Blue Ridge Parkway

I did the whole Blue Ridge Pkwy (469 miles) and Skyline Drive (105 miles in Shenandoah N.P.) back in October of 2007. (The Blue Ridge changes name to Skyline Drive in Shenandoah.) I went from South, getting on at the beginning near Cherokee, to North. I did this mid-week to avoid the crowd (camping over the weekend in the Smoky Mts.). At the time, I was pulling a popup camper with a V6 Dodge Caravan. I did the drive in 2 days, camping, roughly mid-point, at Linville Falls campground (N.P.S.), which is right on the Parkway.

My best advice is (contrary to what I did):

1. If you do the entire road, plan for at least 2 "overnights", more would be better. My average speed was closer to 20mph or less. This made for 2 loooong days of driving and little stop/look time.
2. If you can, switch off driving duties from time to time. Driving this road demands 100% attention from the driver and it is tiring! As the driver, you don't get much of a chance to view the scenery.

Also, make sure your brakes (on the TV and camper) are in top shape. Make certain to secure everything in the camper well, as it will get jostled.

I shifted down to a lower gear and just left it there for the entire trip and this helped with the braking. With a maximum speed of 30mph, this was just fine. I almost never could get going that fast - the road would not allow it. 30mph might be possible on a motorcycle or in a performance coupe but, towing....nahhh, ain't gonna happen.

When you can get gasoline, do so. There are limited opportunities. You will get bad MPG's.

The further North you go, the easier the road gets, but I would not call it easy driving (if this means anything).

As mentioned, there are some low tunnels (not an issue with my popup). You may have already "searched" these and their location and work around.

Get ready for a wonderful trip! The drive is beautiful in the Fall. If I where to do it again, I would plan on driving no more that 100 miles per day.

Moonshine Creek in Balsam, (right off of the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Asheville, NC) is a cute little campground.....ask for a site on the creek.  Sites 9, 10, 11 or 12 are good ones.  Also Mountain Stream near Marion NC is a beautiful little campground.  Also request a site on the stream.  Good size sites, quiet, peaceful....ahhhhhh!

have traveled (motorcycle) the entire parkway (waynesboro-cherokee:469 miles) several times.  excellent trip and scenery, very good roads (can be hilly and curvy, and don't forget there are tunnels), no stop signs or lights, etc.  have never actually camped, however the brochure states 9 campgrounds (not sure on the hook-ups etc).  i would definately take the trip! I will actually be doing the section from laurel springs to cherokee in a week.  heading out for a 3000 mile ride.   hogone