Ruralite Cafe: Published 07/05/01

By Lynn Hotaling - Associate Editor

Parkway travel guide is free - if you order now

And not only is "Blue Ridge Parkway: America's Favorite Scenic Drive" full of information - for a limited time, it's absolutely free!

In an innovative public/private sector partnership, tourism offices in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia joined the Blue Ridge Parkway, and private businesses to produce the 200-page, full-color guidebook to the Blue Ridge Parkway from the Great Smokies to the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

The digest-size publication includes regional driving tours, detailed maps, guides to attractions on and along the Parkway/Smokies corridor as well as user-friendly guides to campgrounds, restaurants, hiking and biking trails and outlet shopping.

Leisure South, a division of Roanoke, Va.,-based Leisure Publishing, publishers of Blue Ridge Country magazine and other periodical and travel titles, printed 100,000 copies to distribute to potential visitors to the region.

The guidebook is graced with more than 180 photos of the Southern Appalachian region. The photography augments additional sections on parkway bloom schedules, fall foliage drives, parkway history, and regional flora and fauna. Practical information on necessities including gas stations, rest rooms and emergency needs are also included.

The three states supported a $300,000 spring and summer ad campaign to create awareness of "America's Favorite Scenic Drive" in regional and national travel magazines while LeisureSouth raised funds from the private tourism industry to pay for the guide. Ads have appeared in 18 national level publications that reach 16 million travel-oriented readers.

The Blue Ridge Parkway - a 470-mile linear park in the heights of the Southern Appalachians - wanders through a wealth of natural and human history. The highest point along the parkway, Richland Balsam (6,053 feet above sea level) is in Jackson County.

Photographs from this county include one of the historic Balsam Mountain Inn and another of Riverwood Shops, the Dillsboro craft center located in the home of early 20th-century business magnate C.J. Harris.

Around 20 million people visit the parkway every year, enjoying the overlooks and historic sites and staying in small-town bed and breakfasts or spending weekends at bluegrass festivals and craft fairs.

The length of the parkway is an endless wealth of destinations for motorists, outdoor enthusiasts, retirees, antiquers - and motorcyclists, a growing segment of parkway visitors who find the views and the rides appealing.

The guide, which carries a cover price of $9.95 for bookstore distribution, is available for a limited time free to those planning parkway excursions and vacations. To receive a free copy, contact LeisureSouth at 1-866-443-2779.

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