on the parkway is only at a few "Way Stations" along the 425 Miles trek.

If you haven't driven this road before I would download or visit the NPS service that sponsors the entire length and see where these places are located. Nothing worse then running out of gas and being 50 miles from a good exit place... Basically you have a camp site every 50 miles along the way but not all camp sites have a co-located "WAY STATION" in the same area.

We have driven the entire length from VA to Gatlinburg TN but it was mostly TENT CAMPING along the way. I have done one trip with my OFF-ROAD POPUP camper. I have seen alot of TC and TT campers along the way but since most sites do not have hookups it may discourage the big RV setups to do the whole length. Driving the entire length and getting off to camp in full hookup places sort of doesn't make good sense haha...

Check out the whole length and see what all the pull outs are and what is offered.

It is a wonderful drive and everytime we are on it we usually find something new and wonderful to see and do...

We camp at the LOFT MTN camp ground on the SKYLINE DRIVE which feed the Blue Ridge Parkway three or four times during the season... ALways have a great time with lots of wildlife roaming around.

Roy ken

Are there pull Over/passing areas? I'm sure those behind who are not pulling TTs / FWs would not be happy waiting for foot traffic / radios at the tunnels. I've wanted to run my Jeep from the southern most end to the northern most point.