There is a variety of must-see bridges in the Tar Heel State (see 11 of them in this previous article), but few are as spectacular as the concrete segmented bridge that clings to the side of Grandfather Mountain on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The famous bridge is perhaps the most acclaimed section of the Blue Ridge Parkway and is 1,243 feet long and nearly 40 feet wide.
Wikipedia/Phatmax95
The parkway averages more than 16 million visitors each year, many of which make it a point to travel over Linn Cove Viaduct. Countless more hikers traverse the mountain to which it clings when they hike the Tanawha Trail that travels from Beacon Heights to Julian Price Park.
Flickr/Valerie
In comparison to the amount of traffic on the Parkway, not quite so many stop and check out all there is to see and do at Linn Cove Viaduct.
When OnlyInYourState's Manager of Editorial visited in 2023, she only saw one other group of hikers on the trail.

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For starters, there's a Visitor's Center just south of the bridge. A turn off leads to a parking lot with a nicely appointed Visitor Center at one end.
TripAdvisor/Arvid O
At the other end of the parking lot, a short trail (under a mile in length) leads under the viaduct providing an up-close look at the underbelly of the bridge.
Megan Shute/OnlyInYourState
Grandfather Mountain is one of the most rugged peaks along the Blue Ridge Parkway making this bridge an engineering marvel. It took four years to complete this short segment of the Parkway.
Flickr/Jared
If you've driven over Linn Cove Viaduct, have you also stopped to explore it on foot?
Flickr/Kristian Michel
It's truly one of the most unique and underrated areas we've ever visited.

The Linn Cove Viaduct Visitor’s Center is located at milepost 304.4 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Linn Cove Viaduct is located just to the north of the Visitor’s Center at milepost 304. The gift shop at the Visitor Center is open seasonally. See this link on the official website of the National Park Service for dates and times. The trail leading from the parking area at the Visitor Center is open year-round as long as the parkway isn’t closed due to inclement weather.

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