Julian Price Memorial Park
Updated: April 2019
Picturesque Rolling Mountain Land
The Julian Price Memorial Park is a 4,200-acre (17 km²) park with elevations ranging from 3,400 feet to nearly 4,000 feet. Visitors will enjoy beautiful sceneries and picturesque views along the park’s several hiking trails.
A 300-seat amphitheater at Milepost 298 is used for lectures and talks during the summer months.
If you feel like relaxing on the 47-acre man-made Price Lake, kayaks and canoes are available for rent from June to August. The boat rental is located at Milepost 298 and is open daily from 9 am to 7 pm, weather permitting.
Price Lake Loop Trail
The Price Lake Loop Trail (2.7 miles) follows a circle around the 47-acre man-made Price Lake. The lake is stocked once a month with trout. You may also see ducks and loons who take a spring and summer pause during their annual migration. The trail can be accessed from the Price Lake Overlook at Milepost 296.7.
Relaxing Boat Ride on Price Lake
Price Lake Boat Rentals is located just past Julian Price Memorial Park at Milepost 298 is. It is open from June to August, daily from 9 am to 7 pm weather permitting. Please call ahead to make sure that they are open. Tel.: (828) 963 2292.
Snacks, Drinks, and Firewood are available for purchase. Lifejackets provided for each renter with sizes ranging from infant to 4X. Canoes cost $13 per hour and kayaks $10 per hour. You can pay with cash or check (credit or debit cards are not accepted). The maximum number of persons per boat: 3 adults or 2 adults & 2 children or 1 adult & 3 children.
Boone Fork Loop Trail
Hikers looking for solitude will find clear streams, pastures, large rock outcrops, meadows and shaded forests along this moderate to strenuous 5.5-mile loop. Allow at least 3 hours of daylight-walking time. Visitors can access the trail through the Price Park Picnic Area at Milepost 296.4.
Green Knob Trail
Starting at Sim’s Pond Parking Area at Milepost 295.9, Green Knob Trail is a moderately strenuous 2.3-mile loop through forests and pastures to the top of Green Knob, from where hikers can have a distant view of Price Lake on sunny days.
Tanawha Trail
The 13.5-mile strenuous Tanawha Trail meanders through fields and forest in Julian Price Memorial Park. Starting near Milepost 299, the Tanawha Trail runs parallel to the Blue Ridge Parkway on the flanks of Grandfather Mountain and can be accessed from several parking lots along the Blue Ridge Parkway. As the Tanawha Trail passes under the famous → Linn Cove Viaduct, you could also leave your car at the Linn Cove Visitor Center and join the trail for a short hike.
History
The park is named in honor of Julian Price (1867-1946), a very successful insurance executive, who grew Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company to the largest corporation in North Carolina and a leader in the insurance industry. He purchased the acreage in the late 1930s and 1940s to create a retreat for the employees of his insurance company. After his death in 1946, his heirs donated the land to the Blue Ridge Parkway “as a memorial to a man who enjoyed sharing the natural beauty of the area with others.”
Milepost 297 Blue Ridge Parkway, Blowing Rock, NC 28605
Tel.: → (828) 963-5911
Park:
All day.
Price Lake Boat Rentals:
Mon. to Sun.: 9am to 7pm.
Park:
All year.
Price Lake Boat Rentals:
June to August.
Free admission.
Price Lake Boat Rentals:
Canoes: $13 per hour.
Kayaks: $10 per hour.
Cash or checks only.
Price Park Picnic Area between Mileposts 296 and 297 or at designated parking areas along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Visitors with children may want to take the easy 2.7-mile loop around Price Lake.
Hiking trails range from the easy Price Lake Loop Trail and the moderate Green Knob Trail to the strenuous Boone Fork Loop Trail and Tanawha Trail.
Hiking boots are recommended.
Please use your own discretion.
A large picnic area is located at Price Park Picnic Area between mileposts 296 and 297.
According to the park rules bicycles are not permitted on the trails.
Restrooms are located at Price Park Picnic Area.