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Natural Heritage Trail

Doughton Park

One of the larger protected tracts along the Blue Ridge Parkway is Doughton Park, a 6,000-acre landscape of open meadows and pioneer cabins near Sparta, North Carolina.

Thirty miles of hiking trails run through the Park, through pastures and meadows, coves and valleys, and along streams. Doughton Park is one of the best places on the Blue Ridge Parkway to view wildlife, including white-tailed deer, raccoons, red and gray foxes and bobcats. Flame azalea and rhododendron bloom in the late spring. Guided nature walks and craft demonstrations are offered in the summer season.

The pioneer cabins include the Brinegar Cabin (ca. 1885) and the one-room Caudill Cabin (ca. 1895). Other structures were lost in the great flood of 1916.

Originally known as "the Bluffs" for the surrounding cliffs, in 1961 Doughton Park was named in honor of Congressman Robert L. Doughton, a long-time supporter of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Doughton Park also offers a lodge, a restaurant, picnic areas, a campground, trailer sites, comfort stations and a gas station.

Doughton Park Hours of Operation
Open year-round, with facilities open May through October.

Doughton Park Admission Fees
Doughton Park does not require an admission fee.
*Prices are subject to change without notice & from what is listed on this website.

Doughton Park Location
Doughton Park is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway between mileposts 238.5 and 244.7.

Blue Ridge Parkway
Doughton Park
www.nps.gov/blri/ncmap.htm

Bluffs Lodge
Milepost 241
(336) 372-4499
www.nps.gov/blri/pphtml/lodging.html
http://www.blueridgeresort.com/