Linn Cove Viaduct
Linn Cove Viaduct is a man made wonder along to Blue Ridge Parkway and is a short distance to the small Town of Spruce Pine North Carolina. This Blue Ridge Parkway Viaduct is 1243 feet long and is a concrete segmental bridge which follows the contours of Grandfather Mountain in Western North Carolina. The Linn Cove Viaduct was finally completed in 1983 and cost ten million dollars. It was the last portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway Drive to be completed. To get to Lynn Cove Viaduct, Drive the Blue Ridge Parkway North of Asheville NC or South of Blowing Rock North Carolina to Milepost 304. The Linn Cove Visitor Center is positioned just to the south end of the Viaduct. Once you get to the Lynn Cove Viaduct Vistor Center you can read information on the construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway Viaduct, Blue Ridge Parkway Drive Times, and Waterfalls on the Blue Ridge Parkway. You can also drive for a short distance towards Blowing Rock North Carolina to visit Moses Cone Manor or Julian Price Park.
 Take a small portion of the Tanawha Trail to hike under the Linn Cove Viaduct. If you decide to take this trail, make sure to have your Blue Ridge Parkway Bird Checklist handy as this trail is a bird watcher paradise. This is one of the very best short Blue Ridge Parkway Hikes and allows for a great place to take a Linn Cove Viaduct Photo. The hike under the Viaduct is a fairly simple one mile roundtrip hike that allows you to have a close view of this engineering marvel. The hike begins at the Linn Cove Viaduct Visitor Center and leads to a beautiful view that can be seen from under the bridge. Taking this short trail provides access to hikers to the Tanawha Trail. From the Tanawha Trail you will see how the viaduct seems to float above the land below.
 The small hike under the Blue Ridge Parkway Bridge is paved for roughly one third of a mile. The Linn Cove Viaduct Trail then continues up a dirt trail and curves around a huge boulder for another one third of a mile. The Tanawha Trail joins with the Lynn Cove Viaduct trail under the Blue Ridge Parkway Bridge and is 13.5 miles long. The Tanawha Trail basically runs parallel to the Blue Ridge Parkway from the Beacon Heights Parking Area at mile post 305.5 to Price Lake at Julian Price Park at the 297 mile marker. Make sure to read the many signs along the way to learn all about the rich Blue Ridge Parkway History. The History of the Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the things that make this area so special.
 There are many Bridges on the Blue Ridge Parkway such as the Blue Ridge Parkway Linville Bridge or the stone bridge at mile marker 331 in Spruce Pine NC. But, none of the other Blue Ridge Parkway Bridges come close to the engineering masterpiece of the Lynn Cove Viaduct. The Blue Ridge Parkway Viaduct was needed because of the potential damage that a road woould have made if it were cut into the side of Grandfather Mountain NC. Figg and Muller Engineers, Inc. designed the Linn Cove Viaduct and construction on the bridge began in 1979. The bridge consists of 153 segments where each segment weighs roughly fifty tons each. The Linn Cove Viaduct was constructed from the top down to help minimize any disturbance to the natural ecology of Grandfather Mountain.
 The Blue Ridge Parkway was finally completed in September 1987 after 52 years of construction. Ground was originally broken to build the Blue Ridge Parkway on September 11, 1935 at Cumberland Knob NC and was almost complete by 1967. The only portion remaining to be finished at that time was a 7.5 mile section of the total 469.1 miles that make up the Blue Ridge Parkway. This last remaining section was the portion that makes up the Lynn Cove Viaduct and is known today as the Best Way to Drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. Don't let this great wonder pass you by on your next trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Make sure to take the whole family to enjoy the beautiful sight of Linn Cove Viaduct.
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