Rough Ridge Overlook

Rough Ridge Overlook is a very popular overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. It is located on Milepost 302.8 and the elevation is 4293′. There is a short hiking trail which starts from the parking area. It is about 1/3 miles long and is moderate in difficulty. The trail crosses a bridge over a small stream and leads to a wooden boardwalk offering spectacular views of Linn Cove Viaduct, Grandfather Mountain and surrounding areas of Blue Ridge. The views from the Board Walk are awesome on a clear day. The wooden walkways protects the fragile vegetation on the rocky mountainside.

Rough Ridge also serves as an access point to Tanawha Trail that originates at Beacon Heights and ends at Price Lake.

On the opposite side of the road from the parking area, you will have a grand view of the piedmont of North Carolina. As you look out, you will be seeing the towns of Hickory and Lenoir. On really clear days, you can see the Charlotte skyline.

Here are some photos which we took from our hike to Rough Ridge. We visited the parkway on Oct 11th and the fall colors were spectacular. The summit of Rough Ridge was covered in mist and so we missed the beautiful views from the Board Walk but it was still beautiful to see the summit with surrounding rocks and vegetation. You can easily spend 2 hours over here.

You can view some good photos taken from Rough Ridge here.