I'm thinking about riding Skyline Dr to the Blue Ridge Parkway this March (Virgina -> North Carolina). My big concern is that everything will be closed, including campgrounds. Anybody done this trip and have any advice? Can I just find a place to camp off the side of the road? Maybe it's better to wait until May when things warm up a bit and services open?

I would wait for warmer weather for sure. It gets VERY cold up there at night. I live at about the same alltitude as the parkway and ride up the mtn here even higher. Some evenings it can drop 10 degrees in just a matter of minutes. I road an hour and 20 minutes monday and it dropped 12 degrees. You can't carry enough stuff on a bike to keep warm at night in my oppinion!!!!

KEEP WARM !!!! HOOV

You will find all the campgrounds closed, and you can still expect snow in the higher elevations.

I'm thinking about riding Skyline Dr to the Blue Ridge Parkway this March (Virgina -> North Carolina). My big concern is that everything will be closed, including campgrounds. Anybody done this trip and have any advice? Can I just find a place to camp off the side of the road? Maybe it's better to wait until May when things warm up a bit and services open?

My team does the trip every year in late march/early april. The views are amazing. The only problem is, nothing is open and you you can start the ride at 50 degrees and end at 30. The weather is very unpredictable. The only thing open is the lodge at the Peaks of Otter (a must climb).

Last year, we stayed off the parkway in the Steels Tavern area, we had a van and half the team would get dropped off and start riding, the other half would go up the road about 30 miles and start riding back, we would eventually meet up and ride back to the van. This way, we were always in a small group and the van was always within about 20 miles in case we had a problem.

It is awesome up there, just make sure you are prepared. Have fun