Scenic Byways
Blue Ridge Parkway
For over 75 years, the Blue Ridge Parkway has drawn millions of visitors from around the world to western North Carolina. The parkway was completed in 1987, when the last stretch was laid and the spectacular viaduct built around Grandfather Mountain.
As the local land trust for McDowell, Burke, and Caldwell counties, Foothills Conservancy leads on parkway preservation opportunities with interested landowners in these counties. The conservancy works in partnership with other regional land trusts serving different sections of the parkway, as well as with Conservation Trust for North Carolina, which coordinates protection efforts along the length of the parkway in North Carolina, to ensure that the road’s scenic vistas are forever conserved.