I've not been North of the Sky Drive section in Virginia. have made the trip South from Virginia to Smoky Mtns down the Blue Ridge a few times. Neat run for us with lots of pull outs to view and check out. There is a camp ground about every 50 miles and only a few gas stops. The major road crossing is the best place to get on and off of the parkway. The back road entrances to the Parkway usually are very winding and steep... Be sure to plan your gas stops with a major road crossing...
The speed limit is most often 25MPH so don't plan on going very far in one day haha... There are some section up to 45MPH..
The Parkway is full of motorcycles and wild life at dusk... Also when you come up on a bunch of cars off to the side of the parkway usually means a Bear sighting...
The camp grounds are small and originally built for Tent Camping from back in the 50s I guess... They do accommodate the bigger trailers... The camp ground will only have a rest room facility with a water spigot and no hookups anywhere else. No Electric at the pads...
We have done the trip both Tent camping and with our POPUP trailer to Gatlingburg TN going this way a few times and had a lot of fun...
You can download a entire trip map PDF with MP markers and items of interest to see...
My favorite camping places is LOFT MTN on SKYLINE DRIVE (which has an entrance fee), Sherando lake and Otter Creek. My favorite camp place in the Smoky Mtns is ELKMONT also with no hook ups Just a bath room building and water spigot... Plenty of nice camp grounds around the Smoky Mtns in Gatlinburg, Pigeon forge, and Townsend TN. My pick would be Townsend to keep away from all the tourist things...
The real high country section is in the NC run
Roy Ken
