Parkway Partners
Learn
America’s National Parks™ supports education and preservation efforts at nearly 170 national parks. Their parent company, Eastern National, is an official nonprofit education partner of the National Park Service. When you purchase merchandise in a gift store located at a Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center, you help support the Park and its programs. Enhance your Parkway visit, get your National Parks Passport stamped and multiply your memories!
As a longtime partner of the National Park Service, America’s National Parks manages stores in many national parks, and has donated over $142 million to support the NPS educational, historical, and scientific mission.
Visit
Providing a variety of tools to plan your next trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway – including print maps, brochures and the Blue Ridge Parkway Travel Planner; the free app Blue Ridge Parkway – Travel Planner; and the tools and maps on this website.
The Blue Ridge Parkway Association is comprised of a membership of businesses and community organizations, has been an official Parkway Partner since 1949, and was instrumental in the completion of the Parkway’s final link at Linn Cove Viaduct.
Enhance
Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation’s projects on the Parkway range from historic preservation to environmental initiatives, including supporting the Blue Ridge Music Center. Ways to help: purchase an NC specialty license plate, become a member of the Community of Stewards, or make a tax-deductible donation.
Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation puts on The Denim Ball each year, a fun-filled fundraiser for the Blue Ridge Parkway, and supports programming for The Blue Ridge Music Center.
Experience
The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area promotes economic opportunity through heritage tourism, including the Blue Ridge Music Trails. Providing grants and support for an array of projects, BRNHA assists in the development of cultural and natural resources.
National Heritage Areas are designated by Congress. There are designated National Heritage Areas in regions around the United States.
Preserve
Providing meet-ups for hikers and volunteer-powered trail maintenance, clearing and building, Carolina Mountain Club works with public and private partners to preserve our natural heritage.
Carolina Mountain Club volunteers spend countless hours each year clearing and maintaining trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway, including the Appalachian Trail and the Mountains to Sea Trail.
Protect
Conservation Trust for NC works with landowners and local trusts to protect spectacular Parkway vistas. Join a hike to learn about their work or support the NC Youth Conservation Corps in building more trails.
Working in a collaboration of five land trusts, Conservation Trust for NC’s work has protected nearly 70,000 acres along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Explore
As the primary source of information on hiking North Carolina’s state trail, volunteers with the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail also work to improve the hiking experience by maintaining the trail and building new sections.
When hiking along the Blue Ridge Parkway, you will find many access points with marked trail heads to sections of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
