Bluffs Restaurant (right) and Doughton Park Visitor Center (left) on the Blue Ridge Parkway

The Bluffs Lodge and Coffee Shop opened in 1947 when Doughton Park was still called Bluffs Park. They were institutions along the Blue Ridge Parkway until being closed in 2011. At the Coffee Shop you could have a sit-down meal, buy souvenirs in the gift store, fill up your car with gas, and buy camping supplies at the camp store. The parking areas on either side of the buildings are enormous, a testament to the restaurant’s popularity.

The Bluffs Lodge was one of only three hotels directly on the Parkway, the others being the Peaks of Otter Lodge and the Pisgah Inn, both of which are still open. Unlike the others that have the appearance of grander hotels, The Bluffs Lodge looks like a typical small-town motor inn that brings back memories of family automobile touring of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.

Unfortunately, the decline in pleasure driving coupled with the fact that the Doughton Park area is not near a major city and thus draws less traffic than other sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway brought about the demise of the Coffee Shop and Lodge. Parkway usage is down nearly 40 percent from the 1970s, and the average age of a Parkway tourist is 65 years old. Kids no longer have much interest in going for a drive.

Former Bluffs Lodge on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Forever Resorts of Scottsdale, Arizona, the concessionaire that ran the restaurant and lodge, chose not to renew the contract in 2011, and the two facilities sat empty, allowing decay to set in. The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation began raising money to renovate the restaurant in 2016, and repairs were eventually made. The restaurant, now using the name Bluffs Restaurant, reopened for business in 2023. It is open seasonally, typically from May through the end of October.

The Lodge, on the other hand, needs major renovations and currently has a serious mold problem. I happened to be there in October 2020 when a work truck pulled up and man with a “bomb sniffing” dog got out. As they walked diligently around the building, the dog went about its business of sniffing…I’m pretty sure it wasn’t sniffing for bombs. What it was most likely sniffing for was mold. Given that, I wouldn’t be surprised if the building is eventually torn down.

The Bluffs Restaurant is located right along the Blue Ridge Parkway, while the Lodge is accessed via a turnoff on the opposite side of the road. The road forks not far from the turnoff, and staying to the left takes you to the Lodge. The parking area near it now serves as parking for the Fodder Stack Trail, the only short trail within the Doughton Park Recreation Area (all others are 9+ miles, round trip). For information on hiking in the area, see the Doughton Park Hiking Trails web page.

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