Parkway closure impact on Burke tourism

Every year, more people visit the Blue Ridge Parkway than the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite national parks combined. Those visitors generate $1.4 billion for local economies, including Burke County’s.

But thanks to Hurricane Helene, those totals will be way down for the foreseeable future.

Burke Tourism Development Authority CEO Ed Phillips said although tourism in the county was solid last year, the parkway’s closure due to the devastating storm that hit the area last fall changes the landscape, especially for 2025.

“We’ve got to be careful about talking about it (the parkway),” Phillips said last week. “We’ve got to be careful about promoting it, because then you’re going to have an influx of visitors all coming to the very limited open places.”

Phillips spoke to the Burke Board of Commissioners at its pre-agenda meeting Tuesday, delivering the TDA’s progress report for 2024.

“Seventeen million people traveled the parkway last year, so it’s an important park to us,” Phillips said. “In Burke County, we have a little less than 5 miles of Parkway inside the county, but it is heavily visited.”

Phillips said the Linville Falls area has been the top draw in Burke’s portion of the Parkway for decades. The Linville Falls visitors center sees more than a million visitors each year.

The center, located inside the county’s borders, was heavily damaged by the hurricane that ravaged western North Carolina in late September. Phillips told the board the center was considered a total loss and isn’t expected to be rebuilt this year.

In addition to the scenic falls themselves, the section includes a campground and a large picnic area. All those amenities are closed. Phillips said the campground could possibly open again before the end of the year, but the picnic area will definitely remain closed throughout 2025.

The stretch of parkway between Milepost 280 and 411 — which encompasses the Linville Falls area — is closed. It also sustained heavy damage, and road and infrastructure repairs are ongoing.

Phillips said although the parking lot off Old N.C. 105 wasn’t damaged, access to the falls from that location is closed because heavy equipment is being used to clear the trails. Park officials told Phillips opening even partial access from that location would be a liability.

He also presented a resolution, which will likely be approved at the next regular meeting, that would pledge Burke’s support for the Parkway’s future.

The resolution, which would require no money from Burke, would pledge the county’s support in obtaining future funding to reopen the parkway. It would also support the Blue Ridge Rising Action Plan, a comprehensive strategic plan initiated last year by the Blue Ridge Park Foundation.

The plan seeks to enhance the travel and tourism potential of the parkway in 29 counties in both North Carolina and Virginia, including Burke.