Sites of Geologic Interest: Blue Ridge Parkway

A driver's equivalent of the Appalachian Trail, the Blue Ridge Parkway winds a crooked path from Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the vicinity of Cherokee, North Carolina, across most of western North Carolina and Virginia, to Shenandoah National Park near Waynesboro, Virginia. Within Shenandoah National Park, Skyline Drive continues a scenic drive along the Blue Ridge crest to Front Royal, Virginia. Numerous cuts delay the passage of roadside geologists, e.g. these between US Highway 23/74 and US Highway 19 in North Carolina:

Hornbuckle Valley Overlook

Two zones of intense fracturing and displacement in Great Smoky metasediments.
-

Woolyback Overlook

Iron- and sulfur-stained metasedimentary cliffs.
-

Cranberry Ridge Overlook

More sulfidic metasedments; possible contact with non-sulfidic body.
-

Yellow Face Overlook

Obnoxiously tectonized; looks a little sulfidic.
-

Fork Ridge Overlook

Two dikes of lighter-color rock in Great Smoky metasediments.
-

Scott Creek Overlook

Ice-covered gneiss.