Bunches Bald Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway

View: ♦ ♦ ♦ / 5
Trails: None
Picnic Tables: None

At the left side of the Bunches Bald Overlook parking area on the Blue Ridge Parkway is a nice view into the valley, but what you are looking at is not Bunches Bald. When the term “overlook” is part of the stop name, this means that you are actually standing on the geological feature in the overlook name—in this case Bunches Bald.

A “bald” refers to a mountain top that has an area with either no vegetation or some type of shrub or grass instead of tall trees. In some cases this is due to the top of the mountain being at an elevation where tall tress do not grow, but it can also be due to farming and grazing, which was often the case along the Blue Ridge Parkway. However, if you look around, you won’t see anything but trees. Since the Parkway’s creation, farming has ceased on most of the park land, allowing trees to reclaim the balds. This makes some of the historical names no longer relevant.