Walnut Cove View overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway

View: ♦ ♦ ♦ / 5
Trails: Mountains to Sea / Shut-In Trail
Picnic Tables: None

There is no continuous panoramic view from the Walnut Cove View overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Instead, separate snapshots can be pieced together between the trees and brush that block much of the view. In one window you can see a swanky neighborhood and golf course and in another a ridge with some mansions on it. Some of the trees that block the view are just ten feet from the parking lot and can easily be cut down, but “easily done” and “Federal government” are two terms that don’t really go together.

You can access the Mountains to Sea / Shut-In Trail from here. Walk back out to the Blue Ridge Parkway and take a right. The trailhead is across the street and marked with a wooden post. Usually there are two trailhead, as a trail typically comes out on one side of the parking lot and reenters farther down the road or on the other side of the parking lot. I could only find this one trailhead, so I am assuming this is a short connector trail that leads to the main trail.