What to See in Thunder Ridge Wilderness - Top Sights and Attractions

Mabry Mill is a watermill run by the National Park Service located at milepost 176.2 of Blue Ridge Parkway in Floyd County, Virginia. It is a tourist attraction mainly for the picturesque views of the mill itself. A short trail around the mill connects historical exhibits about life in rural Virginia. The trail allows visitors to view the gristmill, sawmill, and blacksmith shop.

Mabry Mill was built by Edwin Boston Mabry (E.B. Mabry). E.B. Mabry returned to Floyd County in 1903 and began the construction of the mill. It was first a blacksmith and wheelwright shop, then became a sawmill. By 1905 it was in operation as a gristmill. By 1910 the front part of the mill was completed and included a lathe for turning out wheel hubs, a tongue and groove lathe, a planer and a jig-saw. Between 1905 and 1914 E.B. Mabry bought adjacent tracts of land, mostly for the purpose of acquiring more water power.

During peak seasons, demonstrations of crafts are given by National Park Service volunteers at Mabry Mill.^[3]

Historical place in Watauga County, North Carolina. Flat Top Manor, as it is most commonly known, is also called the Moses Cone Manor, Moses Cone Estate, and the Moses H. Cone Mansion. It is at Milepost 294 of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. It was built by American textile entrepreneur Moses H. Cone for his home and based on the idea of replicating George Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate, the largest privately owned house in the United States. He used his estate to showcase his knowledge of scientific farming and to represent his wealth he had accumulated.

The manor mansion and associated property was donated to the National Park Service and they managed it. The house is referred to as the Parkway Craft Center to those that travel the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Craft Center has a gift shop and a workshop where various arts and crafts are demonstrated. There are tours given by Park Rangers of the second story of the mansion and there are self-guiding trails on the property where a visitor can hike.^[4]

Road in the United States of America. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is America's longest linear park, runs for 469 miles through 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties, linking Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It runs mostly along the spine of the Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains. Its southern terminus is at U.S. Route 441 on the boundary between Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina, from which it travels north to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. The roadway continues through Shenandoah as Skyline Drive, a similar scenic road which is managed by a different National Park Service unit. Both Skyline Drive and the Virginia portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway are part of Virginia State Route 48, though this designation is not signed.

The parkway has been the most visited unit of the National Park System every year since 1946 except four (1949, 2013, 2016 and 2019). Land on either side of the road is owned and maintained by the National Park Service, and in many places parkway land is bordered by United States Forest Service property. There is no fee for using the parkway; however, commercial vehicles are prohibited without approval from the Park Service Headquarters, near Asheville, North Carolina. The roadway is not maintained in the winter, and sections that pass over especially high elevations and through tunnels are often impassable and therefore closed from late fall through early spring. Weather is extremely variable in the mountains, so conditions and closures often change rapidly. The speed limit is never higher than 45 mph (72 km/h) and is lower in some sections.

In addition to the road, the parkway has a folk art center located at mile marker 382 and a visitor center located at mile marker 384, both near Asheville. There are also numerous parking areas at trailheads for the various hiking trails that intersect the parkway, and several campgrounds located along the parkway allow for overnight stays. The Blue Ridge Music Center (also part of the park) is located in Galax, and Mount Mitchell (the highest point in eastern North America) is only accessible via North Carolina Highway 128 (NC 128), which intersects the parkway at milepost 355.4.^[6]

Mountain range in North Carolina. The Great Craggy Mountains, commonly called the Craggies, are a mountain range in western North Carolina, United States. They are a subrange of the Blue Ridge Mountains and encompass an area of approx. 194 sq mi. They are situated in Buncombe County, North Carolina, 14 miles northeast of Asheville. The Black Mountains lie to the northeast, across the upper Cane River valley.

The Blue Ridge Parkway runs along the crest for most of the way between Asheville and Mount Mitchell. Craggy Gardens, an area of 16 km, is covered with purple Catawba rhododendrons in mid-June. The Craggy Pinnacle Overlook trail is a moderate.73 mile hike to a stone wall overlook with 360 degree views. The parking area for the trail is at milepost 361.2 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The parkway through the area was closed from late 2012 through early 2013 due to subsidence caused by heavy rains, and had to be closed again during summer 2013 due to a reoccurrence of the same issues. Access to Mount Mitchell was only from the north or via detour from the south.^[9]