At
the beginning of the Graveyard Fields Trail is a sign which reads:
A natural disaster occurred here 500 to 1000 years ago.
A tremendous "wind-blow" uprooted the spruce forest.
Through the years the old root stumps and trees rotted,
leaving only dirt mounds. These odd mounds gave the
appearance of a graveyard, and the area became known
as Graveyard Fields.
The forest eventually recovered, only to be destroyed by
a catastrophic fire in 1925. This fire consumed the entire
spruce-fir forest and the ancient mounds.
The forest again is slowly recovering. The 1925 fire
burned deeply, destroying the soils nutrients. Blackberry
briers and other small plants have taken hold, adding
decaying vegetation to the earth each season, gradually
enriching the soil. With time, this process will establish
larger plants and trees. A spruce-fir forest might once
again flourish in Graveyard Fields.
The Graveyard Field Trails give you a somewhat different experience
in hiking on the Blue Ridge Parkway. On many trails on the Blue Ridge
Parkway, you get to the summit, and you see where you've been. But on
this trail, from the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Graveyard Fields Overlook,
you can see where you are going.
However, you can still not see everything from
the parking lot. For example, the footbridge in the photo on the right,
will be one of the first things you'll cross after traveling through
a tunnel of rhododendron and mountain laurel.
This is one of the more popular areas on the
Blue Ridge Parkway. You're likely to find the parking lot full, even
after dusk.
