Folk Art Center at Milepost 382 of the Blue Ridge
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a vacation destination all by itself, and connects the beautiful Mountains of Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, one of the largest wildlife reserves in the world and home to the original settlement of the Cherokee. Along the Parkway are many other worthy destinations, including a mineral museum and an historic pioneer cemetery. But one of the most significant, and one of the best places to begin a tour of the Blue Ridge Parkway, is the Folk Art Center located at Milepost 382, near the town of Swannanoa, NC.
The Folk Art Center is operated by the National Park Service, is a non-profit showcase for the 1,000 members of the Southern Highlands Craft Guild, and is also a Park Ranger Station where you can get all sorts of maps, information, and advise about exploring the Blue Ridge and other national parks, including of course the Parkway itself. At the Folk Art Center you will find hand made woolens, hand carved furniture, handcrafted jewelry and ceramics, and a library full of books for sales on subjects ranging from arts and crafts to wilderness identification of plants and birds. You can even find the ideal walking stick, carved from native hickory or oak, to take with you on your hikes through the region’s many forests. And the Folk Art Center offers a nice spot to rest, relax, and have a picnic before you get back on the road, and public restrooms and pay phones are available whenever the Center is open for business.