Blue Ridge Parkway Tunnels
Blue Ridge Parkway tunnels add a fun and exciting experience to a leisurely drive. The Blue Ridge Parkway stretches for 253 miles in North Carolina and along the way if you were to drive the whole stretch you would drive through 25 tunnels. There are 25 tunnels on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. During construction of the parkway in the 1930s the plan was for the road to have little impact on the landscape appearance. The steep terrain of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northwestern NC portion of the road was the reason for the most number of tunnels. Tunnels were necessary to preserve the landscape.
The shortest tunnel is Rough Ridge at 150 feet long at milepost 349.0. The longest tunnel is Pine Mountain tunnel at 1435 feet long at milepost 399.1. There is one twin tunnel: Twin Tunnel North at milepost 344.6 and Twin Tunnel South at milepost 344.7. The triple tunnel is as the name suggest – a set of three tunnels with Ferrin Knob Tunnel #1 at milepost 400.9, Ferrin Knob Tunnel #2 is at milepost 401.3 and Ferrin Knob Tunnel #3 is at milepost 401.5.
BRP tunnel
The Virginia portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway has only one tunnel-Bluff Mountain Tunnel at milepost 53.1. All other tunnels are located in North Carolina between milepost 333.4 and 466.3. During the cold winter months sections of the parkway have to be closed due to dripping rain water that freezes in the tunnels and other areas that get little or no sunshine. Even though the air temperatures may be above freezing there is still a danger of ice on the roadway especially in the tunnels during winter.
Tips and guidelines for traveling on the parkway through the tunnels.
1. Use your headlights, even for the shorter tunnels.
2. Drive slow through the tunnels and pay attention to oncoming traffic.
3. Take off your sunglasses. The longer tunnels can be quite dark as compared to the bright sunshine moments earlier.
4. Beware of bicycle riders in the lane. There is no shoulder and therefore nowhere to go and nowhere to pass. Share the road and be considerate.
5. Passing a vehicle is not recommended. Pay attention to No Passing signs and other posted highway signs and speed limits.
6. The parkway speed limit is 45 miles per hour (unless at more congested areas where is 25 mph).
7. If on a RV know the height of the camper. The height of each tunnel is marked. Depending on how tall the RV, some tunnels may not have the clearance needed.
See The Blue Ridge Parkway Tunnel Runs from youtube…
