Hey Guys!
This post continues our time in Asheville.
Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here & Day 3 here
On this day, we were checking out of our hotel to head home. However, before heading home, we wanted to spend a few more hours driving the Blue Ridge Parkway.
We started our morning with another delicious breakfast from Biscuit Head!
After breakfast, we headed to the Parkway to drive the opposite direction from the day before.
I just couldn’t get enough of those gorgeous fall colors!
The drive started out with some patches of fog.
The colors were so vibrant!
Our first stop was an overlook..the mountains were obscured by the fog but it made for some beautiful shots.
We continued our drive down the Parkway as I snapped tons of pictures as usual! 🙂
We came up on one of the many tunnels on the parkway.
Driving through the fog made for some cool pics!
Shortly after driving through the 1st tunnel, we came up on another tunnel…there are 26 tunnels on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Click here for a list of of the tunnels by milepost
After exiting the tunnel, we stopped at another overlook. There were several people that had pulled over so we figured it must be worth the stop.
It did not disappoint….the views were gorgeous!
After this stop, we continued our drive only to stop again just a couple of miles down the road.
There are so many pullovers along the parkway…you really have to pick and choose which ones to stop at.
This overlook was called Bad Fork Valley Overlook…the elevation here is 3350 ft.
Click here for some “must see” stops along the Parkway
After taking 239 pics, we continued our drive along the parkway …
Heading towards our 3rd tunnel of the day…
Shortly after driving through the tunnel, we stopped at another overlook.
The views were incredible and the colors were so vibrant!
We continued our drive and came up on the Ferrin Knob Tunnel No. 2.
As soon as you exit this tunnel, you will enter Ferrin Knob Tunnel No. 3
Our next stop was the Stony Bald overlook with an elevation of 3750 ft.
After this stop, we continued our drive and came up on the Young Pisgah Ridge tunnel at mile marker 403.
Click here for a list of the stops along the Parkway by milepost
At mile marker 404, we came up on the Fork Mountain Tunnel….
We stopped at a couple more overlooks but the views were completely obscured by the fog..
Driving through Little Pisgah Tunnel at mile marker 406.9
About 1/2 mile down the road, we came up on Buck Springs Tunnel…
We then spotted a pullover for the Funnel Top Overlook…the elevation was 4266 ft.
The views were incredible!
After leaving here, we continued our drive and came up on the Frying Pan Tunnel at milepost 410.1.
You’re probably wondering by now if there’ s more to the parkway than just tunnels and overlooks and the answer is yes!
There are tons of hiking trails, waterfalls and other sights to see! We just didn’t have time to do anything else since this was the day we would be heading home…so, our time was very limited.
We pulled over at another overlook and, once again, the views were mostly obscured by the clouds & fog.
We continued our drive…the views along the drive are just amazing!
After a few minutes of driving, we came up on the Cherry Cove Overlook.
More amazing views!
We left here and continued down the parkway….
We pulled over at the East Fork Overlook
After leaving here, we continued our drive and pulled over again once we arrived at the Graveyard Fields.…there was a good size parking area at this stop and the lot was pretty full so we thought we would check it out.
Come to find out, this is one of the most popular stops along the parkway.
Tip: This stop is one of the few hiking places along the Parkway with restrooms!
At this stop, there’s a hike to two waterfalls! The first falls is called the Lower Falls...it’s only a 1/3 of a mile from the parking lot.
The second falls is called Upper Falls…it’s another mile hike from the Lower Falls on the 4 mile Graveyard Fields Loop.
As we began our hike to the Lower Falls, we came up on this sign!
The hike begins on a paved path thorough a forest of rhododendrons.
After a short walk, you arrive to a set of wooden steps …at the bottom of the steps you will arrive at a short bridge that crosses a cold, clear stream with lots of rocks and boulders. It’s a great place to spend the day during the hot summer months.
There is some signage that points you in the direction you need to go for the Lower Falls but the hike to the Upper Falls lacked signage and we ran into some people that said they couldn’t find it.
We arrived to another set of wooden steps…these steps led down to the Lower Falls.
The falls are beautiful and definitely worth the short hike!!
Click here for the top 11 waterfalls on the Blue Ridge Parkway & Click here for each stop along the parkway by milepost
After leaving here, we continued our drive.
We pulled over at the Fetterbush Overlook that has an elevation of 5494 ft.
After leaving here, we stopped at the Devils Courthouse Overlook.
Tip: At this stop, there’s a short, but strenuous trail climbing a 1/2 mile to its peak with wonderful panoramic mountain views. The mostly-paved trail starts from the overlook parking area beside the mountain.
We then stopped at the Herrin Knob Overlook with an elevation of 5510 ft.
Next we stopped at the Cowee Mountain Overlook with an elevation of 5950 ft.
After leaving here, we arrived at milepost 431.4 …the highest elevation on the Blue Ridge Parkway….Richland Balsam sitting at an elevation of 6053 ft…so, of course, we had to take our picture with the sign!
Tip: There’s a 1.5 mi loop hike to the summit you can do here.
The nearby Cullowheee Mountains. It’s one of the best places on the parkway to watch the sunset.
We continued down the parkway
Our next stop was the Steestachee Bald sitting at an elevation of 4780 ft.
We continued our drive and I continued my non stop photo shoot through the windshield…as usual!
We came up on the Pinnacle Ridge Tunnel at milepost 439.7.
We spotted this huge boulder sitting all by itself on the side of the road!
After a few more minutes of driving the parkway, we decided we needed to head home. We had a 5 hr drive ahead of us.
I continued my photo shoot on the way home!
After a couple of hours of driving, we stopped off for lunch at Ruby Tuesday.
I ordered salmon while the hubby ordered fried chicken tenders…so good!
This ends our time in Asheville.…Thanks for reading and I hope this helps you plan your own trip to Asheville!