Blue Ridge Parkway

Six months after Helene wreaked havoc on western North Carolina, roughly one-third of the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway remains closed, but the National Parks Service has begun projects to repair the damage.

The National Park Service has announced that several more sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway have reopened after sustaining damage from Helene. 

A portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Blowing Rock area has been reopened to traffic.

Appalachian State University biologist Howard Neufeld, says peak times for the Boone area are on schedule for mid-October. Closer to the Triad, Pilot Mountain should be at its most showy the first week of November.

National Park Service officials are looking for individuals or businesses to relaunch three historic properties along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Blue Ridge Parkway officials are putting together a plan to boost tourism on the scenic road and increase the economic impact in the nearby communities.

A popular sledding site in the High Country has been closed due to unsafe conditions.  The area is known as “Sled Hill,” located off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock.

An infrastructure project on the Blue Ridge Parkway is having an impact on the roadway’s first restaurant, The Bluffs at Doughton Park.