> The Conservation Trust for North Carolina has donated a nearly 50-acre tract of land to the Blue Ridge Parkway and National Park Service. The property, known as the Roaring Fork Headwaters, is on the border of Alleghany and Surry counties near milepost 220.5 near Cumberland Knob. It includes the headwaters of the Fisher River in the Yadkin River basin and is upstream from the water supply for the town of Dobson.
> An 82-year-old bicyclist suffered head and leg injuries yesterday after being struck by a car on the Blue Ridge Parkway. A husband and wife team from New York were riding south into the Grassy Ridge Tunnel around mile post 397 when a car drove up behind them and struck the man. The driver of the car turned his lights on right after entering the tunnel, but was unable to stop before colliding with the cyclist.
> More than a hundred miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway remains closed due to fallen trees and other debris, but officials expect the road to be open by the middle of May. The shutdowns happened after an ice storm caused thousands of trees to topple back in December. Near mile marker 400, a rock slide will keep the road closed into June, and removing all the debris from the parkway roadsides could take several months.
> If you're planning a trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway anytime in the near future or later this summer, please click here for a list of trails and some recommended hikes.
Jeff
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