Smokies Light

At the very end of Heintooga Ridge Road, which is a nine mile spur off the Blue Ridge Parkway and far far away from anything else, there is a large picnic area of about 50 tables. This place is so remote that very few tourists come out this way, although the road is first-class and it's easy to get to. It's the only place in the park at high enough altitude to drive to and have a picnic in a healthy spruce-fir forest. It's a very beautiful setting, but the tables, even the concrete ones, are returning to the forest due to lack of use. It's really sad. I can't say that it's because people have lost interest in dining "out", because the other more accessible picnic areas in the park are heavily used. It's just this area is so incredibly far "out". The NPS planners for this area must have had big dreams many years ago for this spot to put so many tables here. The grounds have two bathroom buildings, functioning drinking fountains, and the weeds are trimmed backed from the tables on a regular basis, yet nobody comes, and the tables grow old and green.