Virtual Blue Ridge Parkway

Late September and early October bring with them lots of changes to the Blue Ridge landscape. Including tremendous displays of Hawk migration, Monarch Butterfly migration, and of course the first cool, crisp days of Autumn. October weekends are among the busiest of times here and if at all possible plan your trip for weekdays. The crowds will be much smaller.

As school begins and family vacations are not as common, September is a month when Parkway visitation tends to drop prior to the high visitation of October weekends. For that reason, the drive along the high mountain road may be especially relaxing for those who can plan a trip this month. Here in early September from Roanoke, VA, south through the Doughton Park, NC area, late summer blooms are still hanging on with fields of Queen Annes Lace, Crown Vetch, Coreopsis, Sunflower, and Ironweed highlighting the agricultural scene.

This is the Blue Ridge Parkway wildflower report for August 24th, 2007. Triple digit temperatures have gripped much of the Virginia and North Carolina piedmont over the past couple of weeks. So the Parkway has been an especially popular place to find temperatures sometimes as much as twenty degrees cooler. It has also been very dry, so be especially careful on your trip to the mountains. No open fires are allowed outside of the nine designated drive-in campgrounds along the Parkway.

This is the Blue Ridge Parkway wildflower report for August 17, 2007. Triple digit temperatures have gripped much of the Virginia and North Carolina piedmont over the past two weeks.

This is the Blue Ridge Parkway wildflower report for August 10, 2007. As we enter the last month of the summer, the Parkway becomes the first choice for a place to escape the sweltering heat of the piedmont and lowlands. Temperatures are often twenty or more degrees lower especially in the high elevations of the Park in North Carolina.

This is the Blue Ridge Parkway wildflower report for August 3rd, 2007. As we enter the last month of summer, the Parkway becomes the first choice in a place to escape the sweltering temperatures of the Piedmont and lowlands. With temperatures often being 20 or more degrees lower, especially in the higher elevations of the park in NC.

This is the Blue Ridge Parkway wildflower report for July 27th. Late July is a grand time to come to the Parkway for the wonderful variety of summer blooms and to escape the heat of the lowlands.

This is the Blue Ridge Parkway wildflower report for July 20th, 2007. If youre coming to the highlands for a relief from the heat of the piedmont, here is some of what you may expect in mid July. Dont think that wildflower observations end in the spring because to many folks the summer blooms are just as delightful.

This is the Blue Ridge Parkway wildflower report for July 13th, 2007. If youre coming to the highlands for a relief from the heat of the piedmont, here is some of what you may expect in mid July. Dont think that wildflower observations end in the spring because to many folks the summer blooms are just as delightful.

This is the Blue Ridge Parkway wildflower report for July 6th, 2007. Here in the first week of July folks are, as always, headed for the high country of the Blue Ridge to escape some of the heat of the piedmont and low-lands.

This is the Blue Ridge Parkway wildflower report for the last week of June 2007. On this weekend prior to Independence Day finds many summer blooms on display for those heading to the High Country to perhaps escape the heat.

This is the Blue Ridge Parkway wildflower report for June 22nd, 2007. Visitors to the Parkway here in the latter half of June will find the mountains in transition between spring blooms and the typical summer varieties usually depending on elevation.

This is the Blue Ridge Parkway spring bloom report for June 13th. Most areas of the Blue Ridge Parkway are past peak bloom, but there are several higher elevation areas in which the color remains brilliant.

The fall color for the Blue Ridge Parkway is spectacular in most areas this year. According to most accounts, it is the best in several years. As we often say, however, every fall on the Parkway is beautiful, some are just a bit better than others. Listen to the full fall color report now.