Other upcoming 75th Anniversaries

With the rededication of Great Smoky Mountains National Park during the park's 75th anniversary slipping into the history books, it's time to focus on two other regional parks that will be celebrating their own 75th anniversaries.

Next year will be the Blue Ridge Parkway's turn to bathe in the national park spotlight as it celebrates it's 75th anniversary. Construction of the first 12.5-mile section of the Parkway began near Cumberland Knob in North Carolina on September 11, 1935. The final section, the Linn Cove Viaduct near Grandfather Mountain, wasn't completed until 1987, which finally opened the entire route of the Parkway – all 469 miles, from Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park – to public travel.

The park already has a 75th Anniversary website, which includes information on the history and the future of the Parkway, as well as information on several events already planned for the celebration.

Having been established in December of 1935, Shenandoah National Park will also be celebrating it's 75th Anniversary next year as well. The park is planning a year-long celebration, and will be launching an anniversary web site in the near future.





Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com