Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway: The Ultimate Travel Guide to America's Most Popular Scenic Roadway (Hiking Guide Series)

Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway is designed to be an indispensable resource for anyone who uses the Parkway -- America's most heavily visited unit of the National Park system -- as a portal to the Southern Appalachian experience.

Hikers and motorists alike can continually refer to the book's mile-by-mile mileage log to overlooks and waysides, entrances and exits, interpretive sites, museums, visitor centers, craft shops, and all the easy "leg-stretcher" trails that are such an accessible part of a Parkway trip.

But this is more than just a guide to Parkway facilities and paths. By including the best trails in the national forests, state parks, and private preserves that line the 469-mile scenic road, Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway is a single-volume solution for the serious explorer, whether on foot or in a car. To aid the reader in experiencing the Parkway's best trails, this books contains more than 70 detailed topographic route maps, dozens of descriptive photographs, and in-depth trail descriptions with difficulty ratings and detailed directions.

Author Randy Johnson has helped design Parkway trails and, as a noted Southern Appalachian author, has explored the unique richness of Appalachian culture. This book meshes the best of the Parkway's outdoor experiences with a keen sense of the cultural heritage that makes the Parkway a national treasure -- a motor trail to the heart of the United States' least homogenized region.

Randy Johnson divides his time between Greensboro, North Carolina, and his home in the mountains near Banner Elk. He is the senior editor of United Airlines' award-winning in-flight magazine, Hemispheres, and is the author of Hiking Virginia, Hiking North Carolina, and Best Easy Day Hikes Blue Ridge Parkway.