The Blue Ridge Parkway celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2010, and the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation was a leadership supporter. Working with the National Park Service and their partner organizations, we helped focus the nation on this milepost celebration and reach out and touch the hearts and minds of people near and far to make a personal connection with the Parkway
Between 2008 and 2010, the Foundation funded the development and printing of 2 versions of a voluntary how-to-guide for building next to the Parkway for builders, developers and property owners, educating them on how best to preserve the Parkway's viewshed.
The National Park Service has been working to upgrade the Abbott Lake Loop Trail to make it accessible to all populations. The Foundation provided $100,000 for this project to provide better and safer access for all visitors while protecting the environment. Additional sections of the trail have already been made accessible, reducing lakeshore erosion, and a new fishing and viewing pier will be constructed across the lake from the Lodge in 2013.
A collaborate project with the Town of Blowing Rock, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Foundation to build a restroom at the popular Bass Lake parking area just outside of Blowing Rock.
In 2001, the riparian buffer along this headwater stream of the New River at Milepost 221 was restored, helping establish a natural canopy for the stream and reducing peak water temperatures for this native trout stream.
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation provided funding for a new Communications Center Building for the Blue Ridge Parkway which opened in the spring of 2012. The building, located behind park headquarters in Asheville, serves as the hub for all radio communications for the Parkway. At the same time, the 30-year old microwave communications system was replaced with a state-of-the-art microwave and land mobile radio infrastructure, giving the Parkway a modern and reliable radio telecommunications network that will provide critical support for visitors and staff for many years to come.
The Foundation provided funding for an Appalachian State University student to conduct field work in the Highlands District identifying and documenting Park boundary encroachments.
The Foundation was a funding partner in conjunction with the Buncombe County’s Greenways and Trails Commission, Buncombe County Parks, Greenways and Recreation Services to hire planning and design
The Blue Ridge Parkway is partnering with Ray’s Weather (
