The Blue Ridge Parkway, called “America’s Favorite Drive,” is a U.S. National Parkway that winds 469 miles through Virginia and North Carolina, connecting Shenandoah National Park on its northern end and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on its southern end. It is a long, slow, and beautiful drive, famous for long-range vistas and close-up views of the rugged mountains and pastoral landscapes of the Appalachian Highlands.