Blog Index

Friday, June 30, 2017

Linn Cove Visitor Center - Blue Ridge Parkway


The Linn Cove Visitor Center is located at mile 304.4 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The visitor center is located between Blowing Rock and Linville in North Carolina on the southern slope of Grandfather Mountain. The small center has an information desk, a model of the Linn Cove Viaduct under construction, book store, and rest rooms with potable water. A large, paved parking area contains one section for cars, vans, and SUVs and a second section for buses and recreational vehicles. The 13½ mile Tanawha Trail passes through the parking lot.

First view of the visitor center

View from the parking area

Breezeway between the restrooms and the visitor center

Model of the viaduct being built around Grandfather Mountain

A closer view of the model

Books and souvenirs for sale

Additional gift shop items

Stephen Mather plaque

Entry to the parkway is free.

The parkway website is https://www.nps.gov/blri.

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Yonahlossee Overlook - Blue Ridge Parkway


The Yonahlossee Overlook is located at mile 303.9 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is the first overlook north of Linn Cove Viaduct on the flank of Grandfather Mountain. An 800-foot long social trail along the back side of the guardrail leads to the north end of the viaduct and some spectacular views of the viaduct and the mountain. I stopped on a cloudy and foggy day in June 2017.

View east as the parkway rounds Rough Ridge

View southeast of Wilson Creek watershed

View southwest of Linn Cove Viaduct

Approaching the viaduct

The middle curve of the viaduct

The northern end of Linn Cove Viaduct

Returning to the overlook

Calloway Peak (5964') on Grandfather Mountain

Entry to the parkway is free.

The parkway website is https://www.nps.gov/blri.

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Price Lake to Boulder Field Overlook - Blue Ridge Parkway


Continuing my June 2017 drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway, I headed south from Price Lake at mile 296.7 to Boulder Field Overlook at mile 302.3 with stops at View Calloway Peak Overlook and Green Mountain Overlook.

Trees have grown and eliminated the view at the View Calloway Peak Overlook at mile 299.7. However, the ½ mile Upper Boone Fork Trail begins here and ends upstream at the Boone Fork Parking overlook on the parkway. I walked down the trail a short distance and followed a side trail to Boone Fork.

Trailhead

More stair steps

Switchback

Left branch leads down to Boone Fork

The side trail stops at Boone Fork

Looking upstream at Boone Fork

A closer view of the rushing water

View downstream

Continuing south on the parkway, I stopped at Green Mountain Overlook, mile 300.4. The overlook is on a spur of Grandfather Mountain named Green Mountain.

View northwest

Pilot Ridge to the south

View east into the Racket Creek watershed

Rhododendron thicket

The clouds and fog were moving in as I stopped at Boulder Field Overlook, mile 302.3. When the clouds cleared a bit, views of Grandmother Mountain and the Linn Cove Viaduct appeared.

Clouds obscure the view of Grandmother Mountain

Linn Cove Viaduct on the side of Grandfather Mountain

Grandmother Mountain (4600') with WUNE TV broadcast tower

Entry to the parkway is free.

The parkway website is https://www.nps.gov/blri.

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Julian Price Memorial Park - Blue Ridge Parkway


I drove the section of the Blue Ridge Parkway from mile 291.8 south to mile 328.6 in June 2017. I entered the parkway from US 221 and US 321 just north of Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

My first stop was at the Price Lake Overlook at mile 296.7. The 47-acre lake is impounded by a dam on Boone Fork, a tributary of the Watauga River. Price Lake is only a small part of the 4,200 acre Julian Price Memorial Park. Mr. Price, president of the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company of Greensboro, purchased the land in the 1930s and 1940s with plans to create a retreat for his employees. After his death in 1946, the land was donated to the National Park Service. The park facilities include a 197 site campground, a 100 site picnic area, several hiking trails, and the lake. Julian Price Park is also the northern terminus of the 13.5 mile Tanawha Trail that roughly parallels the parkway to Beacon Heights.

Reflections on Price Lake
 
Forty-seven acre Price Lake

Rosebay Rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) flower cluster

Grandfather Mountain above Price Lake

Parkway crosses dam on Boone Fork

Looking down at the spillway from the road

Entry to the park and parkway is free. A fee is charged for camping.

The parkway website is https://www.nps.gov/blri.

Monday, June 26, 2017

Tour Road - Guilford Courthouse National Military Park


Before arriving at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park in June 2017, I had intended to walk as many of the trails that crisscross the battlefield as I could. However, recent heavy rains had deposited mud on parts of the paved trails and left the unpaved trails muddier than I wanted to slog through. So I followed the advice of the ranger at the information desk in the visitor center and walked the 2 ¼ mile Tour Road that encircles the park instead. From the tour road, I made several short excursions to view monuments that had been erected. As I planned to be in the park after almost all the facilities are closed and locked at 5 PM, I moved my vehicle from the visitor center to the parking area on Old Battlefield Road north of New Garden Road. This is the only parking area in the park that is not locked at 5 PM.

Topographic map with GPS route

Beginning at the intersection of Old Battleground Road and New Garden Road, I followed the paved trail back towards the visitor center and Tour Stop number One (TS-1). Along the way, I passed Monument Row and its four monuments.

The view from TS-1 is to the southeast looking down New Garden Road toward the Hoskins Farmstead where General Lord Cornwallis formed his troops to advance across a wide line centered on New Garden Road which was called the Great Salisbury Wagon Road at the time of the battle.

Paved path from Old Battlefield Road parking lot toward visitor center

Looking southwest on Historic New Garden Road

No North, No South
Washington, a Southerner, led Northern troops
Greene, a Northerner, led Southern troops

Bugler James Gillies Monument

Mrs. Keren Happuch Turner Monument
Mrs. Turner rode horseback from Maryland
to nurse her wounded son back to health

Captain James Morehead Monument

Jethro Sumner Monument and Grave
located near Tour Stop 1

Captain James Tate Monument and Grave
near the American First Line just south of
New Garden Road near the entrance sign

The oldest and newest monuments in the park are found on the way to Tour Stop 2 (TS-2). The oldest monument, erected in 1887, is dedicated to Colonel Arthur Forbis of the Guilford County militia who was killed in the battle while part of the American First Line. The newest monument, Crown Forces Monument, is dedicated to the memory of all the British forces that fought in the battle. TS-2 hosts a display denoting the fragmented attack as elements of both sides drifted southeast and continued fighting about ½ mile southeast in what is now Country Park.

Captain Arthur Forbis Monument

Crown Forces Monument
In memory of the men who fought
and the units of the Crown Forces
 in which they served at the
Battle of Guilford Courthouse
March 15, 1781

Tour Stop 3 has a display about the American Second Line. This line was held for a sustained period by two Virginia militia brigades as they fought the advancing British in the thick woods. A trail leads north from here toward the Green Memorial and New Garden Road.

Typical terrain defended by the Second Line

Tour Stop 4 (TS-4) has a memorial to Major Joseph Winston, commander of the Surry County militia. In addition, a trail leads from the military park into Greensboro's Country Park. This route seemed to be very popular for bicyclists.

Major Joseph Winston Monument

Tour Stop 5 has a display denoting where David Schenck, the driving force behind creating the park, concluded the American Third Line of Continental Regulars faced the oncoming British. Utilizing additional historical information not available to Schenck, park historians now believe the Third Line was on the ridge line ¼ mile east of this location.

Schenck's Third Line location

Cavalry Monument

Between TS-5 and TS-6, the Tour Road follows the historic route of New Garden Road for a short distance.

Looking west along historic New Garden Road

Tour Road coincident with historic New Garden Road

Estimated American cannon location on the American Third Line

Tour Road veers off of New Garden Road

While the exact location of the Guilford Courthouse and the surrounding community has been lost, Tour Stop 6 marks its approximate location and the American Third Line. In addition, restrooms and a water fountain are located here.

General vicinity of Guilford Courthouse

Field south of New Garden Road

New Garden Road continues east out of the park

Tour Stop 7 is located near the northern boundary of the park between the Second and Third Lines. A short side trail leads to an open field on the northern side of New Garden Road. A display views the battle from the British perspective.

Path from TS-7 to the field

Open field at TS-7

American Third Line Monument

Lt. Colonel James Stewart of the Brigade of Guards
was killed in the fighting on the third line.
Until 2015, this was the only monument
on the battlefield honoring the British army.

New Garden Road

Captain Griffin Fauntleroy Monument

Tour Stop 8 is near the parking lot on Old Battleground Road. Numerous monuments are located near here and the American First Line.

David Schenck Monument
Driving force behind preservation of the battlefield

Brig. General Edward Stevens Monument

Signers Memorial and Grave
Commemorates the North Carolina signers
of the Declaration of Independence

Major General Nathanael Greene Monument

A closer view of the General Greene statue

Entry to the park is free. The visitor center and tour road are open from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM daily.

The park website is https://www.nps.gov/guco.