Customer Reviews

Walking the Blue Ridge: A Guide to the Trails of the Blue Ridge Parkway

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My wife and I have just come home from a 3 week trip along the entire parkway. We started the trip with Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway, but ended up buying Walking the Blue Ridge at one of the visitor centers. While Hiking was ok, we found Walking the Blue Ridge to be the better of the two. It was very easy to use, easy to find information, and full of wonderful tidbits. The way the mileage data was set up in a vertical way made it very easy to use while we were hiking the trails, simple to always know where we were. In the Hiking book we had to wade through a lot paragraphs just to match up the descriptions with where we actually were on the trail. Also, it was obvious that the author of Walking the Blue Ridge had actually walked every one of the trails he was writing about. It was also nice knowing that it gave descriptions of every one of the trails along the parkway, even if it was just a short pathway; the other book neglected some that we found to be truly delightful. In addition, its smaller weight and size made it much easier to carry while on the hikes.
All in all, we were happy to have found Walking the Blue Ridge and will be using it often.

Being a native Tarheel who spent countless hours on the Parkway, I thought that I knew the Blue Ridge. But it was not until I read and followed Leonard Adkins' guide to the trails there did I really gain an appreciation for the beauty of these gentle (and not so gentle!) slopes. From the novice day hiker to the "well-heeled" backpacker, there is no better source for an initiation to these trails.

Designed as a "drive awhile - stop awhile" recreational road, the Blue Ridge Parkway is the most visited unit in the National Park Service. It has 17 million visitors a year as compared to 10 million a year for the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. But the Parkway is more than a beautiful drive; it is also a good base from which to hike. Adkins describes all the ways that we can get out of the car as we explore the Parkway. From a leg-stretcher to a view of Glassmine Falls Trail to the eighteen miles of the Shut-In Trail, Adkins gives a contextual introduction to the hike as well as step-by-step directions. He rates each hike from an easy leg-stretcher to strenuous.

My only objection to the rating is that the author considers too many hikes as strenuous. For example, Adkins labels the Snooks Nose Trail, eight miles round trip and described as "not well-maintained and hard to locate" as strenuous. The two-and-a-half mile round trip hike up to Mt. Pisgah, on a clear, well-marked trail, is also rated as "strenuous". Hikers will have to decide what strenuous means to them. Ratings aside, the book is necessary to anyone looking for a variety of hikes in the area. The appendices are also a wealth of information. He lists every feature on the Parkway along with its mileage, all the inns and campgrounds as well as a roadside bloom calendar

The Blue Ridge Parkway, almost 450 miles long, connects Shennandoah National Park in Virginia with Great Smoky Mountains National Park astride the North Carolina - Tennessee border. In between it traverses some of the most beautiful mountain areas in North Carolina and Virginia. Although it provides splendid views from the road itself and from its many roadside overlooks, it is much more than a scenic drive. It is a ribbon of land administered by the National Park Service, at several places broadening into wider mini-parks. All of those parks as well as various other spots along the parkway's route have hiking trails that give visitors a closer look at the many natural wonders there. This book, as a comprehensive guide to those trails, is the one most indispensable guide to getting beyond your car and the overlooks in this remarkable National Park Service land. All of its official trails are rated in this book as to difficulty, from very easy to quite strenuous. Thus there are ample hikes for whatever level of wilderness adventure you're up for. Each hike is described in details, with points of interest described in the order you'll encounter them, with mileages to each from the trailhead. Some hikes described herein also get beyond the parkway's own lands, into National Forest lands that border the parkway in many places, as well as occasional adjacent commercial attractions such as Grandfather Mountain. Any visit to the Blue Ridge Parkway should be quite rewarding, and this book is one of the best resources for making it even more so, showing that you'll never be very far from places to park and take a walk for a more intimate view. And you definitely should sample at least some of the shorter and easier walks, if not the longer or more challenging ones, depending on what you're up to. This parkway is a natural treasure well-worth exploring, and this book may well be the quickest way to learn that there is so much more there than meets a casual eye.

for a day trip, a weekend trip, or a long vacation. We have hiked and camped in several of the places mentioned. I have lived in NC all of my life and did not realize there was such enriching trails and escapades off the parkway. I wish I had known about this book while attending WCU! Take it with you, it is very worthwhile.

I bought this book a few years ago and have almost worn it thread-bare! My husband and I enjoy walking the Blue Ridge Parkway trails. This book is a great help in helping us decide which trail to walk and the step by step guide is very interesting. I wish I could find one as helpful on trails to waterfalls.

The Blue Ridge Parkway, almost 450 miles long, connects Shennandoah National Park in Virginia with Great Smoky Mountains National Park astride the North Carolina - Tennessee border. In between it traverses some of the most beautiful mountain areas in North Carolina and Virginia. Although it provides splendid views from the road itself and from its many roadside overlooks, it is much more than a scenic drive. It is a ribbon of land administered by the National Park Service, at several places broadening into wider mini-parks. All of those parks as well as various other spots along the parkway's route have hiking trails that give visitors a closer look at the many natural wonders there. This book, as a comprehensive guide to those trails, is the one most indispensable guide to getting beyond your car and the overlooks in this remarkable National Park Service land. All of its official trails are rated in this book as to difficulty, from very easy to quite strenuous. Thus there are ample hikes for whatever level of wilderness adventure you're up for. Each hike is described in details, with points of interest described in the order you'll encounter them, with mileages to each from the trailhead. Some hikes described herein also get beyond the parkway's own lands, into National Forest lands that border the parkway in many places, as well as occasional adjacent commercial attractions such as Grandfather Mountain. Any visit to the Blue Ridge Parkway should be quite rewarding, and this book is one of the best resources for making it even more so, showing that you'll never be very far from places to park and take a walk for a more intimate view. And you definitely should sample at least some of the shorter and easier walks, if not the longer or more challenging ones, depending on what you're up to. This parkway is a natural treasure well-worth exploring, and this book may well be the quickest way to learn that there is so much more there than meets a casual eye.

This is a great book. I went through it and highlighted the many trails I wanted to hike and then my wife and I began hiking! The author's directions can be a bit out-dated, but the info is still generally accurate. Buy it!

I turned to Walking the Blue Ridge recently when I needed a short hike on the Blue Ridge Parkway fairly near Pisgah campground, where I would be able to take my dog on a leash and -- very important -- avoid the crowds. And I did see the crowds -- their cars filling the Graveyard Fields parking lot (milepost 418.8) and spilling down the road shoulders for a quarter mile in each direction. Whew! But thanks to Adkins's book I found the Bearpen Gap Trail 10 miles farther down the Parkway, and there was nobody there! It was great. Exactly what I was looking for. As a result of that experience, I bought another copy of Walking the Blue Ridge as a birthday present for a hiking friend. I recommend this book to those who need clear directions to trailheads all along the Blue Ridge Parkway, along with a good sense of what to expect on the trail. Whether you seek the famous places (like Shining Rock, with its crowds) or the less-used trails (like Bearpen Gap with its solitude) I think you'll find them all here. (Much of the Mountains to Sea Trail is covered also, as it parallels the Parkway.) The format is a brief introduction to each trail followed by a mile by mile description of it. The book's shape is tall and narrow, so that it will fit in the side pocket of a pack or pants. The author seems to have spent most of a lifetime hiking and driving the Blue Ridge Mountains. A WALKING guidebook keyed to the Blue Ridge Parkway (which is all about automobile tourism) is particularly valuable because people who drive there in their cars will then find it easy, with Adkins's help, to get out and take a short walk or even a longer hike.

I love this book and have used it for years. I love there is a step by step guide of the trails. It has great description that you can follow as you walk. He points out things to observe and see. His must see trails are dead on, accurate descriptions of the difficulty levels are perfect. I love this book.