This is sure to give you a case of the blues.
The entire stretch of the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway has been closed indefinitely as crews assess the “catastrophic” damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Helene, according to the the National Park Service.
The iconic roadway coined “America’s favorite drive” for its scenic views runs from the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina.
It is the most visited national park site in the US with 16.7 million visitors in 2023.
The damage, in some cases, is “catastrophic,” according to the National Park Service. The most severe destruction to the parkway stretches from milepost 280 to milepost 469, the Cardinal News reported.
The National Park Park Service had previously closed the parkway through North Carolina, but the closure has now been extended to include Virginia, the Cardinal News reports.
The Blue Ridge Parkway staff received reinforcements Thursday as 250 National Park Service employees from 32 states and the Washington, D.C., joined in the recovery efforts, according to a news alert on the National Park Service website.
Assessment crews are still finishing their work in Virginia and “in the coming weeks” will settle on a “timeline and cost estimates” for repairs to the parkway, the news outlet said.
The Blue Ridge Parkway announcement comes on the heels of another national treasure closing.
The U.S. Forest Service announced earlier this week that more than 90 miles of the Appalachian Trail through Virginia would be closed until further notice, while trail managers asked hikers to avoid a much longer stretch of the pathway until hurricane damages can be fully assessed, the Cardinal News reported.
