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Julian Price Memorial Park

A popular destination on the Blue Ridge Parkway is Julian Price Memorial Park, at the foot of Grandfather Mountain, near Blowing Rock, North Carolina. The Park is adjacent to Moses H. Cone Memorial Park and together the two comprise the largest area developed for recreation along the Parkway.

Comprising more than 4,300 acres, including a small lake, Julian Price Memorial Park offers many activities, including hiking, fishing, canoeing, camping, guided walks, and evening campfire programs. The grounds include 100 picnic sites, with shelters and comfort stations. A 300-seat amphitheater is used for lectures and talks during the summer months. Canoes can be rented for use on Price Lake.

The park's seven trails include the Price Lake Loop Trail (2.7 miles), which circles the well-stocked lake, and the challenging 5-miles Boone Fork Loop Trail. The ingeniously engineered Tanawha Trail (13.5 miles) passes under the Linn Cove Viaduct and wraps around the southeastern ridge of Grandfather Mountain.

Julian Price Memorial Park is named in honor of Julian Price, an insurance executive who purchased the acreage in the late 1930s and 1940s to create a retreat for the employees of his insurance company, which later donated the lands to the Parkway.

Hours of Operation

The park is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Admission Fees

A nominal fee is charged for campsites.

Hours of operation and fees are subject to change. Contact directly for most current information.

Location

The entrance to Julian Price Memorial Park is located at Milepost 297 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Park Campground Kiosk
(828) 963-5911

Sandy Flats Ranger Station
5580 Shulls Mill Road
Blowing Rock, NC 28605
(828) 295-7591

Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center
195 Hemphill Knob Road
Asheville, NC 28803
Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center: (828) 298-5330
Visitor Information Recorded Message: (828) 298-0398
Blue Ridge Parkway website

Hiking 

Appalachian Trail

Eighty-eight miles of the Appalachian Trail run through the North Carolina mountains.  From through-hikers—backpackers who attempt the trail in its entirety—to hikers out for an afternoon stroll, those who love to walk rugged mountain terrain through dense woodlands find the Appalachian Trail among the most beautiful in the country.

The Appalachian Trail is a 2,175 mile trail that leads from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin, Maine, crossing a total of 14 states along its way.  It was first envisioned in 1921 by Massachusetts forester and preservationist Benton MacKaye, who proposed it as a trail linking a network of work camps and communities in the Appalachian Mountains where city dwellers could go to renew themselves.  The Appalachian Trail was completed in 1937 and became the country's first designated National Scenic Trail in 1968.

The Appalachian Trail enters North Carolina at the Georgia border, then climbs Standing Indian Mountain and crosses the Nantahala River before winding through the lush Nantahala National Forest.  Before reaching the Great Smoky Mountains, it rises into the Stecoah-Cheoah Mountain area.  It bisects the Great Smoky Mountains National Park along the North Carolina-Tennessee border, which it follows on its way to the town of Hot Springs, NC.  Elevations vary from 1,725 to 5,498 feet along the North Carolina segment of the Trail.

Hot Springs is the first and only trail town in North Carolina on the northbound route which through-hikers will encounter.  The town welcomes over 2,000 through-hikers annually, mostly between mid-May and October.

The nonprofit Appalachian Trail Conservancy coordinates the Appalachian Trail's management and protection in conjunction with a wide range of partners, including the National Park Service, Appalachian Trail Park Office, U.S. Forest Service, 14 states, and 30 Trail-maintaining clubs.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy and its member clubs publish the official guidebooks and maps for the Appalachian Trail.  Each of the 11 pocket-sized guidebooks covers several hundred miles of the Trail, and includes separate topographic maps with elevation profiles.

Member clubs in Western North Carolina:

Smoky Mountains Hiking Club

Nantahala Hiking Club