Fall scene on a stretch of roadway along the southern reaches of the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Considered America's longest linear park, the scenic road runs for 469 miles through 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties, linking Shenandoah National Park in the former state to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in far-western North Carolina. It runs mostly along the spine of the Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains. Photo by Carol Highsmith.