Blooms on the Blue Ridge Parkway

The Curve at Linn Cove Viaduct Along the Blue Ridge Parkway (NC) [1]

During spring and summer, the seasons of gentle showers, warm, sunny afternoons, and awe-inspiring sunsets, the natural world comes to life. And one of the best places in the U.S. to see spring and summer symphonies of color and beauty is the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and Virginia. From brilliant flame azaleas and showy rhododendrons to open meadows scattered with blazing star, daisies, and geraniums, an entire orchestra of blooms awaits all who travel along this 469-mile stretch of Appalachian grandeur.

At the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, admire fifteen native species of azaleas at the Azalea Repository and see ornate patterns of blooms weave together in the Quilt Garden. A short walk down the Nature Garden Trail will take you to an overlook at Bent Creek and the entrance to the arboretum’s central gardens.

Craggy Gardens Picnic Area (NC) [2]

For a spectacular second act of Catawba rhododendron and other late-bloomers, get front-row seats at Craggy Gardens in North Carolina, about 20 miles north of Asheville at Milepost 364.6. At the picnic area and nearby Craggy Dome you can see rhododendron, flame azaleas, blueberry, sand myrtle, and other mountain flowers in "heath balds", so named because they give the mountains a bald appearance when viewed from a distance. The Craggy Pinnacle Trail showcases late-spring bloomers such as violets, blackberry, May-apple, and Turkscap lily.

From May to October, North Carolina's Crabtree Meadows at Milepost 340 becomes what some visitors call “Nature’s Flower Garden.” This 250-acre site boasts majestic displays of hawthorne, beard tongue, mountain laurel, and gentian. If you’re a more adventurous hiker, take the trail all the way down to Crabtree Falls and enjoy the cool waterfall mist.

Pink Lady's Slipper in the Blue Ridge Mountains (NC) [3]

West of the Linn Cove Viaduct at Milepost 304.6, Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina is not only the highest peak in the Blue Ridge mountain range, it also features a dazzling array of flowers such as bellwort, pink lady slipper, and painted trillium in the spring or Gray’s lily, fire pinks, and Michaux’s lily throughout the summer. Experience these delicate wonders of nature up close on over twelve miles of trails winding through the hundred-year-old nature preserve, or enjoy the entire panorama from the Mile High Swinging Bridge.

In Virginia you'll find an entire painter's palette of wildflowers at George Washington National Forest. Stop at the Apple Orchard Falls Trail near Milepost 78 for a short trek to scenic lookouts like the Devil's Marbleyard and the Guillotine. Keep an eye out for acres of trillium, bloodroot, showy orchids, large-flowered bellwort, mountain lily-of-the-valley, blue cohosh, and rattlesnake plantain (an orchid).

Deeper west into the forest on VA 39 is the Back Creek Gorge Wildflower Trail at the Blowing Springs Recreation Area near the VA/WV border. Here, witness a host of early bloomers like trout lily, cut-leaved toothwort, spring beauty, and trillium, or visit later in the spring to see wild geranium, bellwort, Solomon’s seal, and nodding mandarin. Enjoy a relaxing picnic by the deep blue pools of Back Creek while you take in this awe-inspiring scene.

Fresh air, great views, and a nearly endless supply of nature’s finest wildflowers will inspire and mesmerize, so keep your camera handy and your eyes open. Spring and summer on the Blue Ridge Parkway are two seasons you won’t want to miss!