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Rating: 
Summary: Save your money
Review: I have visited the Blue Ridge parkway on many occasions, and purchased this as a reference for out of town visitors I intended to take there. The plan being for them to read it and select the places that appealed. Unfortunately this book offers very little, with the exception of a milestone planner which helped us find things as we travelled along. The truth is that the host of free publications you can collect along the way, or even now online were equally informative to both previous visitors and first timer alike. I'm sure there are many very good books on the subject out there, but this is not one of them. Save your money.
Rating: 
Summary: One guide to rule them all
Review: I was on the B.R. PKWY and needed something more than the simple park map to figure out where the interesting hikes and views were. This book does it and does it well. I have been on the pkwy many times, but some of the history had eluded me until I got to glance through this guide. My buddy liked it so much, he bought his own just because I was always reading it. If you are going to drive the pkwy, I would recommend this book to help you get the most out of your trip.
Rating: 
Summary: A must have if you are going on the Blue Ridge Parkway
Review: This is an excellent guide to help you plan a trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The book maps out everything you need to know about the road. Every overlook, campsite, and picnic area is included. There are even several sites mentioned that are not clearly marked by the National Parks Service. I used the book before I went on the trip and highlighted all the things that I thought would be interesting and used it as I went. The book is extremely helpful and much better then the newspapers and magazine guides that you can get for free on the parkway. There were several problems with the book too. Even though it probably the most thorough guide of the Blue Ridge Parkway that I have seen it does not include a map of the road. Most of the pictures in book are very good, however they rarely match up with the information on the page. The last problem I had with the book was that the binding on the book became unglued and many of the pages are now falling out. Overall this is the best guide on the Blue Ridge Parkway that I have seen. It was extremely helpful to me, and I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: A must have if you are going on the Blue Ridge Parkway
Review: This is an excellent guide to help you plan a trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The book maps out everything you need to know about the road. Every overlook, campsite, and picnic area is included. There are even several sites mentioned that are not clearly marked by the National Parks Service. I used the book before I went on the trip and highlighted all the things that I thought would be interesting and used it as I went. The book is extremely helpful and much better then the newspapers and magazine guides that you can get for free on the parkway. There were several problems with the book too. Even though it probably the most thorough guide of the Blue Ridge Parkway that I have seen it does not include a map of the road. Most of the pictures in book are very good, however they rarely match up with the information on the page. The last problem I had with the book was that the binding on the book became unglued and many of the pages are now falling out. Overall this is the best guide on the Blue Ridge Parkway that I have seen. It was extremely helpful to me, and I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Enjoy the Blue Ridge Parkway
Review: Why is the origin of the name French Broad River? Who was Art Loeb of the Art Loeb trail? Why is the falls that you can see from Mile Post 361.2 called Glassmine Falls? It does not look like glass. This guide has an overlook-by-overlook explanation of the treasures on the Parkway prefaced by a good introduction on the history and geology of the road. I only wish the authors had added the altitude at each overlook. One appendix lists a blooming calendar and the overlooks most likely to have the flowers. Another one has contact information for all the enterprises on the Parkway from the Shenandoah National Park to the Biltmore Estate. It is a beautiful book with gorgeous color pictures. Text boxes detailing a particular subject such as rhododendrons or Daniel Boone are sprinkled throughout. But why did they have to use black text on a dark purple background for these boxes? They are so difficult to read. Except for that shortcoming, this book is meant to be used, not to be left on the bookshelf. I take my copy wherever I think I am going to be on the Parkway. As for the answers to the questions above? Check pages 120, 129 and 108, respectively.
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