Blue Ridge Parkway | PINE SPUR OVERLOOK (MP 144.8)

View from Pine Spur Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway

View from Pine Spur Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway

View: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ / 5
Trails: None
Picnic Tables: 1 (no grill)

A wide vista of the Blackwater Valley can be seen from the Pine Spur Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is an excellent, sweeping view, and the only reason I didn’t rate it as a 5-star overlook is because the view at Devils Backbone View a quarter mile to the north is even better (it is more centered on the valley).

Unfortunately, on the day I visited the haze caused by pollution was quite evident. During the summer, pollution has caused an 80 percent loss of visibility since 1950 (and a 40 percent loss in the winter). Though the pollution is not created by anything directly along the Blue Ridge Parkway, it drifts in from various locations and gets stuck between the mountain ranges. Los Angeles suffers from smog due to the same circumstances.

Trivia: Back in the days of segregation, Pine Spur was a designated recreation area for black travelers on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Panoramic view from the Pine Spur Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway (click to enlarge)

Panoramic view from the Pine Spur Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway (click to enlarge)


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Last updated on December 1, 2023
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