Best time to visit Blue Ridge Parkway
June and October are the best balance at Blue Ridge Parkway: mild and dry for the park (average highs 66° to 80°F), with very busy crowds. July is busiest, with about 1,961,000 visitors. January is the quietest, with highs near 45°F.
- Quiet
- Moderate
- Busy
- Very busy
- Few or no visits (may be closed)
- Best months
Month by month
- Station
- Sparta 3.5 SSW, NC USC00318158
- Lat / lon
- 36.46, -81.15
- Elevation
- 3,011 ft
- From park center
- 4.8 mi
- Second station
- Elkin, NC 910 ft
- Normals
- 1991–2020
- Visits
- 2023–2025
| Field | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Junbest | Jul | Aug | Sep | Octbest | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High, °F | 45° | 46° | 53° | 63° | 71° | 80° | 84° | 82° | 75° | 66° | 55° | 46° | 64° |
| Low, °F | 22° | 24° | 31° | 40° | 49° | 57° | 62° | 60° | 53° | 41° | 32° | 26° | 41° |
| High at 910 ft, °F | 49° | 52° | 60° | 70° | 77° | 84° | 87° | 86° | 80° | 71° | 61° | 52° | 69° |
| Precipitation, in | 4.5 | 3.1 | 4.9 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 57.1 |
| Snow, in | 5.3 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 4.7 | 18.6 |
| Daylight, h:mm | 9:55 | 10:48 | 11:51 | 13:04 | 14:05 | 14:38 | 14:25 | 13:33 | 12:22 | 11:12 | 10:11 | 9:41 | |
| Visitors, thousands | 476 | 689 | 1,060 | 1,392 | 1,606 | 1,882 | 1,961 | 1,912 | 1,813 | 1,776 | 1,202 | 907 | 16,675 |
| Crowds | Quiet | Moderate | Moderate | Busy | Very busy | Very busy | Very busy | Very busy | Very busy | Very busy | Busy | Moderate | |
| Weather | Cool | Cool | Cool | Mild, wet | Mild, wet | Mild | Hot | Hot | Mild, wet | Mild | Cool | Cool |
| Month | High °F | Low °F | High at 910 ft | Precip., in | Snow, in | Daylight | Visitors | Crowds | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 22° | 49° | 4.5 | 5.3 | 9:55 | 476,000 | Quiet | Cool |
| February | 46° | 24° | 52° | 3.1 | 4.2 | 10:48 | 689,000 | Moderate | Cool |
| March | 53° | 31° | 60° | 4.9 | 3.1 | 11:51 | 1,060,000 | Moderate | Cool |
| April | 63° | 40° | 70° | 5.4 | 1.0 | 13:04 | 1,392,000 | Busy | Mild, wet |
| May | 71° | 49° | 77° | 5.5 | 0 | 14:05 | 1,606,000 | Very busy | Mild, wet |
| Junebest | 80° | 57° | 84° | 4.9 | 0 | 14:38 | 1,882,000 | Very busy | Mild |
| July | 84° | 62° | 87° | 5.2 | 0 | 14:25 | 1,961,000 | Very busy | Hot |
| August | 82° | 60° | 86° | 4.9 | 0 | 13:33 | 1,912,000 | Very busy | Hot |
| September | 75° | 53° | 80° | 5.1 | 0 | 12:22 | 1,813,000 | Very busy | Mild, wet |
| Octoberbest | 66° | 41° | 71° | 4.5 | 0 | 11:12 | 1,776,000 | Very busy | Mild |
| November | 55° | 32° | 61° | 4.5 | 0.3 | 10:11 | 1,202,000 | Busy | Cool |
| December | 46° | 26° | 52° | 4.5 | 4.7 | 9:41 | 907,000 | Moderate | Cool |
| Year | 64° | 41° | 69° | 57.1 | 18.6 | 16,675,000 | |||
Year: average high and low, total precipitation and snowfall, total visitors. T = trace (under 0.05 in). – = not measured at this station. Updated .
- Hottest July, average high 84°F
- Coldest nights January, average low 22°F
- Source NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information; National Park Service
- Visitors a year about 16,675,000 (2023–2025 average)
- States North Carolina and Virginia
Elevation matters here: the record's second station, Elkin, NC, sits at 910 ft, against 3,011 ft for Sparta 3.5 SSW, NC. Expect conditions between the two depending on where you go.
Closures, reservations and alerts: Blue Ridge Parkway on nps.gov
Nearby
- Guilford Courthouse National Military ParkBest: May, Oct and Nov · North Carolina
- Kings Mountain National Military ParkBest: Feb, Apr and Nov · South Carolina
- Cowpens National BattlefieldBest: Feb, Oct and Nov · South Carolina
- Andrew Johnson National Historic SiteBest: Mar, Oct and Nov · Tennessee