Chestoa View to The Loops - Blue Ridge Parkway

I continued my June 2017 drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway by driving south from Linville Falls at mile 316.4 to The Loops at mile 328.6 above the Orchard at Altapass.

A short, easy, paved and stone-surfaced trail leads to spectacular vistas from Chestoa View at mile 320.8. There is a series of stone steps descending to the overlook at the end of the trail. Along the way, I passed Flame Azalea and Mountain Laurel in bloom.

Flame Azalea (Rhododendron calendulaceum)

Linville Mountain

Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)

Stone steps lead down to the overlook

Gingercake Mountain (4144' at 3.6 miles) on Jonas Ridge

Table Rock Mountain (4101' at 4.6 miles)

Long Arm Ridge

Continuing south, I stopped at Bear Den Overlook at mile 323.0. This south facing overlook provides long distance views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Dobson Knob (3680' at 6.8 miles)

Jackson Knob

Blue Ridge Mountains

The Hefner Gap Overlook at mile 325.9 doesn't provide the great vistas of the mountains that I saw at Bear Den Overlook, but rather it is an historic location. This is the gap that the Overmountain Men took on their way to fight in the Battle of Kings Mountain.

Honeycutt Mountain

Trail marker

North on the Overmountain Victory Trail

South on the Overmountain Victory Trail

My last stop of the day was at mile 328.6, The Loops. This is located just a mile south of the Altapass Highway intersection at mile 327.5 and above the Orchard at Altapass. The Clinchfield Loops was the name given to the section of the Clinchfield Railroad (now CSX) that lies directly in front of the overlook. While the tracks aren't used as a through route from Elkhorn City, Kentucky to Spartanburg, South Carolina any more, the engineering and labor required to build the railroad between 1905 and 1908 was phenomonal. The route had 18 tunnels in 13 miles in an effort to keep the grade at a minimum throughout the climb through the mountains.

Jackson Knob to the east

Southern end of Linville Mountain at Dobson Knob

Entry to the parkway is free.

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