Boulder Field Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway

View: ♦ ♦ ♦ / 5
Trails: Tanawha Trail / Mountains to Sea Trail
Picnic Tables: None

True to its name, at the Boulder Field Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway you get a view of boulders that rolled down a mountain. Today they are covered in trees, but I can’t imagine any point in time where looking at a boulder field would be high on anyone’s To Do list. However, on a nice day the small parking lot may be full, and cars may even be parked along the side of the road. Are boulders really that popular? I think not.

The draw is access to the Tanawha Trail, a 13.5-mile trail that runs between the Beacon Heights Parking Area and Julian Price Park. The Tanawha Trail is also part of the Mountains to Sea Trail, a collection of shorter trails that when strung together makes a 1,150-mile path across the state of North Carolina, connecting Great Smokey Mountains National Park with the Outer Banks on the Atlantic Ocean.

The Boulder Field Overlook is located just down the road from the Wilson Creek Valley View, and like at Wilson Creek Valley, the most impressive feature is not the intended view, but the large mountain that can be seen by walking out to the Blue Ridge Parkway. I am pretty sure this is Grandfather Mountain, tough I am no mountain-name expert. This is also the first stop where you can see the Linn Cove Viaduct, a road that is built around the side of the mountain and supported by concrete pillars.