Peaks of Otter
Recreation Area On The Blue Ridge Parkway At Milepost 85.6, Administered By The National Park Service · Bedford, Virginia
Three mountains standing together at milepost 85.6 on the Blue Ridge Parkway - Sharp Top, Flat Top and Harkening Hill - with a small lake, a lodge and a visitor centre in the gap between them, and the most concentrated half-day on the whole Virginia section of the road. Sharp Top is the one people climb. It is a mile and a half up, steep and rocky, gaining about fifteen hundred feet, and the summit is a jumble of boulders with a genuine three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view - nineteenth-century travellers were convinced it was the highest mountain in Virginia, which it is not by a long way, but from the top it is easy to see why they thought so. A stone from Sharp Top was sent to be built into the Washington Monument. For anyone who does not want the climb there is a shuttle bus to near the summit, which makes this one of the few big Appalachian views in the state reachable without a hard walk. Around the lake there is a flat mile of path, the restored Johnson Farm, and a lodge whose operator has changed more than once.
Blue Ridge Parkway milepost 85.6, Bedford, Virginia, 24523, United States
Trails and the Abbott Lake loop are open at all hours, year round, and free. The Sharp Top SHUTTLE is SEASONAL and weather-dependent - confirm it is running before relying on it. Visitor centre, campground, lodge and restaurant are seasonal, mainly May to October, and THE LODGE HAS CHANGED OPERATOR AND CLOSED FOR PERIODS, so confirm before driving here for a bed. Blue Ridge Parkway sections either side close for ice in winter. No fuel anywhere on the Parkway.