Beacon Heights is a scenic half-mile round trip walk with 130 feet gain from Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 305.2 in Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina, USA. Enjoy brilliant fall leaf colors in mid October atop an outcropping of quartzite rock. Local trees release hydrocarbons into the atmosphere, creating a characteristic blue haze over the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a subset of the Appalachian Mountains. Beacon Heights Parking Area (elevation 4220 feet) is near the intersection with Hwy 221 (near Grandfather Mountain Entrance Road). This trail also connects with the Tanawha Trail (13.5 miles to Price Lake) and the Mountains to the Sea Trail. The scenic 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway was built 1935-1987 to aesthetically connect Shenandoah National Park (in Virginia) with Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina, following crestlines and the Appalachian Trail. This panorama was stitched from 2 overlapping photos taken October 12, 2015.
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