# High Country & Mountain Music A 7-day, ~620-mile Southern road trip from Roanoke (start Thursday). It chains Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies and The Crooked Road. - **Days:** 7 - **Distance:** ~620 mi - **Starts in:** Roanoke (start Thursday) - **Themes:** Outdoors, Music - **Routes chained:** [Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blue-ridge), [The Crooked Road](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/crooked-road) The Parkway's southern half braided with the Crooked Road's music calendar — schedule the week so Friday lands in Floyd and Saturday at the Fold. ## Why this itinerary works Starting in Roanoke (start Thursday), this 7-day itinerary connects Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies and The Crooked Road. It suits travellers interested in parks, coast, mountains & water; blues, country, jukes & jamborees. The day-by-day bases let you split roughly 620 miles into a sequence of visits rather than trying to cover every linked route end to end. Use the daily highlights to decide which places deserve your longest stops. ## Day by day ### Day 1: Thu: Roanoke → Floyd Star and Texas Tavern send-off, then the plateau Parkway south. Early night in Floyd — tomorrow's the Jamboree, tonight's the porches. Highlights to consider: - **Mabry Mill** (Meadows of Dan) — The most photographed spot on the entire Blue Ridge Parkway — gristmill, pond, and Sunday-afternoon old-time jams in season. Shared with the Parkway route; the atlas draws them side by side here. [The Crooked Road](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/crooked-road) - **Floyd Country Store** (Floyd) — The Friday Night Jamboree: gospel at 6:30, then old-time and bluegrass with the whole town flatfooting on hardwood. No alcohol, all ages, candy counter open. One of the last fully intact Saturday-night... on a Friday. [The Crooked Road](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/crooked-road) ### Day 2: Fri: Floyd & Mabry Mill Buffalo Mountain hike, Mabry Mill photographs (the braided stretch where two routes share the road), Galax's fiddle shop — back to Floyd for gospel at 6:30 and flatfooting after. Highlights to consider: - **Mabry Mill** (Meadows of Dan) — The most photographed spot on the entire Blue Ridge Parkway — gristmill, pond, and Sunday-afternoon old-time jams in season. Shared with the Parkway route; the atlas draws them side by side here. [The Crooked Road](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/crooked-road) - **Floyd Country Store** (Floyd) — The Friday Night Jamboree: gospel at 6:30, then old-time and bluegrass with the whole town flatfooting on hardwood. No alcohol, all ages, candy counter open. One of the last fully intact Saturday-night... on a Friday. [The Crooked Road](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/crooked-road) ### Day 3: Sat: To the Fold West on 58 through Grayson's ponies and Damascus, evening at the Carter Family Fold's Saturday show. Overnight Bristol; museum in the morning. Highlights to consider: - **Damascus** (Damascus) — 'Trail Town USA' — the Appalachian Trail walks straight down Main Street. Shuttle up Whitetop and coast 17 miles of the Virginia Creeper rail grade back to town. [The Crooked Road](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/crooked-road) - **Barter Theatre** (Abingdon) — Opened 1933: Depression admission payable in produce — 'ham for Hamlet.' Gregory Peck, Ernest Borgnine and Patricia Neal apprenticed here. Still doing rep year-round across two stages. [The Crooked Road](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/crooked-road) - **Grayson Highlands Ponies** (Mouth of Wilson) — Wild ponies grazing mile-high balds beneath Mount Rogers, Virginia's rooftop. They will try to eat your sandwich; the views excuse them. [The Crooked Road](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/crooked-road) - **Galax: Rex Theater & Barr's Fiddles** (Galax) — Friday nights the Rex broadcasts 'Blue Ridge Backroads' live on WBRF 98.1 — walk in, sit down, it's free. Every August since 1935: the Old Fiddlers' Convention, the world's oldest and largest. Barr's Fiddle Shop is the clubhouse. [The Crooked Road](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/crooked-road) - **Mabry Mill** (Meadows of Dan) — The most photographed spot on the entire Blue Ridge Parkway — gristmill, pond, and Sunday-afternoon old-time jams in season. Shared with the Parkway route; the atlas draws them side by side here. [The Crooked Road](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/crooked-road) ### Day 4: Sun: Bristol → Blowing Rock Bristol Sessions museum, then rejoin the Parkway at Fancy Gap: Cumberland Knob, Doughton's meadows, fresco churches — Blowing Rock for the night, Mystery Hill if it's open. Highlights to consider: - **Blowing Rock** (Blowing Rock) — The cliff whose updraft returns thrown objects (and, in the Cherokee legend, a leaping lover); Tweetsie Railroad's 1957 steam-train park; Mystery Hill's gravity house; the 1883 Mast General Store over in Valle Crucis. [Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blue-ridge) - **Land of Oz (spur)** (Beech Mountain) — A 1970 Wizard of Oz theme park, abandoned 1980, yellow brick road intact at 5,500 feet — opens a few 'Autumn at Oz' weekends a year, eerie and wonderful the rest. The great lost American theme park. [Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blue-ridge) - **Linn Cove Viaduct (MP 304.4)** (Grandfather Mountain) — The snaking precast bridge that finally completed the Parkway in 1987 — built top-down to spare the mountain. Grandfather's Mile High Swinging Bridge sways next door. [Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blue-ridge) ### Day 5: Linn Cove & the Land of Oz Beech Mountain's abandoned Oz (gates willing), the Viaduct and Grandfather's swinging bridge, Linville Falls — overnight Little Switzerland among the gem mines. Highlights to consider: - **Land of Oz (spur)** (Beech Mountain) — A 1970 Wizard of Oz theme park, abandoned 1980, yellow brick road intact at 5,500 feet — opens a few 'Autumn at Oz' weekends a year, eerie and wonderful the rest. The great lost American theme park. [Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blue-ridge) - **Linn Cove Viaduct (MP 304.4)** (Grandfather Mountain) — The snaking precast bridge that finally completed the Parkway in 1987 — built top-down to spare the mountain. Grandfather's Mile High Swinging Bridge sways next door. [Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blue-ridge) - **Little Switzerland & Emerald Village** (Little Switzerland) — A 1910s resort hamlet and the gem-mine complex in old mica workings — flume mining for emeralds, blacklight mine tours, vintage roadside Americana at elevation. [Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blue-ridge) - **Mount Mitchell (MP 355 spur)** (Burnsville) — 6,684 feet — the roof of the East. The summit honors Elisha Mitchell, who fell to his death defending his measurement (he was right). Spruce-fir, fog, Canada in Carolina. [Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blue-ridge) ### Day 6: Mount Mitchell → Asheville The East's rooftop in morning fog, Craggy Gardens, the Folk Art Center — afternoon and evening in Asheville (Biltmore or Moogseum; choose your gilding). Highlights to consider: - **Mount Mitchell (MP 355 spur)** (Burnsville) — 6,684 feet — the roof of the East. The summit honors Elisha Mitchell, who fell to his death defending his measurement (he was right). Spruce-fir, fog, Canada in Carolina. [Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blue-ridge) - **Asheville & Biltmore** (Asheville) — America's largest home (250 rooms of Vanderbilt ambition), the Folk Art Center's craft lineage (MP 382), and the Moogseum — Bob Moog synthesized the future here. Deco downtown, dueling buskers. [Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blue-ridge) ### Day 7: Pisgah → Cherokee (+ the Dragon) Graveyard Fields, Richland Balsam's high point, Waterrock Knob — MP 469 at Cherokee and the Museum of the Cherokee People. Finishers' choice: Newfound Gap to Gatlinburg's kitsch, or 318 curves at Deals Gap. Highlights to consider: - **Cherokee** (Cherokee) — MP 469, the end. The Museum of the Cherokee People, the Qualla co-op (the oldest Native American arts cooperative, 1946), and 'Unto These Hills' under the stars since 1950 — the Eastern Band's own telling. [Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blue-ridge) - **Graveyard Fields & Devil's Courthouse** (Pisgah Forest) — Moon-meadow valleys (MP 418) and the bare-rock devil's bench (MP 422) — the Parkway's most dramatic mile cluster, blueberries in August. [Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blue-ridge) - **Richland Balsam (MP 431.4)** (Balsam) — The Parkway's highest point: 6,053 feet. Pull-off, sign, photo, the ritual is mandatory. [Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blue-ridge) - **Newfound Gap & Kuwohi (spur)** (Great Smoky Mtns) — US 441 crosses the Smokies' spine at 5,046 ft (FDR dedicated the park here, straddling the state line). The spur road climbs to Kuwohi — long mapped as Clingmans Dome, renamed in 2024 — 6,643 ft, observation spiral above the clouds. [Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blue-ridge) ## Practical planning Budget an average of about 89 miles per day across the whole trip, or roughly 2.0–3.0 hours behind the wheel at an assumed 30–45 mph back-roads pace. This is a planning estimate, not a measured time for each leg: transfer days can be longer and rest days shorter. Add meal stops, tours, ferries, traffic and hikes separately; use each day's navigation link for current driving estimates. ### Overnight bases - Day 1: near Floyd, VA - Day 2: near Floyd, VA - Day 3: Bristol - Day 4: near Blowing Rock, NC - Day 5: Little Switzerland among the gem mines - Day 6: near Asheville, NC - Day 7: near Sylva, NC ### Best season & route notes - [Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blue-ridge): Fog closes Parkway sections spring and fall — check NPS closures and have the US 221 escape valve in mind. - [The Crooked Road](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/crooked-road): The calendar IS the route: Floyd & Galax on Friday, Carter Fold & Savoy-style jams on Saturday — drive the gaps between. ## Frequently asked questions ### How many days and miles is High Country & Mountain Music? High Country & Mountain Music is a 7-day trip of about 620 miles. ### Where does High Country & Mountain Music start? It starts in Roanoke (start Thursday). ### Which routes does High Country & Mountain Music chain together? It chains Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies and The Crooked Road. ### Where are the overnight bases on High Country & Mountain Music? Day 1: near Floyd, VA; Day 2: near Floyd, VA; Day 3: Bristol; Day 4: near Blowing Rock, NC; Day 5: Little Switzerland among the gem mines; Day 6: near Asheville, NC; Day 7: near Sylva, NC. ## Related itineraries - [Crooked Road Ramble](https://dixieroadtrip.com/trips/crooked-weekend) — 3 days, ~220 mi - [The Blue Ridge, Ridgeline to Smokies](https://dixieroadtrip.com/trips/blue-ridge-ridgeline) — 5 days, ~640 mi - [The Eastern Crescent](https://dixieroadtrip.com/trips/eastern-crescent) — 15 days, ~1800 mi - [The Whole Hog](https://dixieroadtrip.com/trips/whole-hog) — 28 days, ~4300 mi - [The Long Way to the Opry](https://dixieroadtrip.com/trips/music-epic) — 21 days, ~3000 mi - [Coal, Bluegrass & the Country Music Highway](https://dixieroadtrip.com/trips/coal-and-country) — 6 days, ~620 mi --- Canonical URL: https://dixieroadtrip.com/trips/highcountry-week Publisher: Dixie Media (Dixie Road Trip, https://dixieroadtrip.com/) Last updated: 2026-10-04