BRP in Summer

[Briano]

Hey everyone,

My wife and I will (or at least should) be on vacation in the middle of July. I am planning on taking her on a trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway, probably on up Skyline Drive too. My question is....what is the Parkway like in the middle of July? I'm wondering more about lodging, crowds on the Parkway, etc. I've always done this ride in the early fall, and have always enkoyed it....not crowded, etc; but I don't know about the middle of July. We will be staying in motels, rather than camping if thiat helps.

Thanks,

Brian

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

If you are putting this post in the ride reports section, you now have to tell us about your Fall trips on BRP and show us pictures

 

[trimmantom]

Brian,you shouldn't have any problem with lodging at all it's a long trail with many places to visit and stay.You shouln't have any weather related problems,but be sure and take your rain gear.Storms just pop up in the mountains from one ridge to another.Have fun.

 

[Briano]

Thanks trimmantom,

I was afraid that motel rooms would be hard to come by during the "height of the tourist season".

Brian

 

[slapnpop]

As already mentioned, nothing is ever really jam packed. If one town is having a special event, and is full up, just move on to the next and you'll find a room.

Also, I live in the area, and the weather is compleletly unpredictable. When you do have nice sunny days, there's almost always a 4:30 shower to wet things down for the commute. The weather changes in the mountains, one peak may be pushing the water out of the clouds and is constantly raiiny, but there's none left by the next .

 

[grnarrowe]

Briano,

We're planning a trip that way in August. All I did was Google towns along the way of the BRP and found hotels that way. I'm just worried about gast stops, we got 2 other bikes going with us and they have a shorter range than the FJR. Any insights you get on this in July can you let me know? Thanks and have a great time in July.

Grnarrowe

 

[toophast]

go to the BRP site they have a listing of fuel availability and at which mile marker they are located by (have to get off the BRP and sometimes the fuel can be someplace down off the ridge in a town 7 or so miles away--don't wait till fume time to refuel or you will be as thankful as I was that most of the way to the gas station was down hill)

 

[Defiant]

We load the FJR on the AutoTrain in Sanford (FL) on June 1 and head to Lorton. Quick stop in DC for a few pics next to the Lincoln Memorial and then off to the BRP. Taking the Canon EOS Rebel with 1gig card so should have plenty of pics.

 

[sjarr7]

Brian,

Hey. I live in Roanoke which is fairly centrally located on the BRP. Weather will be mostly hot w/ afternoon showers, may be a little cool in upper elavations at night. I have rode prkwy south to end a couple of times and it depends on where you all are gonna get on as far as hotels. I mean you can do large sections in a day-it's really not that far from one end to the other. A couple places I know personally to stay in VA are Doe Run Lodge down around Hillsville/Galax area-nice but a little expensive-good food. Another place right on the prkwy is the Peaks of Otter a little north 30mi or so of Roanoke. This fills up during summer so you may want to check out asap-also good eats. There are other places to stay at end of BRP around Waynesboro as well. Check out mileage you're gonna go each day and you might want to drop down into one of the towns running beside prkwy. Anyway July is a great time to make this ride.Speed limit mostly 45! If you're spending any time around Roanoke & want to ride w/ any locals let me know. Have a good trip

 

[yamaholic]

Summer on the parkway is frustrating to me. Too many gawkers doing 30mph. There is limited passing due to the number of curves.

I went on June 19-21 a few years ago. It was perfect. I passed 2 cars in 200 miles (one of which was a ranger). The next 100 hundred miles I passed about 10 cars and maybe 15 bikes. It was a little cold and foggy in the am due to elevation, but nothing that couldn't be dealt with.

Having nearly no traffic really made the trip special/rewarding.

My vote is avoid July -- August! June and September would be idea.

 

[Briano]

Hey everybody,

Thanks for all athe input. I might have said before that this will be my wife's first long motorcycle trip. We have been to weekend "camping rallys", but have never "ride-stop for the night-repeat for several days". As she is new, I figured on 100 miles or so per day, stop and look at the scenery, no hard riding (my Dad is an IBA member, and I will probably do it soon). As far as the weather, we live in Knoxville, TN, so unpredictable weather is normal-I'm glad to know that it doesn't just happen here. I don't mind leaving the Parkway for the night, for gas, etc. My only real MUST is breakfast at Mabry Mill.

@OrangevaleFJR- If I can find my PIC's from past trips, there is always a Harley in the background, as this will be the FJR's first trip on the BRP. I wish we didn't have to plan our vacation around the school year(wife's employer), or we would be going in mid-September.

Thanks again for everyone's help,

Brian